Run your business as if you are going to sell it tomorrow, even if that is not your end game.
Why? Because people only buy well run businesses. We can get a huge insight into how we should be running our businesses from what people look for when buying a business.
It is not just about customers and profit – running a solid business covers a huge variety of areas – a lot of it is concerned with proper business governance such as:
- Know your financials – profit, margin, credit control
- Percentage of recurring revenue? What part of your revenue is predictable?
- Legals / are your customers under contract?
- Employees – contracts in place and up to date
- Insurance – is the business covered
- Can the business run without you?
- A recognised Brand and market differentiation
- Customer satisfaction levels – good will
These elements are just a selection of some of the things to consider.
Running a business as an outlet for your passion
A lot of people set up and run businesses because they have a passion – design, website development, photography and all the ‘business’ aspects that need managing were not part of the original deal! Often these are things that many business owners have not been taught or don’t really know or understand the impact of not having the business structured properly.
Foundations for Growth
Many of these elements are all about laying the foundations for growing your business. You will not achieve growth without solid foundations. So many people persuade businesses to grow, to get more customers, increase revenues without having proper business foundations in place.
If you are a creative business and want to operate a well run business that creates value that someone may want to buy one day; or discuss how your business is really performing then please contact me for an initial chat.
This article was originally posted on LinkedIn.