How we’ve grown our business in the last five years
The start of April is milestone for any business. It’s the beginning of a new trading year or the end of the first quarter of the trade for many. Spring – the time when things start to wake up (see me here outside of my office in the centre of Leeds enjoying the fresh air) – has sprung and however you measure it, April is a great time for reflecting & planning.
Now that we have lighter days, how do you feel when you wake up? Are you raring to go (full of the joys of Spring, one might say!) or do you dread the day ahead and struggle to get out of bed?
If we use that as a benchmark to evaluate the current status of your business, it would be a pretty telling one. And if you could build a business strategy which ensures that you bounce out of bed every morning, I bet you would.
Let me ask you a few more questions:
Have you achieved the growth you planned to in the last quarter/ year – and was it an ambitious enough target?
Do you take the financial rewards you deserve as well as time for hobbies and holidays, or are you a slave to your business?
Are you working with the right type of clients that are a pleasure to work with and pay you what you deserve?
Statistically 50% of new businesses fail by their fifth year. When you add in the fact that less than 25% of SMEs have a business plan and stats showing that more than 70% of businesses with a Business Mentor make it past the five year mark, it’s not hard to make the link.
What is success?
Many businesses have a plan, but it’s not an ambitious one. For some, 5-10% incremental growth is success. But if that’s what you’re aiming for, is it all you’re really capable of? You know what they say, if you think you can – or you think you can’t – you’re right.
Are you being bold and pushing the boundaries in order to create the life and the future you deserve, or are you drifting, shackled to a business which runs you, rather than the other way around?
The right strategy will deliver your purpose, create opportunities for you to do the work you’re passionate about and create a business which both runs and grows without you. It will ensure you have a good work-life balance, with both time and money to do the things you want to.
With the correct strategy, your business will be both scaleable and saleable. From our experience, too many business owners are sleepwalking into their future without an exit plan. We all need to stop work some day, so why wouldn’t you plan for it now?
Walking the walk
We’ve just ended our financial year, recording growth for the fifth consecutive year. We are approaching capacity for our 1-2-1 strategy work, have a brand that’s stronger than ever and I’ve done it all while working a four-day week, leaving time for my hobbies and plenty of holidays.
In the next two years I plan for Tendo to be working with 10 times the number of clients we currently support. It’s ambitious, but deliverable because I have the right growth strategy in place and the right team around me.
What will it take?
Last month I wrote my first article for Topic UK, a Yorkshire business magazine. I’m their new business growth expert and it won’t be a surprise to people who know me that I kicked off my series of articles with one about the benefits of business planning.
The right growth strategy will have business growth indicators which keep you and your team accountable for delivering the growth you demand. It will ensure you deliver ambitious growth for your business and help you create the future you desire.
I’ll leave you with a final thought. What will it take for you to wake up to the benefits of having a strong business growth strategy, aligned to your purpose and which allows you to follow your passions while reaping the rewards?
A business plan isn’t something you should do once a year, it is something you should have in place and update at least quarterly, if not monthly. Enabling it to flex in line with market demands, challenges and opportunities.
Do you have a lengthy business plan and never look at it or maybe you have no plan at all? Many business owners don’t manage their company strategically, know what to focus on or measure daily, to have complete clarity and control.
If you would like to manage your business on a single page, access our tool here to get started: tendo-uk.com/plan
