Top 10 Business Tips
From Peter Perivolaris, General Manager, Hardings Consulting
www.hardingsconsulting.com.au

1. Most businesses need to re-invent themselves every few years: re-brand, re-examine the logo and have a thorough spring clean. The market is so crowded these days that to stand out you need to remind people of your point of difference. It is also dangerous to become complacent when things are going well, and not make necessary changes.
2. Improvement comes from making changes and seeing what works. People avoid change because they like their comfort zone. Without change and risk, there is no improvement. You can bet your competitors are trying to improve.
3. Learning is exciting. It comes from experimenting with new things and adopting the ones that make everything better. You don’t learn anything if you don’t try anything different, which is why if you always do the same things the results will be the same. If business is not going as you would like, you need to learn new ways.
4. A problem with larger businesses is when they can afford to carry non-performers. These businesses have lots of rules, and do not always make everyone accountable, so some people can hide in the crowd. This is often why they are so inefficient.
5. Team building exercises and staff retreats are a nice bit of fun, but only really necessary if the team members are not right in the first place. Start with hiring the right people. The team will then be so good that you won’t need 360 degree analysis.
6. You have to know who is going to buy what you sell. What do they look like, where do they come from, why do they want or need what you have, and keep coming back? If you can clearly answer those questions, then you will have some idea how much you can sell. Otherwise, don’t even open up for business.
7. Tom O’Toole from Beechworth Bakery believes in training people. What if you train them and they leave, you ask? Tom says, “What if you don’t train them and they stay!”
8. Venture capital can be a wonderful way to help a business grow in leaps and bounds. Owners can often be too precious about their business and expect prospective investors to take unreasonable positions when after all they are risking substantial sums. It is better to own a good percentage of something big, than 100% of not much.
9. Only invest in positive people. People who always complain, find fault with everything in the business, and claim every request is difficult, are just plain hard work. And bad for morale. Get rid of them. No talent is worth the aggravation.
10. The converse is also true. Enthusiastic, positive, busy, bubbly people foster a mood that is infectious and creative. They focus on what’s good, not on what’s wrong. As someone famous once said, “Adversity is inevitable. Misery is optional.”
    

http://www.hardingsconsulting.com.au

In this issue

Getting the Most Out of the Design Process

Top 10 Business Tips

Strategic Planning