Moving your business ahead requires that you step back.
When you first take your great idea and turn it into a functioning business, you wear many hats, usually because you can’t afford to hire anyone else to do the admin, marketing etc.
The reality is your job should be running the business – and to start delegating so your business can grow.
Generally, entrepreneurs often get caught up on the day-to-day running of the business and don’t spend enough time dreaming, planning big goals, and thinking about the future. Over time, this changes, and as the business grows and achieves some stability, we need to consciously allocate more time to working ON the business. This includes networking.
Here are some ways you can work ON your business every day and grow it:
- Attend networking and/or industry events
- Update your social networking sites and web site to reflect your current needs
- Send e-mails to potential contacts and clients
- Ask your network contacts for specific introductions
- Set short- and long-term goals for your business, and create strategies which help you move towards those goals
Obviously networking is a key part of working ON the business. This is what one of our members Phil Hudson from BNI Larnach has found.
Recently Phil had great success at the 2016 Westpac Otago Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. He entered the Awards for the first time and won the emerging business leader category for his business Workplace First Aid Training
The business is mature having been set up more than a decade ago. This year Phil had reached the point where his business was ready for the next stage of growth. He wanted to spend more time working ON the business and knew networking was a crucial part of this and is why he joined BNI – his first networking experience.
Joining BNI has allowed Phil to grow his network locally and boost his profile in the community. He understood that he needed to surround himself with amazing people not just at work but also in a networking group. BNI has allowed him to do this as well as preparing the business for the Awards.
On the back of these accolades, the business has signed a major 3 year contract with a large organisation in the area.
Think about inviting businesses like Phil’s to your chapter as visitors in 2017. It’s not just new businesses that can benefit from BNI. Mature businesses that are looking for that boost to growth will profit from BNI too. As businesspeople grow their enterprises they will need to spend more time working ON the business. This means networking and that means BNI.
