We’ve all heard the stats — nearly a fifth of private businesses fail within their first year. After five years, 50% crash and burn.
But when you have a vision, a keen understanding of your environment and effective marketing strategies to draw in clients and prospects, you can set your business up for success in the long-term.
As a business owner of 30+ years, I’d like to share six secrets that stand the test of time:
- Having a pulse on your industry. How well do you really know the environment in which you compete? What are the fundamentals, challenges, trends and threats? Are you keeping up or relying on dated knowledge? Information is at the core of every successful business — from accurately assessing customers’ needs to having the confidence to set and achieve audacious business goals.
- Embracing your leadership role. Humility, honesty, integrity — these are just a few qualities of a strong business leader. Leaders know their people. They’re thought leadership experts. They can communicate their mission and inspire and motivate others to see the big picture. They can handle constructive criticism and feedback, taking action to build a greater organization. Or they’re wise enough to step back and hire more capable leaders. Which leads us to…
- Hiring wisely. Your organization is only as great as the people who embody it. And each function at every level requires a unique set of skills and competencies that must be met to run efficiently and successfully.Fulfilling your organizational goals starts with the right recruiting and hiring process. It continues with a deliberate, strategic plan for developing and retaining talented people.
- Prioritizing process improvements. If your company hasn’t embraced SOPs and technology advances like automation and integration, you’ll never come out on top. Speaking from experience, these investments can be significant — but that doesn’t make them any less necessary. Without the research, tools and process improvements we’ve made over the last several years, it would’ve been impossible for Magone & Company to scale at speed and maintain a significant growth trajectory.
- Making strategic marketing investments. “If you build it, they will come” is not a viable plan for growth. Many service industries have become increasingly commoditized, CPAs included. As the Magone & Company business model has morphed to stay ahead of the industry, we’ve invested in consistent, ongoing multichannel marketing efforts to showcase our thought leadership and effectively differentiate our services.
- Overcoming fear of failure. Did you know that 33% of Americans have let fear hold them back from launching a business? Instead of stressing over all the scenarios that could play out, let them motivate you to work harder and work smarter. Anticipate challenges and how to mitigate them. Devise contingency plans if you don’t get the results you’re hoping for. If you make mistakes, learn from them and then move on to the next issue.
30 years and going strong
It’s hard to believe 30 years have passed since I’ve embarked on this venture. The next 30 years will likely be filled with new challenges and changes that will impact the way we do business. But what will not change is our unwavering commitment to help our clients achieve their goals and solve their challenges.
Don’t already have a trusted business strategist working on behalf of your organization? Let’s chat.