Most people think ‘one is (more than!!) enough’ when it comes to owning businesses. Recently I’ve noticed growth in the ranks of the inspired few who love to juggle multiple business interests. For some of us, limiting our passions to just one way of making money feels like we’ve been put in a small box and the lid has been taped down! Over the next few months I’ll be talking a lot about running multiple businesses – I’m curious and it’s a favourite topic that I explore with the more adventurous of my business coaching clients! Before you go ‘Cool, time to start another business!’ there’s a few things you really need to consider… How well established is your first business? Inevitably you will be far more excited about the new kid on the block than your old faithful… but if it is the one you are depending on for cashflow you need to consider how you will manage both. Instead of having two businesses you could end up with none – you wouldn’t be the first! If you have competent staff in your first business, fantastic – just make sure you have some core metrics that enable you to know how that business is travelling on a regular basis. Many a business owner has gone in search of new pastures only to come back and find the gates unlocked and the horses have bolted under their newly installed management team. If you don’t yet have a good management structure in place you need to consider how your time and resources will be shared between the two businesses. Stretching yourself too thin will lead to a thinning of your income if you don’t plan the practical aspects of managing your next business adventure! What is the relationship between the two businesses? Do they feed each other ideas or information? Is one a lead generator for the other? Do they offer similiar services to different audiences? Are they completely different and requiring a totally new skill set or bank of knowledge? Can they use the same backend management services (eg marketing and IT systems)? Whilst you may not think these things matter, working out this relationship enables you to plan synergies and leverage your resources much more effectively from the start. And this leads to questions of vision and brand… do the values of both businesses have some alignment? If a natural health company started a pharmaceuticals business there would be some questions raised about their real values! Do the values of each business provide additional credibility or leverage for the other business or is there a disconnect that is difficult to explain away? Do you treat each business equally? Do both businesses have a vision and a strategic roadmap? Is there sufficient funding available to run both businesses. Have you planned for expansion of the first business or will its growth plans be at the expense of opening the second (unproven!) business? If you are still reading I haven’t scared you off! There are many risks but also some phenomenal rewards.
