Top 10 Business Tips
From Peter Perivolaris, General Manager, Hardings Consulting

1. Remember what happened to Australia’s women’s Olympic rowing team in Athens? They stopped rowing! Your business should be like a rowboat. Fill every place with an excellent rower to do the job required for that section of the boat.
    
2. Try to get the sensation that your business is like an orchestra and you are the conductor. Listen for the slightest sound that is out of time or not in tune. Such music is painful to the ear. Work on those areas. When you have all the members of the orchestra playing together as you want them, you have a symphony.
    
3. No matter how large or small your business is, you should have your own Board of Directors. Include people like your accountant, your solicitor, a mentor or business coach, and a valued friend who runs their own successful business. These people have a wealth of business experience and knowledge.
    
4. Set up quarterly board meetings to focus solely on your business. The positive impact this powerful board will have on your business will astound you, and will return your investment many times over. If you’re just starting out, experienced people will often help you for very little cost.
    
5. Staff are your greatest business asset. If you don’t believe that, ask yourself how your business can perform at its best if you don’t have all the right people in the right jobs. Now that you’re convinced, hire the best and look after them.
    
6. If you feel that the market for your business may be shrinking, ask yourself what complementary products or services are being sold to your customers. Chances are some of the suppliers of these feel as you do, and you could join forces with one or more of them to increase your market share.
    
7. Often, when businesses are pitching for "extra" sales, they give a big discount. Customers zoom in on bargains. If you lower some prices to get sales, your customers may not see your other products as good value. This will eventually lead to a cut in your margins and profitability.
    
8. Your business is unique and provides excellent service. So do other businesses. Use outsourcing to engage experts, leaving you to concentrate on what you do best.
    
9. Set up a formal group of business owners from each of your networks: friends, local club, sport, church etc. Meet regularly and kick around your problems together. These will be great sources of fun, information, advice and referrals for your business.
    
10. If you like this newsletter, why not set up your own? With emails, there’s no printing or posting, and it’s free. Find an interesting way to let people know what your business does that is special. It will be forwarded on where you’d least expect it.

In this issue

Top 5 Marketing Strategies for Success

Inspirational Story of Brennan Dowrick - Olympic Gold Medalist

Top 10 Business Tips

The Essential Marketing Toolkit for Accounting Practices