The 8 Fundamentals of Business — and why you should have them covered…
Have you ever experience the situation where you’ve put a new system in place, only to find that it uncovered another problem that you wish you’d first considered?
Or, found that you grew out of it too quickly?
Or, that actually, it didn’t play nicely with everything you needed it to, which created a double-entry problem?
Or, you started to wish you’d fixed something else first because it would make this thing a lot easier…
If none of those has happened to you, then count yourself blessed!
Because, these are all super common when new systems are put into place, without giving enough thought to “the big picture” of how everything in the business is interacting.
At The Helpful Brand, we’re passionate about seeing that our clients never go through this.
We know that taking a moment to regularly measure the health of all the fundamental areas of your business can actually save a lot of time, money and stress in the long run.
So let’s look at what the 8 Business Fundamentals are:
1. The Business Owners/Managers
This can often surprise people, but the first business fundamental you should review as part of your regular Business Health Check is yourself (or the Business Manager).
Why?
Because habits (good or bad) start at the top and trickle down.
If you’re living in chaos and not managing your time well, chances are the team will be struggling too.
Fundamental systems to have in place for Business Owners/Managers include:
Good calendar management
Task and project management
Great health habits
If you know this is an area of need for you, you might like this blog: 6 Ways to Supercharge Your Productivity
And this blog: 7 Ways to Avoid Overwhelm
2. Your Goals & Planning
If you’re determined to achieve business growth, a strong and detailed business plan is not optional. Your plan doesn’t have to be complicated. A simple one-pager or visual business board can be perfect!
This fundamental is all about:
Defining your why; why are you doing what you’re doing?
Your WHAT (what do you offer?)
Your WHO (who are both your ideal team and ideal customer?)
Your WHEN (think launch dates etc)
and most importantly Your HOW (how are you going to achieve all these goals?)
If you know this an area you know you need to improve in, you might like our Create Your System for Success Masterclass here.
It’ll help you create a kick-ass 12-month Action Plan.
You might also like to read How to design a Business Plan you’ll actually USE and 7 things every Useful Action Plan Needs
3. Your Business Finances
Money is the number 1 reason businesses go bust. So, it’s vital not to neglect this fundamental.
When considering your Business Financial Systems, we suggest you consider:
Your sales/cashflow systems
Your bookkeeping systems
How you manage your assets
Your measuring and reporting and
Your financial compliance
4. The Operational Systems & Processes
This fundamental is where most businesses get stuck when they’re in rapid growth mode and trying to scale. If you’re stuck at a level, and can’t seem to budge because either you or the team are burning out, this is the business fundamental for you to focus on.
Systems to consider are:
How you manage your customers
How information flows through your business
How you communicate between the team and your clients
How you track your sales/jobs
How you track all your marketing
If you know these areas are a challenge for you, we highly recommend taking our Business Health Check. It’s the best first step to working on a Business Improvement Plan.
5. Your Team
A team that is performing in their genius, and feels appreciated, will reward you by performing their best.
It’s also important to make sure businesses are compliant with their required paperwork and tax obligations.
Team systems to consider are:
Team roles
Your paperwork compliance
How you monitor the key performance indicators
The team climate
Your team fit/personalities
6. The Brand
A consistent brand is so much more than a logo; it is more what your brand is known for. For example — your values, the experience people have dealing with you, your messaging, the quality of your products/services.
Believe it or not, there are systems around your brand to make sure that you are putting a consistent brand out to the world.
Brand systems to consider are:
If your logo is consistent
If your website gives the message and experience you want it to
If you have a brand style guide for people to follow
Do you have templates set up for ease of use?
7. Sales & Marketing Plans
Marketing and sales are everything to your bottom line. For the majority of businesses coming through our Business Health Check, this is an area they need to improve on, and sadly, it shows in their cashflow score.
Sales and Marketing Systems to consider are:
Your overall promotion/sales plan
Your overall marketing plan
Your social media marketing plan
If you’re not sure the difference:
A sales plan in a plan to promote a specific product or service, for a specific amount of time, to achieve a specific amount of revenue.
A marketing plan is about growing your general brand awareness in the marketplace.
A social media plan supports both the other plans. It’s the “HOW” in helping you achieve your sales and marketing objectives.
If you know this is an area your business needs help with, you will like this free resource: 50 ways to Promote Your Business (without turning people off)
And, you will benefit from taking this Masterclass: How to Promote like a BOSS, which will take you step-by-step through creating a kick-ass Promotion Plan.
8. Customer Experience
Last but certainly not least, it’s important to consider your systems around ensuring your customers have a consistent and positive experience when dealing with your business.
It’s easier to upsell or cross-sell to existing customers than it is to go out and find a new customer. So, it’s therefore important we look after our customers wisely so that they continue to trust us and want to continue a relationship with us.
Customer System to consider are:
How you manage and consider your customer feedback
What your wait times are like
How effective you are at communicating with your clients
Phew, that’s a LOT.
So, how do you make sure you’re doing it all?
Well, quite honestly, it’s impossible to do all of that well👆🏻
The thing is — businesses change so rapidly as they grow that one minute we think we’ve got it mastered, and the next things are in pieces again or, we’re feeling the heat of the growth.
So does that mean that we shouldn’t even try?
No. It’s in our favour to continue to improve and refine. Because there are certain measures we can take to improve the situation, and help avoid a crisis before it hits.
One of those measures is to do a regular big picture Business Health Check.
We recommend doing a health check at LEAST annually, if not 6-monthly or even quarterly. It all depends on how fast your business is growing/changing and what your own business goals are.
Then, we recommend doing smaller reviews on a monthly basis.
And we even have a free template you can use to do your end of month reviews
