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Many of my good friends are small business people.
One of my passions is to make a study of what
makes them successful and what pitfalls they need
to avoid. After many years and many conversations,
this is what I have learned so far. It seems the pitfalls
of the unsuccessful are the very things that make
their counterparts successful. Here are the top five
ways to find success in your small business:
1. Know yourself.
Do a S-W-O-T analysis. What
are your Strengths, your Weaknesses, the
Opportunities and the Threats? Examine and
understand each. In every strength there is
a weakness and in every weakness there is
a strength (e.g. you are small so lack financial
clout, the advantage is by necessity you will be
more creative). The better you know yourself the
more successful you will be. By knowing yourself
you not only know your areas of opportunity,
you know what areas to avoid. One of my
favorite assessments is Fascinate based on Sally
Hogshead best selling book by the same title.
2. Set goals.
This sounds almost too simple but
many people and businesses do not set goals.
Goals can keep you focused on where you want
to go and how you need to get there. Set specific
measurable goals with timelines and track
progress towards them. Set goals in areas that
you know you can win (if you did the SWOT in 1,
you will know those areas).
3. Grow within profitability.
Many times I see
companies who set the goals, but they grow
their expenses in anticipation of sales only to
find the sales do not materialize at the level
they thought. I’ve fallen for this too many times
myself. Sell first then add overheads.
4. Sell more to your existing customers.
Look
at what they buy from other sources that you
might be able to sell to them. You already have
the relationship with your customers. You are
already spending the time to service them so
your incremental cost is quite low. For example,
5Ways to Grow
your Small Business
By Jack Klemeyer
SOAR TO SUCCESS
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D
ecember
2016
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Business Acceleration Strategies