The nine key elements of a successful business

Your organisation needs to be in a constant state of change in order to grow and succeed. There are nine key elements that a business owner/manager needs to focus on when making decisions about their organisation namely; Strategy, Finance, Accounting, Human Resources, Technology, Marketing, Sales, Growth and Legal.

Every business owner or manager must have a sound understanding of each element and how it relates to operations. They also need to have a clear picture of how any change made affects each of these elements.

As your coach, it is our job to ensure that you know how to create and adapt a model for your business that considers each of the key elements for every business process.

A simple example

Imagine you are a one person company selling pencil sharpeners. You believe that you are at the stage where you could justify taking on another person to help make sales calls and fulfill orders. Which of the key elements will need your careful consideration?

Strategy: How will I assign territories? What are my goals with two sales people?

Finance: There will be a learning curve for the new sales person. If it takes two months to make the first sale, can I finance this?

Accounting: Do I have a payroll system in place to track the wages of the new staff and other obligations? What are the taxation and superannuation requirements?

Human Resources: What am I looking for in a sales person? How do I interview them? How do I train the new staff member?

Technology: Will the infrastructure e.g. computers, phones etc. in place be sufficient to handle both of us?

Marketing: This month is OK but if we are both making 100 calls a day will we run out of people to call next month? Do I need to start advertising?

Sales: What is the impact of my sales increasing? What targets should I set for the new sales person in order to be profitable?

Growth: Is this the area to be investing in or would the finances be better spent looking for distributors?

Legal: What contracts and other documentation do I need for my new staff member?

As you can see – the simple task of hiring a sales staff member requires that each of the elements be considered.

However, in considering each of these topics and creating a model for one staff member you now have a model / procedure for hiring your next 100. Putting a series of procedures in place means that your business can start to look after itself. This is how we will turn your business into the business you want to be in!