4 Key Areas of Focus for Business Growth
As business owners, we want to do it all, and while we often think we’re superhuman entrepreneurs, we know in reality that it’s not possible to do it all. As much as we multitask or feel like we’ve got a grip on everything going on, something is going to slip through the cracks unless we have focus. But with so much going on, it can sometimes be hard to decide on which action item(s) to tackle first.
Today, I’m going to talk about the four different areas of your business that you should focus on, regardless of which stage of business you’re in.
THE STRATEGY
The strategy is HOW your business is going to grow. Having a plan for growth will allow you to pinpoint what does and doesn’t work for your business. And trust me, in any business there’s a lot that doesn’t work — and that’s ok! This way, you can repeat the steps that are most effective and cut out the ones that are the least effective. Just because they work for someone else doesn’t mean that they’re the right strategy for you and your business.
This goes for all areas of your business from marketing to potential clients to finding ways to upsell your current clients. Although we want to build relationships, there is no shame in figuring out how we can deliver an impact AND achieve our financial goals.
THE STRUCTURE
The structure is the FOUNDATION for your business growth. When most of us started our businesses, we set up our virtual shop in whatever way was most convenient for us. We organized our files in the way that was most intuitive. We managed payments in the way that was most familiar (still using PayPal?). For every decision we made, we only had to consider the impact on ourselves.
But in order to grow, we need to make sure we have structures that can be built upon and picked up by others. We need to make it crystal clear who is doing what and the process involved in making sure that no one drops the ball. We don’t want to have to re-design everything from scratch every single time we add a new service or a new team member (just typing that sounds exhausting!). We want to be able to seamlessly integrate these wonderful additions into our current business.
THE SYSTEMS
The systems are BACKBONE that will allow you to dedicate more of your resources toward growth. With solid systems in place, you will:
- Spend less time figuring out who needs to do what, when because it will be obvious to everyone who’s accountable.
- Spend less resources on completing tasks because you will know what is the optimal way to get something done.
- Spend less money paying for tools that you don’t use because every tool has a purpose and is being used effectively.
- Spend less energy on small decisions / manual tasks that can be automated.
Not sure what system to start with – a project management system is usually the best place to begin (along with your client onboarding system).
THE SUPPORT
The support is the cherry on top that is going to take your business to the next level. While you may have all of the skills and tools to run your business yourself, the support is what is going to REALLY make a difference.
Whether it is support in completing tasks that you don’t have the time to do or support in areas of your business where you have less knowledge, having extra hands on your business will free up more of your time and energy to focus on your growth and impact. Don’t wait to hire that bookkeeper or copywriter. Get the support you need to move to the next level (or keep your sanity – whichever is most needed right now).
If you’re not sure how strategy, structure, systems, and support play into your business phase, consider downloading my Focus Framework for your stage of business growth.