To grow your business, focus on these 3 key things (not these 25)

A pair of tortoiseshell glasses resting on a wooden table with a forest of trees in the background

By AdviceBridge

As a business owner, it’s important to keep your focus on the long term.

Unfortunately, this is probably easier said than done.

Every day you’re confronted with problems that need to be addressed. But generally, the issues coming at you is the small stuff, transient things that come and go.

There’s always going to be something to drag your attention away: brushing up on FCA rule changes; staying abreast of tax rules; employing and retaining staff; logging your CPD hours and enhancing your product knowledge; making sure your compliance is in perfect order…

The list is endless.

But stop.

Take a beat.

And ask yourself: “Is any of this going to grow the business to where I want it to be?”

While all the tasks listed above matter, they aren’t what’s going to drive your business forward. And, worse still, if you allow yourself to get bogged down in the minutiae, you’ll never have the business you once dreamed of creating.

To ensure you stay focused on the bigger picture, make sure you make time to do these three things:

1. Set your goals

It’s your job to set the vision for the company.

Where do you want the company to be in three-, five-, or ten-years from now? How will the culture be at your company in 12 months’ time? What new products or strategies will you develop to help you grow and develop your business and service offering?

Setting the vision for your business is your biggest and most important task. So, make sure you take the time to think about where things are heading and create goals to make sure you achieve the results you desire.

2. Strategise

To achieve your vision, you must develop a strategy to get there. Take time to plan how you will execute your long-term vision for the company.

You don’t have to do it alone. Surround yourself with logical and strategical people who can help guide you.

Focus on finding the best path for your business and work towards that goal. Whatever stage of business you’re at, find and hire someone who will work with you and support the change that is needed to get the business where you want it to be.

3. Be opportunistic

Small businesses often stick to what they know. Although you may want to modernise your processes and update your technology, you could be so busy managing all the day-to-day tasks, you simply don’t have the time to figure out a new way of doing things, let alone implement new processes into the business.

Set aside some time to learn about new technologies. Understand how your business can benefit from digital tools to automate tasks and streamline processes. By investing time in understanding what you could gain and taking the time to implement change, you’ll have more time to concentrate on growing your business.

Next steps

Around 80% of small businesses fail because business owners fail to delegate tasks that hone their employees’ skills.

Believing that they can do it all, they inevitably spread themselves too thin. This can result in decreasing team morale and drive the business into the ground.

So, now you know what you should focus on, here’s how to make sure you achieve your business goals.

Schedule thinking time

To make a difference and grow your business to where you want it to be, you’ll need to delegate to good people and allow yourself the time you need to do the blue sky thinking, the brainstorming, and ask yourself where you could be doing things better.

As mentioned above, it’s all too easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day minutiae of running your business. So, make sure you set aside time to focus on the bigger picture.

Find a day a week or a couple of days each month to step away from the office. Leave the daily tasks to your team and think about where the business is heading and what steps you’ll need to take to achieve your goals.

Hire the right talent

Take a good look at your to-do list and figure out what you can handle and what you’d prefer to delegate.

If you’ve already built a team, identify the unique strengths of each staff member, and work out who can best deal with the marketing, the purchasing, the financing, driving sales, etc.

Automate your business processes

With so many technological advantages available, you can automate a number of time-consuming tasks that you or your team have to undertake.

By embracing automation and introducing technology into your business, you’ll not only improve your time management but also increase the productivity of your entire team.

Get in touch

If you want to find out how AdviceBridge can help you automate and grow your business, please get in touch.

Email hello@advicebridge.com or call us on 020 3925 3850.