9 Points for Effective Business Growth

In the past six months, we’ve given you ongoing case studies of two developing businesses: Vanessa’s Palm Beach Content Company and Patrick’s BusinessLife Italia. We went through how BusinessLife Coaching helped both businesses navigate the early stages of growth to launch towards a successful future.

We have followed as Vanessa and Patrick developed their leadership skills in order to implement and cultivate a growing business. Even in a single-person business, leadership is crucial.

With the lessons from those case studies in mind, today we are taking a look at nine How’s and What’s for your business growth.

These nine points work as a “check in” for both new and established businesses. Each question can help you reflect on how you are being effective in your leadership role.

1. What is your market? How will it look in a year, five years, ten years? Where do you position your company within the market?
2. What changes do you expect in your industry? How can you anticipate these changes to put yourself ahead of the competition? What technology can you utilize?
3. What does the plan look like? Is it adaptable while still concretely reaching the end goal?  
4. What do the business finances look like? How are you working with your team?
5. What problems are you facing? How can you turn these problems into opportunities? How can you turn weaknesses into strengths?
6. How do you evaluate business processes? What is and what isn’t working in your company? How can you streamline these processes towards growth for all?
7. What are the skills you bring forth? What do you do well and where could you improve? How do these capabilities affect your team and your business?
8. How is your attitude? Are you promoting a strong environment based on the way you come to work in the morning?
9. What does a welcoming message from your business look like? How do customers and clients feel when they think of your brand, your service, your product, or your office?

In this piece, we are taking a focus on these nine key points for effective leadership that propel forward an emerging or established business.

Let’s drill down. Take your time, a suggestion is to take on one aspect per day. It’s worth the effort.

1. What is the market?

If you are starting a new business or are already running an established business the rules are the same: do everything you can to understand the market. A clear understanding when building your market from the beginning is essential, as is clarity where you are in your market today.

Some questions you may want to consider:

• What do your target clients, users, or your connections look like?
• Who are your key competitors? How do they position themselves within the market?
• Only the best survive. What will you provide to your clients that is superior to your competitors’ products or services?
• What is, or will be your unique selling proposition?

Consider why you are choosing or why you chose this particular market, whether it is because you have significant experience in this field, or saw a void to fill, or see an opportunity to better the service in this industry. Whatever your reason, a mainstay of strong business is market research. Study it. Consider your reasoning for entering the industry, and then determine how to position yourself within the market. If you are entering an established market, consider who you are and your role.  

A business owner is given opportunity to constantly perform temperature checks with regards to the market. This is more than just a SWOT analysis; it looks at brand positioning in order to produce results. These results are often a support to an effective leader by projecting further possibilities and opportunities.

Where are you in the market that allows you to plan for future success?

2. What changes do you expect in your industry?

How do you look at shifts in the market? What are competitors doing that shifts the way the industry looks? What are your customers doing that alter the workings of your industry?  

For example, Netflix is producing its own series. This was partly because other on-demand TV providers began popping up, like Hulu, HBO Go, and channel-specific apps. It was also partly because their consumers started changing the way they watch television (video on demand became the new norm).

Thus, Netflix wanted a strategy to overtake their competition, and did that by creating their own binge-worthy shows that would attract new consumers. After all, you can’t spend your weekend watching House of Cards unless you have a Netflix subscription.

How do you keep your ear to the ground? What are you listening for in your industry? Are there any particular drumbeats you expect to happen within the market?

How can you anticipate and get ahead of these changes?

Furthermore, how can you use technology in these changing times? Netflix was at the forefront of on-demand TV by switching from mailing DVDs to providing online libraries of series and movies. And with that, they established brand leadership.They created their own software to generate a revolution in the market.

What are the technologies you can use to help you adapt to changes? What do you need to implement to be an effective leader within your sphere?

3. What does the plan look like?

Consistent analysis of the market and your results allow for you to adapt and implement a strategy moving forward.

If you constantly re-evaluate your results, the marketplace, and the industry, and are accepting that business can change rapidly, your plan—although concrete—should also be agile and ready to course correct.

An effective leader is responsive within a structure of the plan. The strategy is definitively aligned with market research, but the plan allows for changes as the market changes. Business owners have to accept that course corrections are necessary to reach the goal of growth.

4.  What do the finances look like?

Who controls the finances in your company?

Keeping a check on finances is a vital part of any new and growing businesses. A business must cover payables and increase revenues to grow.

Effective leadership has a strong economical chain: the financial controller reports to the CEO, who reports to the owner or board of directors, who then make assessments. Leadership isn’t about controlling the entirety of the finances or the business, it is about supporting your team who work together towards the same financial goal, and meeting objectives.   

5. What problems are you facing?

One of the greatest gifts presented to a business is a problem. A problem gives owners and their teams the opportunity to sort through new ideas towards a better solution. A problem allows for getting your team together and thinking creatively, and with that, generating new results. It means that the team has an opportunity to work together in ways to generate new outcomes.

When the results come through, they are presented to the CEO and owner, who then make the final call. Always remember results don’t lie, they are your foundation. Overcoming an existing problem doesn’t mean you, as owner, founder, or senior partner are the only one coming up with ideas, but rather an allowance or an understanding that your team is one of your  greatest assets.

Accept that problems come up. There are always ways to use your assets to solve these problems. Consider shifting your thinking so that you view “problems” as “possibilities.”

6. Are your business processes effective?

Owners and their management teams re-evaluate processes in order to streamline and enhance business. This can be as large as client-facing customer service procedures to something as simple as the way that email communication is utilized within the organization.

Consider looking at the different processes in your business, and ask yourself and your team these questions. Knowing what you know now, what systems would you have implemented at the start of your company? Do the systems work as you expect? Does something need to be updated?

Ultimately, is this procedure an asset to the company? Will it push business forward? If not, how can you—as the owner—enhance this process? How will you involve your team in this enhancement?

7. What are the skills you bring forth?

Skills, requirements, and abilities change throughout the course of an owner’s business. Ideally, your skills and abilities develop and grow to meet the changing requirements of the business. The owner may choose to see individual improvement as an improvement for the entire team, business, and even industry as a whole. Personal progression becomes holistic progression.

Have a look at yourself. Who have you become? What skills do you possess? What abilities do you lack that could be holding you back? Where do you need to continue to grow? What are the requirements in your business that call for growth?

Below are some skills that a great leader might consider developing:

• Integrity
• Honesty
• Vision
• Analytical ability
• Communicative skills
• Strategic planning
• Innovative thinking
• Adaptability

Most importantly, effective ownership is not only building expertise but also focusing on the development of team members. A smart owner knows that a company is more than an individual, it is a group of powerful minds that will grow into tomorrow’s leaders. This means that an effective owner values communication, delegation, and feedback. He or she creates a motivational environment with an evident business culture.

An effective business owner inspires their team with effective leadership, and  executes by allowing the team to take care of the details. Furthermore, an effective owner actively listens to employees in order to ensure that all the required tasks fit into the overall strategy.

Which of your skills and capabilities are meeting the requirements of your team and business? Where do you need to further develop? Are you willing or choosing to develop skills?

8. How is your attitude?

Beyond just skills, the attitude and temperament of a business leader can drastically affect business. In your business as in your life, attitude is what you bring to a situation, so with that said, how did you  show up to work this  morning? Were you hopeful, are you inventive, are you creative, are you inspired? Do you want to share that excitement with your team? If yes, how will you do that?

Everyone has something they can bring to work. How do you choose to bring your skills and abilities to the table?

Take a look at our Running Effective Meetings series (starting with the Prisoner mindset). This delves deeper into how attitude can affect your work life and ability to be a strong leader.

How can you bring your best to the table towards achievement?

9. What is the welcoming message your business delivers?

How do you welcome people? How do you greet people?

How do you make people feel when you talk with them? Do they feel heard, understood, valued? Are they happy, excited, and inspired when you talk to them about your product or service? What is it they leave the conversation with?

What are the physical, emotional, and psychological messages you send to customers and clients?

How do you embrace the connectivity of the first impression?

Employees and clients alike wish to be heard and understood. A strong corporate or business culture reflects, and communicates the messaging of the business with sincerity, warmth, and empathy.

Effective ownership goes beyond individual traits. It is about creating an environment that embodies warmth, genuineness, and empathy from the first moment. Owners represent and exemplify a business’ culture and the welcoming message.

If your business is a storefront, are the door handles clean? Are there  fingerprints on the glass? Does your receptionist have a smile on his or her face? Are there any odors that clients might find offensive? There are simple and smooth welcoming processes, what are yours? This first impression immediately sets an atmosphere that works towards the possibility of increased productivity and sales.

The welcoming message is one of the strongest examples of a business culture. How does your leadership and the environment you deliver represent the business?

The Bottom Line

Leadership is not management. Leadership is a way of being, whether it be working with your clients, or supporting your management and team as a whole.

You may choose to use these nine points as a road map.

Do you need to develop further in any of the above areas? In truth, everyone does. There is no perfect leader.

BusinessLife Global coaching focuses on these nine points as a way to guide you towards further developing yourself, your company, and your BusinessLife. Contact Peter today for an opening conversation, peter@marcuscoaching.com, and to talk about your business.