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Successful Business Owners Always Plan Ahead

As a business owner, you need to wear a variety of hats, some of which can be unfamiliar. In order to succeed in your business it’s vital that you master all the skills. It’s important to work “on” your business, not just “in” your business. What this means is that regardless of how you are at producing the good or service you provide, you need to be a good manager at every level.

If you want to be successful in your entrepreneurial efforts, you’ll probably need to put in long hours with few rewards. It’s a sad fact that 9 out of 10 new businesses fail. One of the main causes is that some significant area is being neglected, be it marketing, money management or HR.

To make things easier for you, there are a few daily habits and character traits that you might want to consider as an intelligent business owner. Pay attention to these and you’ll reap the rewards.

Successful Business Owners Are Cautious and Calculating

In order to be a successful business owner, you need to be able to predict the outcome of any decision you make. An economically savvy person doesn’t take unnecessary risks. A prudent manager knows, or has a fair idea of what’s ahead. The aim is to be financially informed.

Savvy Business Owners Are Honest About Their Finances

Unlike your marketing mix which has a million variables and outcomes, your business finance numbers always tell the true story of the success of your fiscal endeavours. As an aspiring entrepreneur it’s so important that you face reality when it comes to cash flow, income and cost of sales. One of the failures of new business is to ignore the financial reality of a fledgling company. Leaving out inconvenient truths, such as the lack of sales or a high cost of sales will eventually drag you down, despite being successful in other areas.

Try to account for all eventualities. Illness, time off, staff training, import duties, or other costs might creep up on you. It’s also a good idea to tighten your belt on personal drawings if your bottom line is looking a bit worse for wear. You want to charge ahead, not fall backwards into debt.

Always Look To The Future

In order to do well in business, you cannot just rest on your laurels, and slap yourself on the back for the present situation. You must look to the future. The future vision includes potential opportunities and threats to your business. If you can see you will be expanding in 6 months, now is the time to start shopping around for the funding. This will enable the growth spurt. One business killer is expanding too fast without the adequate capital. Growth may stall or even fall back. A future-proofed business plan means the owner can anticipate affordable investment solutions that will help meat and exceed expansion goals.

Every hand you shake is a potential business partner. Every connection you make, even a vendor, might give you a better opportunity than a traditional loan. A successful business owner will always keep their eyes open. Crucially connecting the dots at all times.

Astute Managers Always Have  Plan-B

Sometimes in business, traditional investment sources may not be the most wise choice. Business owners often focus on Plan-A without devising alternatives. Getting too attached to your Plan-A can mean you don’t have the agility to switch gears when the business climate changes. If the first plan fails, many owners panic and make poorly informed “quick-fixes” as a knee jerk response rather than planning ahead.

Natural Selection

The most agile of business managers analyse every aspect of their processes and progress before committing to a financial decision. Every dollar counts in the growth stages of an enterprise so there is no margin for error. If you need to work on building a strong credit score, careful vendor selection is key. Selecting vendors who report payments to the Credit Reference Bureau can assist in this area and raise your score. Debt consolidation can help make things easier to manage if multiple credit cards, leases and loans of being juggled poorly.

Curb Your Extravagance

In many cases, financial abstinence is key. A savvy owner will say no to a “treat” that is standing right in front of them. Sure, extra money from a loan looks good at the moment, but think about the effect that this might have on your credit score.

Even if the loan is repaid on time, it will still appear on your credit report. This may not only lead you into financial distress in the future. It will also make it more difficult for you to grab onto financial opportunities in the future.

A Final Thought   

A sagacious business person is always sharp witted. Every aspect of the business is assessed and evaluated in the present day and the future. The successful business person will plan every movement several steps ahead, considering every encounter to be a potential business opportunity. Entrepreneurs know their position in the area of business finance. There is always always an alternative path to take, in case things make a downturn.

A predictor of future success could be said to be the business owner who never leaves anything to chance.

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