In my four (4) decades of working with business owners, I have found that there are seven
(7) stages that we go through as founders and owners.
- we start
- we strategize
- we sow
- we survive
- we succeed
- we stabilize
- and then we sell
So, I’ve created a short video for each stage, so you can see the pattern, and how to get help at every stage. If you want to see them all at once, or read the blog, please visit www.AbidingStrategy.com.
- START:
Making the decision to start a business is a big deal. It’s not something you should undertake lightly because there are a lot of risks and a lot of reasons that businesses fail. Half of all businesses don’t make it for five years; only one in three makes it to the ten-year mark. So, doing some deep, detailed assessment about owning a business AT ALL is crucial. Once you decide that you do want to be in business, finding the right industry is just as important to your long-term success. There’s more to it than matching your product or service to an actual need in your community. You’ll also need help finding the right things that are fun for you, that bring you joy, and that will make you want to get up every day and give it your all. Even if you don’t have the exact skills for the industry, that’s okay. You can learn those things, as long as you’re in the right range for your natural talents. If it doesn’t bring you joy, it will be hard to make the necessary sacrifices to succeed. There are many resources to help you make this decision, and I’ll be happy to share those when we talk.
- STRATEGIZE:
Once you make the decision about the type of business you want to open, you need to strategize. It helps to start with the end in mind as we learned from Stephen Covey’s amazing book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Having a three-to-five-year plan seems pretty old school. I remember one author saying that “culture eats strategy for lunch.” My response to that is this: Strategy is breakfast and you can’t have a great culture without a great strategy. You can think long-term all the time, even while you’re deep in the initial day-to-day set up of your new business! And especially when you’re in a micro business with just one person starting everything up, it can be overwhelming. As long as you have created a path, a plan, a strategy to follow, it will help you stay grounded when the chaos ensues. Set your foundation early for the best chance to succeed.
- SOW:
Sowing is marketing; it’s sowing the seeds of your message about your business. This is getting the word out. This is making sure that everyone understands what you do, why you do it, and how it will help them. One of the hardest parts about running a business can be letting the world know why your product or service matters to the world. Even though you can personally see the benefit clearly, the ability to articulate why someone should buy from you takes some due diligence. Map out the benefits of your product or service early, even as you are deciding about the business and creating your strategy, so that your message will resonate with potential buyers. Note that benefits are different than the features or advantages of your product, and I’ll help you with that nuance when we talk.
- SURVIVE:
You may have heard that lack of capital is the number one reason for business failure, and that’s still true. Believe it or not though, having too many clients too fast can also be a problem. The unmanaged growth of a business can cause failure, just as lack of capital can. Great leadership means that you manage growth well, that you mitigate problems quickly and install the proper systems to keep track of everything that is happening. If you make
promises to deliver a product or service, you have to keep those promises. The right systems, the right planning and the right support, including that of a business coach, can make all the difference. It is a real balancing act to decide how much to invest in growth management when the growth hasn’t happened yet. But if your planning is good and your research is accurate and you’ve timed the market properly, you can set up contingency plans that allow you to turn on a dime. The ability to flip the processes, if needed, will help you manage the growth as it’s coming to you. This takes help, expertise, and serious agility. Businesses that survive are agile. They’re ready for both the good times and the bad. You’re the captain of your business and your number one priority is to keep the ship afloat at all costs. Sometimes we get caught up in personal relationships or we can’t let go of the plans and outcomes we hoped for, or we have trouble making tough decisions. A business coach can help you wade through all those factors, objectively, so that you can do what it takes to keep your ship sailing.
- SUCCEED:
Once the growth is coming and managed, and you’re surviving, we have to maintain that, in order to succeed. Sometimes we get distracted and want to run off and try new shiny things and leave the scope of our business plan because something else looks tempting. After all, isn’t that adventure part of why we became entrepreneurs? Having a plan, and a strategy, and a guide will help you to stay on track and not be distracted when things seem to be too “easy” … and dare I say it, boring. Make a plan, and stick to it, so that success becomes almost automatic. You’ll have to resist the temptation to change for change’s sake, while being ready to change if necessary.
Examples of failure to change are endless: such as Kodak not pivoting when smartphones emerged, or Blockbuster failing to get into the digital world.
Your ability to shift your approach, like tacking the sails of a boat, is important. But, when you do that, be sure to keep the long-term goal in mind. This can be difficult when you are mired in the day-to-day. An outside perspective can help you look at the overall process with a wide lens and a long view. These are the adjustments you need to make as you sail towards success.
- STABILIZE:
Stabilizing the business means that you don’t even have to be there!
Imposter syndrome is real and most founders get to a point where they think they must stay in the middle of the day-to-day because they can’t believe that the business will succeed without them. They aren’t sure they can just be a high-end leader, orchestrating everything about the business from a distance. The number one thing I coach for, with established businesses, is how to step away and trust the team, so that you can continue to be the visionary. This is how we help the long-term stability and growth of the company and ensure the legacy of your company. One of the top five reasons for business failure, according to research from SCORE and the Bureau of Labor Statistics and others, is lack of leadership. Leadership is NOT doing all the work yourself.
Leadership means you help others become leaders in your organization. There comes a point in most businesses when founders become a bottleneck, and usually this is fear-driven. A business coach can help keep you grounded when it’s hard to see past your own involvement.
- SELL:
Once you stabilize to the point that you can be away from the business, and it can run itself, then you have something to sell. Making sure that your business is efficient and lean so that it’s showing an appropriate amount of profit on the books is the last step before you actually post the business for sale. Legal issues aside, there are so many emotions to manage before you get to the point of sale. Emotional issues can cause delays, friction among partners, and insecurity in your team. So, we finish where we started: we begin with the end in mind. If we follow the process all the way through, we have the best chance to leave a legacy. That said, it’s never too late to shore up your own plans. Ask for help sooner rather than later!
Wherever you are in the process, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
I can help! In the meantime, lead with joy!
