With over 150 years of combined experience, it’s fair to say that our financial solution experts here at The A Firm have had their fair share of questions on how to build a business. And there’s one question that we find stands out as the most common: how do I build a business fast?
Building a profitable business is a long-term investment, and one that should be taken seriously with the due respect involved. That being said, in our many years of service to Australian small businesses, we’ve been privileged to observe businesses that achieved results fast following few similar secrets. If you’re looking to build fast in a way that is sustainable, then consider the following:
Find Your Rock(s) To Lean On
Remember, the most successful business owners will have at least a basic understanding of how every aspect and process of their business works. This helps inter-team communications. But in order for you to move fast as a business owner, you can’t be in charge of everything. Most systems, processes and responsibilities will need to be handed off to team members, while you leverage your own experience to guide your business on a profitable trajectory via momentous, important decisions. This is why it’s critical that when you do hand off responsibilities, it’s someone you know you can trust to keep things running smoothly, without having to constantly check in on them. Every hour you spend managing the day to day of your business is another hour you miss out on taking your business to the next level.
Automate Where You Can!
This being said, you must also ensure your team members are working as effectively as they can. Needless to say, if you are making them operate outdated procedures and clunky software, the overall speed of growth for your business will suffer, no matter how good of a director you are. This is where automation comes in: have your team focus on the things that really matter – such as advancing the business – and leave the mundane activities to software, like CRMs. Your staff will thank you for it, and overall growth speed will increase. As an example, automation can include:
- Customer Relations Management software (CRM) to help filter and nurture inbound leads, so your admin team don’t need to
- Hiring a professional accountant to do your business taxes for you
- Employ a chatbot on your website so if any visitors have questions they can be instantly answered, instead of fielding a 24/7 support team
- Have digital ads running day and night, instead of having to make sales calls yourself
Learn Wide, But Niche Fast
If your business is just starting out, then it would greatly behoove you to learn as much as possible as broadly as possible. Things such as: understanding your competition, emerging trends, identifying future opportunities, learning from the mistakes of failed endeavors before you, and achieving a basic understanding of every aspect of your business (even the ones you don’t think you have time for) to name just a few. This will give you a greater understanding of your industry and allow you to quickly overcome any challenge you may face.
That being said, you must also eventually niche into a specialty. This is the fate of all businesses, and those that adopt this ethos sooner will be able to move faster. For example: almost every car mechanic will state they can fix a car; but very few will state they can reliably fix the interior electronics of the latest model’s dashboard display console.
In fact, that’s partly why The A Firm specializes in estate planning!
By niching, you quickly establish yourself as an authority in a certain area, and this lends credence to your overall perceived competency, which in turn places you above the competition.
Broaden Your Inbound Streams
Remember the old saying: don’t put all your eggs in one basket? Well, the same goes for inbound sales and lead generation! If you want your business to grow fast, you don’t want to just invest in a single stream of inbound profits, such as Facebook ads, SEO, word of mouth, or Google ads – you want them all! If a Google update suddenly tanks your Google ads results, you won’t be left floundering while you try to fix it. Likewise, you can ensure a steady and varied mix of incoming profits as long as you diversify your marketing and sales streams.
Some of our most successful clients have all employed similar methods to what we’ve discussed in order to reach new profitable heights as quickly as possible. However, it’s important you don’t rush the process, and of course, make sound financial decisions along the way. If you’re ready to leave the payroll and tax calculator behind, our financial experts can take over for you and let you run your business! Call the A Firm Today for all your accounting & bookkeeping needs.