Did you know that only 20% of businesses get their ‘pot of gold’ at the end of the rainbow when they sell? Most owners sell at the worst possible time, often when their business is not performing at the optimal level – or when they are fed up, frustrated and tired. Is your business going in the right direction? Running a business is tough and if you are anything like the majority of business owners you are likely to have some or many of the following problems:
- Sub-standard levels of productivity
- Morale is average or, worse still, low across the team
- Your attrition rates are high (you should be aiming for between 10 -20%)
- You lack some of the skills to deliver your product & services successfully
- Communication breakdowns are common
- Absenteeism levels are higher than you would like
If this is happening to your business, the combination of the above is a recipe for disaster. If you are like me, you are actually looking and hoping for the following:
- Greater profits
- Increased levels of revenue growth
- Lower attrition rates
- A happy, stable & high performing team
- Clients are lining up for your services or products
So what is the problem? What is going wrong?
- You lack enough time or hours in the day to do everything you need to
- Like all small businesses, cash flow is a constant battle
- You lack the knowledge to do everything on your plate
- You have conflicting priorities and everything needs to be dealt with urgently
How can you fix this? What is the secret?
- Education – never stop increasing your skills. Become a great recruiter, so that that you can hire great talent, learn how to performance manage your employees or understand your legal obligations
- Measure your costs – what doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done! Know what your levels of attrition are costing you. Understand how to measure how much a long term job vacancy is costing you, understand what your annual leave accruals are
- Compliance – ensure that you are compliant with the relevant employee relations legislation – such as your Modern Award obligations, National Employment Standards and Workplace Health & Safety
- Fire Non-Performers – this does not happen enough. Look to actively either improve performance of poor performers or exit them. Have those difficult conversations, and soon
- Increase the engagement levels of your team – proactively look to build happy and motivated employees who are high performing
Let’s look to increase the number of entrepreneurs selling their business with a payout they deserve for years of blood sweat and tears.
