A Focus For Small Business (Guest Post By @paulgreen)

For a business to be successful, a small business should look at all ‘pillars’: strategy, finance, sales, marketing, operations, resources and personal – then consider the priorities within each of those areas.

If we consider your Strategy – what is it you are looking to achieve for your business; where your going and how you are going to get there? Having a business plan in place is essential to capture your objectives and should include specific and measurable targets. The plan should be reviewed on a regular basis (monthly) and not left on the shelf to gather dust – it should be a dynamic, working document!

Finance information should be included in the plan. Cash is king for any business and the focus should be on profits and where and how money is flowing into and out of the business – prepare and maintain a cashflow forecast.

There is no revenue coming in without Sales. It is important to know your customer and know what they want and be clear on your sales proposition – what value you are offering the customer and/or what problem you are fixing for them.

Often overlooked, in the bid to get more and more customers, is who your ideal customer is. If you can clearly identify your market and target prospect, then it will be easier to focus your Marketing to the desired audience without taking a shotgun approach.

So you’ve got your plan, finance is in place and you are successfully identify and closing business – now the challenge is to service those customers effectively. This is where your Operations become important; ensuring that you have adequate business systems and processes in place to support the way your business works and its subsequent success.

Alongside your back office systems and processes, having sufficient Resources is also important. As regards staff, only recruit if necessary, identify any redundancy in the business and remove it; as this is a burden and extra cost to you if people are not working efficiently and contributing to your business. Maybe it is worth considering outsourcing certain functions so that you can increase/decrease as required given the status of the business.

Finally, a key aspect of your business is you! Therefore from a Personal perspective, manage your time and focus on those actions that are moving your business forward and into profit.

Follow your plan, consider all ‘pillars’ of a business, adapt if necessary and you will be successful.

Paul Green is an experienced business expert in strategy, business planning, sales performance and assessment, as well as leadership development. He is the founder partner of UK Business Advisors, Fellow of the Institute for Independent Business and a Personal Business Advisor for Effective Business Group. With a proven track record, he offers practical, hands on support that works to impact the profit and performance of your business.