3 simple steps to grow your sales and profit

The tipping point in a company when structural challenges start to appear, is when the number of employees reaches 15 to 20 people. It is very hard for most of the business leaders to manage directly and effectively more than 15 people in a flat organisation.

Quite often, the culture of a company starts getting forged right after its creation. If well managed, it quickly becomes the main element which fuels innovation and employee engagement that are critical for growth. However, if the transition from being a one man show with a bunch of subordinates to becoming a more complex and professional organisation is not handled properly, the consequences could seriously jeopardise the company’s health. Unfortunately, at this stage, leaders are often blinded by routine tasks and business development and sometimes fail to notice the rising problems around them. The risk is to gradually lose the best employees and damage customer loyalty leading to an inevitable decline in financial results.

To avoid falling into traps that those companies often experience, it is essential that employees evolve in a structured environment with clear, short and long-term company objectives supported by work processes.

Firstly, I recommend describing why the company exists and what you would like it to become in the future. You can call it Vision or Mission or name it as you wish but people should almost be able to visualise how the company will look like say in 5 to 10 years. It motivates employees and shapes the culture of a company. Moreover, you will attract the right people for your organisation, all sharing the same goal. Within this process, all employees must have a clear understanding of how their roles fit into the system that will lead to the defined future picture.

Next, a reachable Business Plan, even short, must be outlined and presented to all. The plan should be articulated around finance, sales and marketing, customer portfolio, business process and more if needed, depending on the size of the company. Here are some important questions that should be answered when building the business plan:

• How do we keep people engaged and motivated?

• How do we create an environment where people feel free to take risks and innovate?

• What are our sales strategy and sales process?

• How are our income statement and balance sheet managed?

• Does our stock match customer needs?

We all know that the devil is in the details; so, the third aspect to ensure business continuity is to translate the long-term goals into workable short-term activities. The activities must be specific, measurable and achievable with deadlines and target owners. They should help reach the company objectives within a set time frame and be linked to individual objectives of employees to ensure that everyone moves towards the same direction. This is the best way to keep employees engaged.

All the above actions are very simple to put in place; however, I’ve seen many good businesses fail because management had no time to build a foundation to implement the company’s strategy.

I have practical and easy to use tools. Get in touch with me if you or a company that you know would need my assistance. I excel in organising businesses and I achieve results.