Building momentum in your business

Every business you ever consider or actually launch, requires a great deal of planning and execution in order to be successful. Sure, there are lots of ideas, businesses, gimmicks or even guru’s who claim they can guarantee success.

However, business, just like life, doesn’t work like that. In our opinion, we would always take such claims with a huge amount of scepticism as nothing is guaranteed. Being in business is the classic risk and reward conundrum as you forgo the monthly wage for unlimited potential earnings.

But, we want to level with you. Being in business is a marathon and not a sprint. We believe it is important to set your expectations when you start a new business. It is crucial that as a business owner, you understand that there will be ups and downs along the way.

If you read the biography of any successful business owner, be it Bill Gates, Lord Sugar, Jeff Bezos et al, you will see how they overcame hurdles along the way to becoming successful. All too often, people set unrealistic expectations for their business, especially in the short term.

One of the best parts of working within iOB Business is the sheer diversity and broad number of people we speak to in any given month about our Digital Agency business opportunity. During these conversations, it is always interesting to hear about the person's motivations for starting a business but also the goals they set in the short, medium and long term.

Most people tend to underestimate what they can do in the long term and overestimate what they can do in the short term. We like to use the analogy of building a house when it comes to building a business as they share many similarities.

If you were hypothetically looking to build a house, you’d first need to research and find a suitable piece of land. You would then need to find an architect to design your house and also investigate whether you could get planning permission before you went ahead with the purchase. This is very similar to the due diligence that people do before they decide to start a business.

Once you have purchased the land, your builders would need to start digging the foundation for your dream home. Again, this is similar to starting a business where you need to lay the framework for your business and ensure your infrastructure is ready.

The point we are trying to make here is you wouldn't start furnishing your home if you hadn’t built the house. In business, people start to think about what their business will look like in 3-5 years when they haven’t put the groundwork in to get there.

So this week we wanted to focus your attention on how to build momentum in your business to achieve all your objectives.

Start with a CRM
We have highlighted the value of a CRM (customer relationship management) system in previous blogs but this really is the cornerstone of any business. Managing your contacts, following up with tasks and prioritising your time are all vital elements to realising your goals.

A good CRM system will keep you focused and ensure you are consistent in all aspects of your business. Slow and steady is a great concept to remember in the early stages of any business. Setting the right working practices, routine and methods will go a long way to ensuring you are extracting maximum benefit from all the areas of your business.

Set goals
While it is great to have challenging and ambitious plans for the future, you should aim to set short, medium and long term goals. The immediate challenge for any business should always be their short term goals that generally focus on revenue, breaking-even and return on investment.

However, you should also set longer term goals that you can work towards and have a solid strategy in place to help you achieve them.

Remain balanced
It is human nature to get carried away with your emotions. Feeling great when you have closed a new deal and feeling dejected when pitching for new business doesn’t quite go your way. The important thing is to remain balanced and not let your emotions dictate your work ethic.

We all like working on tasks that we enjoy. The key in business is making sure you work on the important tasks, even if they aren’t enjoyable. For example, if you know you need to complete a piece of admin that is boring, don’t put it off but just focus on tasks in order or importance.

Take consistent action
This is our biggest takeaway from today's blog and something we can’t stress highly enough. In order for you to make any business a success, you need to take consistent action. For instance, you need to follow up with prospects in a timely and organised manner. You need to constantly add leads into your sales funnel to ensure you have a steady pipeline of contacts.

If you take a haphazard approach that is not consistent, you will never achieve your objectives. There is always a direct correlation between the effort you put in today and the benefits you realise as a business in the medium to long term.

Revenue generating activities
Focusing on tasks that will yield revenue is a great way to build momentum in your business. Start networking and engaging with your clients and customers to build your local profile. Understand what your customers are looking for and adapt your products/services to ensure you are meeting their needs.

We say this a lot to people that we speak to but business is really about people. Sure, it’s great to have cutting edge products or services, but invariably, people buy from those they like and trust. That is why it’s important to make sure you are regularly engaging with your audience.

Remember why you started
The final element we wanted to touch on was taking a step back and actually remembering why you started a business. We all have different motivations and sometimes this can get forgotten in the heat of running a business. It is good to take stock and remember the reasons why you started your business.

This can invigorate you and give you a sense of renewed motivation to tackle any tasks within your business. Moreover, it will help you realise that although being in business can be difficult at times, it is really fun as you are in control of your destiny.

Summary
As we have seen throughout this week's blog, there are lots of things you can do to build momentum in your business. By having an appreciation for the various elements that you can control, such as your work ethic and setting goals, you can make any business a success.

To find out more about how we can help you launch a Digital Agency and build momentum from day one, please contact our team today.

Until next time, take care.