Getting Unstuck

Is it possible to move your businesses from stagnation to growth in these tough economic times? Last week, I talked about how a lot of business owners feel stuck and don’t know what to do next to improve their situation, and I suggested that a challenge similar to the recent Gold’s Gym Transformation Challenge might be the catalyst to get them unstuck.

I believe that business activity drives the economy. Yes, we do get a lot of federal and local funds to support projects, but where does the government get its money? The answer: By taxing individuals and businesses. And who pays individuals? Most get paid working for businesses or the government – which get their money from businesses. So, you can see that it all really starts with business activities, or when consumers pay for goods and services offered by businesses. Therefore, if businesses grow and prosper it will then create greater economic growth.

The key, then, to greater prosperity is to assist local businesses to prosper. This will create more jobs, reduce the “brain drain” of losing good people due to increasing cuts or lack of jobs, create greater economic and social stability, and ultimately improve the standard of living and quality of life. Now the $64,000 question is: “What would best help local businesses grow?”

There are already numerous government and private-sector organizations and people who offer solutions to start-up and established businesses to help them grow their businesses. If all of their resources were combined in a collaborative effort to offer greater benefit to businesses, they would then have the tools, training, and services that could help them grow their businesses. However, unmet needs that business owners have should also be identified in order to enhance their growth.

In my work with hundreds of businesses, ranging from start-ups to well-established corporations, I have discovered three reasons why they tend to get stuck: First, they have lost belief in themselves, their business, or the economy and have just hunkered down in hopes that they’ll survive long enough for things to improve. This has caused them to stop or limit their advertising, staff training, or making a continued effort to improve their business. This mentality creates a vicious downward cycle where the focus is on cutting costs and trying to make payroll, rather than instilling growth thinking into every aspect of their business.

Second, they don’t have a detailed strategic plan that identifies their highest level activities or specific performance growth expectations they can monitor on a consistent basis. Instead they just “shoot from the hip” and hope things turn out for the best.

And third, these stuck businesses don’t know how to set specific goals that will lead them to a desired outcome for their business. Their mental and emotional goal is to just survive another day, week, or month. Since they don’t have goals, it means that they haven’t identified the resources that will best help them reach their goals.

I believe that a business challenge should address all three reasons and also provide the necessary resources to help them grow their business. This could include financial support, information and training, or it could come from forums to express ideas and brainstorm solutions. It may also involve strategic alliances with businesses to enhance distribution channels, gain additional customers, improve operations, and cut costs. Improving customer service should also be an objective, since this creates more loyal customers who return more often and tell their friends about businesses that have great service.

It’s also essential to have a plan of action that allows everyone to get on board and know the highest value activities the company should focus on to achieve its goals. However, many individuals tend to avoid the difficult task of writing a business plan, and the reality is that only a small percentage of those plans actually get implemented. So, it would be ideal to have a concise plan that fits on one sheet of paper. This would also allow everyone to be on the “same page” when it comes to knowing what is the most important thing to do next.

I’m meeting with some established business owners and key individuals in various government agencies to discuss the things that businesses need to improve the economy, and then how it can be delivered in a simple, affordable, and effective manner that allows every participating business to see results right away. If everything works out well, we should be able to identify the services that are currently available to deliver key benefits and possibly create additional benefits that will help businesses get unstuck and improve their sales and profits.