Help Guide Your Business’s Growth

Are you looking for ways to steer your business toward growth? What kind of preparation questions are you asking? Here are seven questions that you should ask yourself when planning your growth strategy:

Number 1: Why is your company in existence? When you are clear about your purpose in the business world, others will be too.

Number 2: What business are you in? There has to be a direction that is the ultimate decision maker or your decisions.

Number 3: Who are you? Lead by example. Show others who you are and what you stand for. It gives your business direction and it will continue to evolve over time. 

Number 4: In which direction is your business headed? Give your business a direction and visualize it. Then trace your steps backward to understand how to get to the ultimate goal.

Number 5: What are your company’s most important goals? These have to be for a specified period of time and measurable at the end. 

Number 6: How will your company’s goals be achieved? There must be processes put in place to ensure that your goals will be achieved. This can be done through promotion of products/services, training, and constant assessment of performance. 

Number 7: What’s your plan of action to address critical issues? Steps must be implemented to create a proactive, not a reactive, solution. These steps will lead to the most desired outcome for the issue.

What NOT to Do When You Start a New Job

When you start a new job in a leadership position, here are a few tips for things NOT to do…

• Don’t move too fast in the position. Take the time to observe and collect information. There will be plenty of time to implement personnel or strategy changes after you have researched within the company for a few months.
• Be considerate of the objections to your being hired. It is inevitable that other employees will object to your being hired. Communicate what you bring to the table to your co-workers and employees. Do not make promises on how your being hired will improve or change the company. 
•  Take your past mistakes into consideration as a learning tool. Ask your colleagues what you could do better at your new company.

Gain an understanding of what you were hired to do for the company. Understand you will be evaluated for your performance. Take the time to know who will be evaluating you and how they define a good performance from you. Communication will be key in ensuring your focus is the same as the evaluator.