Fundamentals for Business Growth
Launching a start-up or looking to grow a mature business, you need to first tick off these 3 basics – then the rest will fall in line.A career in a fast growth company and being around other entrepreneurial CEOs in some of the best performing and poorly performing SMEs as taught me a thing or two on understanding business growth and when I got down to analyze this are of business growth, 3 things appeared consistent with all the high performers and appeared lacking with the low performers, Whether you are creating your first business as a start-up or are already a big business, getting the basics down usually results in a profitable business growth opportunities.
Here are three fundamentals that you have to get right to succeed. If you don’t, you’re most likely swimming in risky waters.
1. Make the right investments in time. There is a commonly shared view that many large businesses have trouble creating sustainable growth because their CEOs are not financially insensitive to making quick fixes but fundamental infrastructure investments after a lobbing. The opposite normally apply to the firms in the SME category that at most time the entrepreneur behind is part of the top management; this creates a good ground for quicker decision making and capital mobilization once a good investment is identified. While we encourage mangers and entrepreneurs in the SME category to stay alert and open to ideas from the market because this is something an entrepreneur must do to survive, we also encourage Managers and CEOs in big businesses to do the same so as to help them avert from the dangers of ignoring changing trends in the market that might warrant investment to spur growth. Big companies can avoid it for a short period of time, but the lack of investment will become apparent in the long run.
2. Build a clear business model. Talk to any business adviser and they will often at one point ask what your business model is, the banks, venture capital firms, and all others who lend or invest in small or large companies always asks for a business plan, their most valuable part of the plan may not be your zealous projections but your business model. Simply a business model is the plan implemented by your company to generate revenue and make a profit from operations. The model should then include the components and functions of the business, as well as the revenues it generates and the expenses it incurs.
This is where our small business suffer the most and thus lose footage for growth, as an entrepreneur, CEO or manager, your best chance for growth will always come from scanning the market, learn its dynamics and how best you can sell to them, see competition and how they are selling then derive ways you can out so them, then when you have your answers craft them in the business model and before you know it the sky will be the limit, this is what set apart facebook from MySpace.
3. Build the best team. As an entrepreneur, business Manager, CEO, your primary job, bar none, is to build and support a quality team. Richard of Richard Studios took a camera one day made shots of students around Makerere University Business School (MUBS), now running one of the best Photography business in Uganda with over 3 Studios in different location his role changed from the first day role of taking photos to grooming a team that can replicate his good work so clients in all these locations enjoys the quality and good experience associated with his job. Now that is the spirit of a business owner whose eyes is set on growth. After hiring, the CEO’s most important job is to build a culture and support structure to ensure that the team thrives, personally and professionally.
When and entrepreneur manager in a small, medium or even large scale firm sets these 3 fundamentals right he can them know he has put in place a business ready to grow, and take advantage of the internal and market forces, most businesses fail in their growth initiatives because one or more of these fundamentals are weak or completely lacking, making most investments not spring growth.
