Part II of my Business Owner Checklist describes 7-10, along with a P.S. of the components that I believe are essential for business owners to have in place to be positioned for success and growth. I wrote about the first 6 last time (click here to read it). Part II also incorporates references to professionals that I trust.
- Leadership/Strategies: Every business needs:
- A good leader who focuses on growing the culture of the company, specifying a vision, setting up highly-functional teams and engaging the workforce to be increasingly productive. Jeri Quinn, an executive coach, focuses on these abilities to grow next-level leaders with an accountability mindset and extraordinary communication and management skills.
- A strategic plan, even though it should not be cast in concrete. Regular reviews are imperative as changes occur in the economy, your product/service, the marketplace demographics, and the company’s goals and objectives. Talk with Michael Gansl and Matt Plociak of Voice of Reason Consulting about their SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. They can also assist in executing your revamped plan.
- Business Development: Business plans typically contain tasks associated with marketing; PR; branding; business cards/brochures; referral sources; networking; and components, such as websites, videos, and webinars, which are imperative to maintain visibility with your market.
- My favorite marketers and networkers are Rochelle Lisner of Dynamic Business Growth, David Bresler of Network!Network!, and Vik Rajan of phoneBlogger.net.
- Two terrific resources for relationship building are Cynthia Greenawalt of Sea Change Networking and Bruce Stout of The Rainmakers Forum, whose programs can add immense value to your business. Ask Cynthia about Third Wave Thinking and “farming versus hunting” theories and Bruce about various offerings, such as career management, peer review, psychographics, and sponsored panel presentations.
- Check out Valerie Paik at Tag Online, Carmen Yazejian of Network 9, and Priscilla Baer of Priscilla Baer Design – these firms design, develop, and install beautiful websites. Plus, Valerie provides web hosting services as well.
- Alex Vachon of Cartouche Creations produces compelling videos and Michael Meyer of Picture More Business creates engaging executive and attorney portraits for your print and digital marketing materials.
- Retirement: Business owners, whether they have employees or not, have an excellent opportunity to not only save for retirement but also to decrease their tax liability during their highest and most lucrative revenue-producing years. Please let me know if you are interested in learning more about all the various accumulation and distribution options.
- Taxes: It is never a good idea to neglect handling your business taxes – either sales and/or income. Failing to file returns, make full payment, or respond to correspondences and notices from taxing authorities causes complex problems and ongoing issues for business owners. One of the major focal points of my practice is the preparation of business tax returns; I would be delighted to help you with this task.
P.S.: Location: Everyone seems to recognize the importance of location. So, if your business depends on external space, such as for office or retail venues, I think you would benefit from the services of Lynn San Andres of Mason Alexander Group Ltd or George Grace at Mohr Partners.