Five Secret Ingredients to Business Success

Transcript

Hi folks, Duncan here from CapitalQ. 

So I ask, is Your Business Performing As You Hoped?  If not, perhaps these five secret ingredients to business success could provide you with some answers and help get you back on to the path to success.

If your small business is not achieving the heights you hoped, there are a number of strategies and business philosophies you can implement that done right can get your business back on the path to success.

So here are some of the CapitalQ Team with our top five …

Strategy 1 – 

I’d like to start with a slightly controversial idea, one that I do know makes some business owners uncomfortable. 

But for me, it is important not to have the mindset that you are doing your staff a favour by giving them a job.

On the contrary, they are doing YOU a favour by helping you build your dream.

And therefore I recommend treating them accordingly.

When I walk into my office in the morning, usually late (I am not an early starter) I feel extremely lucky when I see a room full of dedicated individuals working hard to operate, and grow my business and ultimately, even if they don’t know it, helping me achieve my goals.

Strategy 2 –

Consider, if you are the only one in your business who can deliver to the standard required, are you meeting the required standard of a successful business owner.

Now we are not just commenting on your ability to attract and hire A Grade talent. 

We are mainly referring to your willingness to motivate your team to learn and improve, to invest in them, to pass on your knowledge and ultimately to establish systems and processes that allows them to operate and grow your business, without it relying entirely on you to do so.

Strategy 3 –

Tax is the single biggest life time expense anyone even moderately successful in business will incur. So it makes sense to minimise it at every chance you get.

In our view, anyone who neglects to minimise their tax is simply holding themselves back.

Frankly, that includes using an accountant who you only see after the tax year ends, when it is usually too late to do any real tax minimisation (at least legally).

Tax minimisation should be an ongoing process, performed throughout the year and certainly before the tax year ends.

The difference it can make to your overall wealth in the long term is the difference between real success (and comfort) and just getting by.

Strategy 4 –

Smart business owners don’t see marketing as an expense. They view it as an asset and an investment that done well provides massive returns.

Now this is definitely something you won’t hear from too many Accountants.

But real business growth can only come if enough potential clients or customers know about you and what you can offer AND know why they should be choosing you.

And the only way to achieve this to any scale is through proactive marketing strategies.

So we recommend you cease looking at marketing as an expense, something that reduces your current year’s profit. 

View it instead as an asset, as an investment in what we like to marketing weapons, that done right will produce a substantial return on investment, and if done really well, can be used to provide that return over and over again.

Strategy 5 –

If you don’t know your business’ numbers, you can’t make good business decisions. In fact you are doing nothing more than guessing.

We know its easy for us to say, but you need an effective and efficient accounting and reporting system which tells you the information about your business’ performance you need, so that you can make informed decisions.

Yes we get it, your accounting does not produce your revenue, nor is it what delivers your product or service.  That is why your accounting system needs to be effective, AND efficient, meaning it produces what you need from it, without taking any of your time nor getting in the way of the core activities.

We can assure you, we see it time and again, businesses that deliver great results for its clientele, but which has no real process to measure and monitor performance and results.

It means the business stays stagnant, or worse, dies a slow death as the owner treads water without ever knowing where they are going wrong.

BONUS TIP:

Even once you know your numbers, you still can’t hit a target, if it hasn’t been set in the first place!

Set we encourage our clients to set goals, then set out to make them a reality. 

You will be amazed at the results you can achieve if you just set yourself, and your Team, a target to work towards!

So there you have it, I hope you agree these ideas can help improve your business.

Now its over to you to take action.