9 surefire steps to ensure your business is doing great in 2 years time by Paul Haarman

 In 2 years’ time, your business will be doing great.

Now is the best time to ensure its success…

Tell a story about how successful someone has become using these 9 steps.

1. Get a mentor or coach –

Find someone who is successful in what you want to achieve and work with them for at least 3 months to learn the ropes and get advice on where you’re going wrong. Targeting: Medium-sized businesses (employs 5+ people) mainly based somewhere other than Brighton & Hove (you don’t know enough local companies yet). Also directed towards those who are thinking of setting up as self-employed.

2. Know your business inside out –

Ask yourself, “What makes my business different?” and write down 3 to 5 key characteristics that you think are what sets you apart from the competition. According to Paul Haarman The more knowledgeable you are about your business the better able you are to understand its strengths and weaknesses. Targeting: People who have just started their own business or thinking of starting up/graduates

3. Think beyond the norm –

It’s good to be an individual but don’t always go against the grain as it is important to know what works and what doesn’t before deviating too far from it. If you’re not sure, ask others within your sector for feedback on how your idea could work differently in order to stand out against the competition. Targeting: Start-ups

4. Think about your customers –

 If you had to make your business fail, how would you do it? What factors could cause this? How can you eliminate them? Take the time to think about all of these aspects as they are crucial for ensuring future success. Make notes about each of these situations and why it is important for overcoming them. Targeting: Medium-sized businesses (employs 5+ people) mainly based somewhere other than Brighton & Hove (you don’t know enough local companies yet). Also directed towards those who are thinking of setting up as self-employed or own a start-up that has been going on for more than 1 year

5. Research –

Research your competitors and see what you can do better than them – also research your target market to find out more about their behaviors and preferences. Targeting: Start-ups

6. Create a clear vision –

This is something that should be there from day 1 of starting up but as time goes on it is easy to lose sight of what the business is all about, so always make sure you know. Ask yourself “What am I trying to achieve with this business?” and write down your answer immediately without thinking too much first then later on go back and analyze if that was really what you were hoping for and how close it actually is to that. Also, ask others (family/friends) why they believe you started this business, even though we often think we know the answers to that but they might be able to provide you with some insight that are beneficial. Targeting: Start-ups

7. Get expert advice –

Find someone who has experience in what your business does and speak to them about their experiences. If possible, ask if you can shadow them for a day so you can see firsthand what they do on a daily basis, this will help prepare you for when it gets tough. Targeting: Start-ups

8. Keep close track of cash flow –

A lot of businesses fail within the first 2 years because they don’t monitor how much money is coming in versus going out so every month create an operating budget based on your forecasts (try Xero, free online accounting software) and see whether your business is within budget. If not, you might need to cut back somewhere or look for a route that makes more money. Targeting: Medium-sized businesses (employs 5+ people) mainly based somewhere other than Brighton & Hove (you don’t know enough local companies yet). Also directed towards those who are thinking of setting up as self-employed

9. Be enthusiastic –

Keep yourself motivated by focusing on what you want from the company. Create positive affirmations that you can repeat every day, such as “I’m going to make my business a success” or “I will always do my best”. Targeting: Start-ups

Conclusion:

You must always keep in mind that you are not perfect, you will make mistakes that could end up costing your business. It’s important to learn from these situations and move on; otherwise, it can be very hard to recover. Paul Haarman says “Don’t think that just because you have made a mistake before then the rest of your business experiences will be like that – each situation is different.”