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How to Grow your Business
Some great Ideas to help grow your Business
Whether you are a master craftsman, professional or very skilled operative, you can always use good ideas and as much help as you can get to develop your business so you can continue to exceed the expectations of your clients and customers. Here are some simple but very affective business ideas you can use.
No business only does one thing - if you thought it did read our home page again! As a reminder if you are in business or just employment you will either be involved directly with one of the 5 things or all of them, if it is all of them you always have:
Collateral
Most people think a business needs money - that's really odd because everyone I know who has got some is always wondering what to do with it. So the missing link is "ideas", ideas are your real collateral, without them you are back in Eden. To turn ideas into wealth you need to be sure your idea will be of interest to many people. Not everyone was working on Aeroplanes in 1890 but everyone was interested in the result. Within 11 years they were one of the biggest growth sectors in the world, yet flying them is still a niche market. Do you suppose the Wright brothers had the money to build Concorde or was Concorde the inevitable collateral gain? This is when you might say your idea has 'wings'. It doesn't have to be a high flyer. Kites are a 2,750,000 monthly global search, the Wright Bros only 301,000. The tough bit is making an interesting sum of it. Kite making is low investment, had you got your idea together when they launched the Kite Runner or thought of Vuvuzela for the World Cup where might you be now? If you just look in your own back yard, or down your career path and then where you think it is headed, you will find your answer. There are hundreds of things all round you that don't work, can be done better or quicker or jobs that just need doing and "what is next" is the most powerful reservoir of ideas you will ever get..and guess what?...it doesn't cost anything! The winning formula then is I + R = W ..or put another way "if we all pool our resources and learn to work together on worthwhile things we are busy and fed" Collateral combines resource with ideas to produce this state, wealth is the product of informed choices.
Products
Products are anything which adds value. What doesn't keep you alive, entertain you or save you time probably is not worth much. The odds are if your product helps achieve one of these states it is going to be of interest. Just work out why people need it and off you go. Theodore Levitt suggested we don't want a quarter inch drill, we need a quarter inch hole, nobody sells holes but everyone needs them!
Markets
Its not about finding markets - that's easy, reaching them is quite another matter. Everyone has this problem. The answer to it is that "If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbour" said Mr Emerson, "You will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods". We call that networking today and it works on the principal of exponential growth by word of mouth provided it is an interesting story...or viral as we might say today. If it is not, you will go broke with lots of mouse traps in stock - and don't bother trying to make one, the world is already overrun with patents on them, stick to your own back yard!
Round up your traffic and feed it with interesting material which excites them, then have some confidence in yourself and your people and make them an offer they can't refuse without giving away £10.00 notes. Make sure the cost of the offer and the method of reaching your market does not exceed the return, which should be many times the cost. Measure this carefully and keep testing and improving it, little and often in measured strides. See the section on the internet and consider trade press and other sources, with small classified ads or adwords to drive traffic to you, there are many other ways, too many to go into here but this should help you.
Employment
You need resource, you don't have to employ people unless you have enough work to keep them busy. If you do take people on and they fail, remember you chose them, you just ruined their lives and you deserve a hard time unless you:
Returns
Lets assume you got all this right. If you are in capital equipment you will get a harvest every 5 years, in between you will get by, don't waste it when it comes in. Put it back into the place that made it for you and keep doing it until it is worth selling and then sell it and go and do something else. If there is no exit route you are in prison and you will not thrive there. So plan an exit route, it will be valuable to you. Find out what the financial cycles are of your business and market, then you can pick the most profitable time to go.
- Collateral
- A product
- A market
- Employment
- Returns
Collateral
Most people think a business needs money - that's really odd because everyone I know who has got some is always wondering what to do with it. So the missing link is "ideas", ideas are your real collateral, without them you are back in Eden. To turn ideas into wealth you need to be sure your idea will be of interest to many people. Not everyone was working on Aeroplanes in 1890 but everyone was interested in the result. Within 11 years they were one of the biggest growth sectors in the world, yet flying them is still a niche market. Do you suppose the Wright brothers had the money to build Concorde or was Concorde the inevitable collateral gain? This is when you might say your idea has 'wings'. It doesn't have to be a high flyer. Kites are a 2,750,000 monthly global search, the Wright Bros only 301,000. The tough bit is making an interesting sum of it. Kite making is low investment, had you got your idea together when they launched the Kite Runner or thought of Vuvuzela for the World Cup where might you be now? If you just look in your own back yard, or down your career path and then where you think it is headed, you will find your answer. There are hundreds of things all round you that don't work, can be done better or quicker or jobs that just need doing and "what is next" is the most powerful reservoir of ideas you will ever get..and guess what?...it doesn't cost anything! The winning formula then is I + R = W ..or put another way "if we all pool our resources and learn to work together on worthwhile things we are busy and fed" Collateral combines resource with ideas to produce this state, wealth is the product of informed choices.
Products
Products are anything which adds value. What doesn't keep you alive, entertain you or save you time probably is not worth much. The odds are if your product helps achieve one of these states it is going to be of interest. Just work out why people need it and off you go. Theodore Levitt suggested we don't want a quarter inch drill, we need a quarter inch hole, nobody sells holes but everyone needs them!
Markets
Its not about finding markets - that's easy, reaching them is quite another matter. Everyone has this problem. The answer to it is that "If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbour" said Mr Emerson, "You will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods". We call that networking today and it works on the principal of exponential growth by word of mouth provided it is an interesting story...or viral as we might say today. If it is not, you will go broke with lots of mouse traps in stock - and don't bother trying to make one, the world is already overrun with patents on them, stick to your own back yard!
Round up your traffic and feed it with interesting material which excites them, then have some confidence in yourself and your people and make them an offer they can't refuse without giving away £10.00 notes. Make sure the cost of the offer and the method of reaching your market does not exceed the return, which should be many times the cost. Measure this carefully and keep testing and improving it, little and often in measured strides. See the section on the internet and consider trade press and other sources, with small classified ads or adwords to drive traffic to you, there are many other ways, too many to go into here but this should help you.
Employment
You need resource, you don't have to employ people unless you have enough work to keep them busy. If you do take people on and they fail, remember you chose them, you just ruined their lives and you deserve a hard time unless you:
- Gave them a business manual
- Trained them
- Protected them and kept them safe at work
- Sent them on courses that helped both of you
- Let them do their jobs and encouraged them to take charge
- Equipped them to succeed
- Rewarded them when they did succeed
- Provided them with a structured and deliverable career
Returns
Lets assume you got all this right. If you are in capital equipment you will get a harvest every 5 years, in between you will get by, don't waste it when it comes in. Put it back into the place that made it for you and keep doing it until it is worth selling and then sell it and go and do something else. If there is no exit route you are in prison and you will not thrive there. So plan an exit route, it will be valuable to you. Find out what the financial cycles are of your business and market, then you can pick the most profitable time to go.
Some product ideas
Franchises - There are thousands of franchise opportunities, you can bolt one onto your existing business for additional revenue - or better still find an established one who wants to sell up. Type it into the internet and get started
Reselling - This is always a good option. Some companies will pay you a retainer or help you with start up costs or even provide you with leads or work. If you are a hands on type contracting is a good earner. When times are good and when they are tough your gear will diversify to other jobs - for example a works van can be a courier service or taxi by night. A fork truck can be a training tool for licensing new drivers (with training) a few local ads, google and some networked contacts provides a year's earnings. If you use a lot of something, keep bigger stocks and sell them on to colleagues or local businesses.
Agencies and Distributorships - the former should always provide you with leads and a visible career path and the independence to achieve it. Good agents are very scarce, there are lots of good opportunities going, and not just for people, companies make very good livings from agency work.
Distributors imply stock or delivering, you can often get help with credit and good terms to give you time to sell and collect money. Are you already doing this, with room for ad ons? or could your customers be helped by you doing a better job supplying essential goods and services at a better performance level? Here is a link to a website that offers special deals to the trade to give you some ideas of the support and help available for these business arrangements take a few minutes to have a look round it may help you.
Buy a Business - yes it is fraught but if you go and have a look or know of someone retiring who has not planned an exit route...which is most people, you can get yourself the goose that lays golden eggs, sometimes for a year's pay to the owner or less. Many people find value hard to attribute. The business is worth a year to a year and a half's gross profit after direct revenue generation costs and about 10% of the current book value of any assets, 100% of the cost of any current saleable stock (anything not covered in dust).
Nothing for goodwill - no really don't do it.
The current order book value in GP and all the cash. Consider the liabilities especially pensions and severances or redundancies, bad debts and slow payers.
Seriously check out lease and rental commitments, loans, debentures or any other strings that come with the business and who's name is on them - you might find yourself on the wrong end of early debt collection and notices to quit. Better still make sure the current incumbent sorts them out before they go. Be very careful of one man businesses with no clear demarcation lines.
Then have a chat with your accountant.
Equipment - Always keep an eye out for new lines and products to deal in, it's free of complications and very focused and a really simple opportunistic way to add some income to your business.
Franchises - There are thousands of franchise opportunities, you can bolt one onto your existing business for additional revenue - or better still find an established one who wants to sell up. Type it into the internet and get started
Reselling - This is always a good option. Some companies will pay you a retainer or help you with start up costs or even provide you with leads or work. If you are a hands on type contracting is a good earner. When times are good and when they are tough your gear will diversify to other jobs - for example a works van can be a courier service or taxi by night. A fork truck can be a training tool for licensing new drivers (with training) a few local ads, google and some networked contacts provides a year's earnings. If you use a lot of something, keep bigger stocks and sell them on to colleagues or local businesses.
Agencies and Distributorships - the former should always provide you with leads and a visible career path and the independence to achieve it. Good agents are very scarce, there are lots of good opportunities going, and not just for people, companies make very good livings from agency work.
Distributors imply stock or delivering, you can often get help with credit and good terms to give you time to sell and collect money. Are you already doing this, with room for ad ons? or could your customers be helped by you doing a better job supplying essential goods and services at a better performance level? Here is a link to a website that offers special deals to the trade to give you some ideas of the support and help available for these business arrangements take a few minutes to have a look round it may help you.
Buy a Business - yes it is fraught but if you go and have a look or know of someone retiring who has not planned an exit route...which is most people, you can get yourself the goose that lays golden eggs, sometimes for a year's pay to the owner or less. Many people find value hard to attribute. The business is worth a year to a year and a half's gross profit after direct revenue generation costs and about 10% of the current book value of any assets, 100% of the cost of any current saleable stock (anything not covered in dust).
Nothing for goodwill - no really don't do it.
The current order book value in GP and all the cash. Consider the liabilities especially pensions and severances or redundancies, bad debts and slow payers.
Seriously check out lease and rental commitments, loans, debentures or any other strings that come with the business and who's name is on them - you might find yourself on the wrong end of early debt collection and notices to quit. Better still make sure the current incumbent sorts them out before they go. Be very careful of one man businesses with no clear demarcation lines.
Then have a chat with your accountant.
Equipment - Always keep an eye out for new lines and products to deal in, it's free of complications and very focused and a really simple opportunistic way to add some income to your business.
