Does Your Business Depend Upon You?

For some owners growing their business is given only an occasional thought. But gaining new business, sustaining healthy profit margins, and accelerating gross revenue growth can’t be done in your spare time. One writer states,

“Unfortunately, this happens all too often, and in this scenario, securing business deals becomes accidental rather than deliberate.”

Does this sound familiar??

Effective Business Development

Effective business development is planned, deliberate, and continuous. In my company we developed a three year proforma that was the center piece to my Business Development Plan. A 3-Year Proforma projects a reasonable and obtainable future revenue picture based upon past experience, environmental factors, and growth opportunities. Both actions and outcomes are projected, including projected growth based on expected areas of expansion. This is the business owner’s roadmap that directs the company’s action steps to sustain what you have and grow what you want. If you don’t have a multi-year roadmap for growth you should begin working on one!

Self-Generating Businesses

Many companies remain small and struggling. The company makes just enough to pay the owner’s bills, but never becomes self-generating. By this I mean that when a company reaches a point when it no longer requires the owner to work in the business for its continued success, it has become self-generating. Sources of revenue will continue, managers run the operation in the owner’s absence, and procedures govern how the company runs. This is self-generating and this is the kind of company that someday can be sold providing for a handsome retirement. The alternative to being self-generating is being owner dependent. This kind of company will forever remain small and struggling to maintain itself, and likely will never become an attractive purchase for a buyer.

What do you want for your future?
If you want to someday sell your business you need to develop the business engine so that it can sustain itself and its growth, and not rely solely on the owner for its survival. The most valuable use of an owner’s time is working on the business. This includes the internal assessment of procedures that govern how the work is performed, but also identifying external factors that lead to revenue growth.

Time for Selling?

This really came home to me nearly four years before we sold our restoration and construction services company. I only attended one annual conference, and this particular year I attended a workshop on Exit Strategies. It was about getting ready to sell. I hadn’t really thought much about it, but the idea intrigued me. My biggest take away from the workshop was that I was too involved in my company’s daily operations. We were growing every single year, adding new staff, new layers of management, and new services. It was a dynamic place and I loved every day of it! But I was personally too involved. I spent most of my time working in the business, and clearly not enough time working on it, in spite of the continuous growth. I made a commitment then and there to change my ways. I mapped out where change was needed, and what it would take to succeed. I spent more time planning for and executing business growth plans than ever before, and in one year our growth accelerated nearly 60%. The more time you spend working on your business than in it, will produce greater results than the other way around. Believe me!

Many owners don’t know how to do this. If they did, they would. So involving a trained professional to get you headed in the right direction could make all the difference. Putting in place a realistic and workable Business Development Plan that clearly presents your strategic plans for growth, includes appropriate tactical steps for implementation, and a proforma of financial cost and benefit could provide the roadmap needed to accomplish big things in becoming a self-generating business.

One kind of business simply closes its doors when the owner is hurt or too tired to continue, while the other becomes a treasure to be sold that can provide a lifetime of retirement.

What choice will you make?

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Share this blog with others who may need to hear this message of hope and encouragement, and visit our website for additional resources or to download my FREE eBook How to Grow Your Restoration Business at www.growmyrestorationbusiness.com

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