Closing Down

Every small business has growth aspirations.  In a capitalist business environment, no small businesses exist purely for the purposes of supporting its owners, the government (via taxes withheld) or its ‘immediate family’ (workers and their dependents).

Every business owner or senior manager I have ever spoken with, or worked closely with, had varying aspirations for business growth.

We’ve probably all heard the cliché, “No businesses plan to fail… they just fail to plan.”  So, while you’re planning your next move, consider the following:

1. Create a management team that is able to run the company in your absence. Empower your employees (or at least ‘a few chosen ones’) to make some important decisions that you will support.

Your employees already know that you are in charge.  Allow managers to direct meetings, and also their personal areas of responsibility with limited interference.  If you feel you can’t trust them to make good decisions, replace them!

2. Create an exit strategy, because you’re not going to live forever.  If you are a proverbial one-man business - despite having employees - there will be very little sustainable value in your business, without you!

3. Spend time away from the business in bite-sized chunks. That will allow you to assess how your managers, and the business, are able to function without you (or not).

Great entrepreneurs - like Sam Walton or Andy Grove - spent most of their available time ensuring that they knew their competitors.  In Walton’s case, he had spent most of his working hours (especially earlier in his career) in competitors’ retail shops, studying sales methodologies, client behavior, etc.  Grove, on the other hand, spent half his time visiting with his customers.

If you don’t know what your competitors are doing, your business will fail.  To date, the only entrepreneur that I’m aware of, who had successfully decided that he would tell clients what products they needed… was Steve Jobs.  At the risk of sounding overly facetious I’ll add: “I knew Steve Jobs, and you’re no Steve Jobs.”

And while I’m at it… your company is not called Apple Inc.!

4. Pay your best employees a few points above market rates. This will help mitigate retention risk, and deliver more loyal, motivated employees.  If you pay your best employees at market - or above - they’ll be less likely to shop their services around to companies likely to bid higher for their services.

5. Most importantly, know your ‘financials.’  Review your financial statements regularly to ensure you know your where you stand, financially speaking. If you’re financially ‘illiterate,’ hire a bright accountant to help you to interpret and understand financial ratios, and your general, financial business foundation.

One could probably add many more good management suggestions to the short list above.

I did not intend for this prescription to be exhaustive, but rather to provide a ‘highlights reel’ to encourage entrepreneurs to think longer term, and to create some strategic vision beyond the ‘here and now.’

Best of success in managing your business growth… free market enterprise needs champions like you to help secure the people’s wealth, well-being, and future financial sustainability.

Now, get back to work!