A lot of people have asked me how to cope in tricky times. My new book, Small Business Survival will be out later in the year, but meanwhile here is a five-minute checklist.
1 Have a clear understanding of why your business exists
2 Work hard on motivation
3 Be patient
4 Nurture contacts carefully
5 Take the plunge and take risks
6 Learn to let go of some things
7 Use your partners judiciously
8 Find brave customers
9 Grow prudently
10 Keep an eye on escalating bureaucracy
11 Spend the time to find the right people and build the right team
12 Remember different skills are required to set up a business than to grow one
13 You don’t have to win by much to win by a lot
14 Save today’s income for tomorrow’s expansion
15 Avoid going after everything that moves
16 Only acquire businesses to add skill sets you do not already have
17 Find the time to invest in growth
18 If you’re not an interesting person, people won’t want to do business with you
19 To stay as you are is impossible
20 Momentum is important but size in itself is not
21 There is good growth and bad growth
22 Bad growth is doing things for the wrong reasons
23 Growth is good so long as it is profitable
24 Growth usually involves making a lot of mistakes
25 Work out how much money you want to extract and over what time period
26 Make sure quality of service is maintained
27 Do not pursue growth for growth’s sake
28 Top up your leaky bucket constantly
29 Differentiate between higher turnover and better margin
30 Rapid growth can endanger quality and reputation
31 Know when to turn down business
32 A principle isn’t a principle until it costs you money
33 Turnover or revenue is vanity, profit is sanity
34 Do not compromise what you set out to achieve in the first place
35 Don’t change the thing that most clients like
36 Don’t grow too fast and dilute what enabled you to grow in the first place
37 Regard a launch as the beginning of the beginning rather than the end of the beginning
38 Tell yourself in advance that the honeymoon period will end
39 Continually question what your business does and how well it does it
40 Keep transforming it into a shinier, newer version of itself
41 Entrepreneurs are often good ‘starters’ or ‘creators’ but poor at routine
42 Work out how to deal with the highs and lows
43 Give yourself credit for what you have already achieved
44 Remind yourself why you’re doing it
45 You and your partners have to evolve along with your business
46 Remember that most people in business have itchy and low times
47 Be aware that partners get the blues too, so act sensitively
48 Have the idea, build the car, then employ someone else to drive it for you
49 Realize that the business will never be ‘finished’
50 Launching a business is a bit like having a baby
51 Running it can be like the loneliness of the long distance runner
52 Get a good non-exec to offer a different, less emotional perspective
53 Have an idea where you want to go but always be open to other opportunities
54 Talk to people who know more about it than you do and hear about their lives
55 Make quick decisions about opportunities that could influence your growth
56 Go for a long walk, or a run, get on the running machine, or in the shower
57 You only need to be five minutes ahead of the pack to succeed
58 Keep your big picture clear and at the forefront of everything you do
59 Ask your team
60 Keep lifting your head up and be ready to take opportunities
61 Always have a pen and paper handy
62 Make time for planning
63 Reinvent your business all the time
64 Listen to your customers and bright people
65 Look how successful businesses manage expansion in other sectors
66 Listen to what is happening around you
67 Allow yourself the time away to contemplate ‘what else?’
68 Start with the people and the casting
69 Have an annual day of reflection
70 Be spurred on by ambitions that are way beyond your current reach
71 Get away from the business to have enlightening moments of inspiration
72 Use external consultants or facilitators to move into novel related areas
73 Plan and test everything before you set up
74 Be confident and have a clear picture of your worth
75 Equity is forever. Be very careful to whom you give equity
76 Everything takes a lot longer than you think
77 Make sure you’re prepared for the rollercoaster ride
78 Networking is essential as talent alone in some cases is not enough
79 Invest in friendships and relationships – the rest will happen naturally
80 Understand the selling points which trigger income-generating responses
81 Listen to your gut feeling – it’s usually right
82 All businesses are people businesses
83 Everyone running a business goes through some big lows
84 Few other people are as excited by your business or as committed as you are
85 Your customers know less about your subject matter than you do
86 Business is not personal
87 Your first instincts are normally right
88 Everything is negotiable
89 Always act and tell the truth fast
90 Talented craftsmen are by no means talented managers
91 Don’t keep pursuing something if it isn’t a success
92 If you don’t do it, you don’t get paid
93 You have to love what you do
94 Be absolutely clear about what your product or service is
95 Greed is usually transparent
96 You’re probably better than you think you are – don’t sell yourself too cheap
97 There are some people it’s just not worth trying with
98 Enjoy the process of building the business, not just the dream of what you will one day achieve
99 Be brave, say what you really think, and go to bed knowing you did your best
100 Make mistakes and learn
101 Don’t be afraid to move on from something if it is not working
102 Be with the people you enjoy being with
103 Reputation in any market is worth more than anything else
104 Never be afraid to ask advice from someone you admire
105 Do the important things first – don’t put them off
106 Treat all people as you would expect to be treated yourself
107 Believe in what you are doing and at the same time listen to healthy criticism
108 Past success doesn’t mean future success
109 Have Big Audacious Goals
110 Reach for the stars
