Is It Time to Ramp Up Your 2019 Plans?
Where have the first 4 months gone!?
The month of May has crept upon us; which means a Third of the year is behind us and there is just over 7 months remaining to hit those milestones to make 2019 a successful year for our business?
Kudos to you if you have hit some big runs already this year!! However, for some of us, the last 4 months may have left us feeling “behind the eight ball” so to speak.
If you haven’t got off the starting blocks as quickly as you had hoped to, the good news is that there is still time; and here are 3 tips to get you back on track.
3 tips to get your plans back on track!
- CLARITY – Are you clear on the outcomes that you want to achieve in 2019?
- LESS IS MORE – Are you pursuing the initiatives that will drive maximum impact?
- THINKING BIGGER – What is the full potential of your business?
1. CLARITY – Are you clear on the outcomes that you want to achieve in 2019?
You might have seen Henry Ford’s quote,
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal”
As a leader, have you got your goals clearly in sight or are you constantly getting drawn into day to day challenges of the business? Being hands on and close to operations is great, however it is difficult to change the trajectory of any business unless its leaders, can periodically remove themselves from the “nitty gritties” of the business to focus on the direction of the business.
If, as a leader, you are clear on the outcomes you are seeking this year as well as how those results will be achieved, but not getting the traction you want, maybe it’s a good time to ask your key staff members whether they are clear on the outcome that needs to be delivered in 2019 and the hurdles that are holding back the delivery of those outcomes.
2.LESS IS MORE – Are you pursuing the initiatives that will drive maximum impact?
The key staff members of any business have only so much bandwidth to undertake anything other than the day to day operations of the business. An effective leader is careful and discerning about how this available bandwidth is utilised to improve and grow the business.
To be effective and deliver results that create impact for the business, it is better to focus the collective bandwidth of key employees on a small number of high impact tasks – things that deliver maximum value rather than have a long hit-list of things to deliver.
3. THINKING BIGGER – What is the full potential of the business?
We frequently come across businesses (particularly founder led) that believe that what they are doing is all they can do and what they are doing is the only option available to them.
The leaders in these businesses tend to work within the constraints of the funds generated out of the business operations and any debt they can raise and generally are hopeful that an upcoming event (acquisition of a customer or investment in a machine or technology) will set them on their way to success.
For some businesses, rather than thinking in this piecemeal manner, there is merit and an opportunity to think in terms of “what is the full potential of this business” and developing a plan to realise this potential. Of course, such a plan will very likely require more capital as well as additional expertise.
The starting point for these discussions is a meeting with trusted advisers or mentors who have knowledge and experience in this area who can help “whiteboard” some options. One question to ask in this forum is whether it is time to consider a CAPITAL injection?
So, all the best as you hit the rest of 2019 with earnest and hopefully the tips mentioned above contributes in some small way towards achieving your business goals.
Shakti Harduar is the founder of Paradigm5 Partners, a boutique advisory and investment company that helps NZ businesses to grow and build scale. Their services include strategic advisory, capital raising, geographical expansion and getting businesses investor ready. Paradigm5 Partners also helps owners build value in their businesses pre exit or succession.
If you would like to talk to us about any of the areas mentioned in the blog, feel free to contact us by email on info@paradigm5partners.co.nz.