So you have had your first year to 18 months of trading and things have been ok – or perhaps they have been slow. Maybe you had a bright start which petered away or you have seen the progress which isn’t moving at the pace you expected. You may even have had a great year and want to build on that! It’s well known that the initial 12-18 months of trading can be the most difficult and that many businesses don’t make it this far – so congratulations!
Now is the time to really look at how you can continue to build and grow, to remove the mistakes made along the way and to put all you have learned into practice every day. These are exciting times but can also be difficult and perhaps stressful. Sometimes there simply aren’t enough hours in the day!
Moving on from doing it all yourself
Yes, the majority of new businesses tend to have most of their work done by the owner and perhaps a manager or partner. This can be great in some ways but it is very negative in others. If all the responsibility is on you, this can weigh heavily on your shoulders. What this does, quite aside from the potential for impacting your personal life, is takes you away from your core purpose, from your vision, from being able to look at the big picture.
It is this issue which tends to stifle small businesses – when an owner cannot look beyond the day or week’s work ahead. Growth generally doesn’t happen by accident. Sure, it sometimes does but in general, growth comes about by owners and partners deliberately making plans and seeking to grow. It tends not to happen when the owners are stuck spending all their time on the day-to-day work.
Getting a real, specified second-in-command
Perhaps now is the time to promote someone who has been with you; to give them more responsibility and to allow them to put a little bit of “them” into the running of things. Needless to say, this should come with a raise or perks of some sort. If they have been with you for a year, they will have a good understanding of how you like things to run. When you get the right “Number 2”, it can be a complete game-changer, but you have to allow them to do it and not be over their shoulder all the time. Just because everything they do is not exactly how you would do it, this doesn’t mean you need to interject, to micro-manage or to demand your way is followed every single time.
Allowing a second in command to grow and flourish could well be the best thing you ever do. The freedom the correct appointment will give you will ensure you can then take the necessary steps to ensure the continued growth your business needs. Focus then on your next steps that need to be taken, secure in the knowledge that your appointment can handle some things themselves.
Develop strategic partners rather than simply suppliers
A very easy way to take some of the load off your mind is to outsource certain specialty elements of your business to reliable suppliers. At Colorado Canopies, we are more than just a supplier of promotional products, we advise, design, manufacture, deliver and even install our products. Rather than spending your time endlessly browsing websites looking for “the right method” to use to promote your business, contact us and tell us your goals and ideas and let us come back to you with a plan and concept to achieve those goals. Then let our partnership grow with your business, like so many of our clients have benefitted from over the years. Why not contact us today to discuss your goals and let’s take the next step – together.