Sustaining a business is a lot of work. If you find yourself going through an exhausting daily grind for a company you don’t believe in, it’s easy to feel as though it just isn’t worth it. That’s why it’s so important to create a business that makes you excited to get to work each day.
But how exactly do you do that? Well-meaning people might advise you to choose an industry that you’re passionate about. And while passion may play a part in your business dealings, if you want to build a business (and a life) that you truly love, you need a plan that sets you firmly on the path to success.
Here are 3 key steps you can use to start planning.
1. Create Measurable Goals
Creating real, trackable goals is one of the golden rules of business. It’s a logical one too. If only 37% of your leads converted in September, you might want to turn that number to 40% in October and raise it again in November. Over time, these trackable goals drive business growth.
But when you really want to love your business and your life, you need to set goals for where you want to be in the future. Do you want to step back from being an owner-operator? Have 4-hour workdays? Take 2 months off every summer? Sell for a sizable sum in 20 years?
Whatever your goals are, the first step is to set them. Writing them down is a good place to start. From there, you can make a plan to achieve each goal. For instance, if your plan is to be able to step back from day-to-day operations, you might focus on finding a promising employee you can train to become your new operations manager.
Set regular intervals for tracking your goals. You might decide that each month you’ll take a few minutes to analyze where you are and determine whether anything needs to change. Setting your large-scale strategy is important, but so is regularly revisiting that strategy and adjusting it as necessary.
2. Build an Incredible Team
If your vision is the brain of your business, your team is the heart. And if you want to be able to step back from your business (or even sell it at some point), having a competent team and developing a positive company culture will go a long way.
When you make your hiring decisions, try to bring in smart, motivated people. If your goal is to eventually have your business function seamlessly without you, you need capable employees you can train and promote. When you have outstanding employees, you can delegate tasks with confidence, freeing up more time to focus on your goals.
This is where fostering a positive company spirit comes into play. If you hire a few great employees but your company culture is a particularly negative one, those employees are likely to leave before they can take on more responsibility. Do your best to foster a healthy, happy work environment your team won’t want to leave.
3. Focus on the Process
If you prefer to do things yourself to make sure they get done right, you might want to work on breaking that habit. After all, if you spend most of your time overseeing basic daily operations, you won’t be able to dedicate your energy and focus to building your business and reaching your personal goals.
One of the best things you can do for your business is to create detailed documentation for each task employees perform repeatedly. For instance, if you run a car detailing business, creating a step-by-step procedure for detailers means that you don’t have to train each person individually.
Having a set procedure for each task or process has other benefits too. It ensures that your clients or customers have consistently positive experiences with your company. And if your employees have questions about a task, they can consult the documentation rather than asking you for clarification.
The process of documentation may seem like a time-consuming one, but it will ultimately save you time. Each hour you spend documenting a given procedure will lead to many hours pursuing and achieving your goals.
Ready to Build a Business You Love?
Building a business is rewarding, but it certainly poses a challenge — especially for first-time business owners. Luckily, you don’t have to create your business alone.
At Zabel & Co., we help business owners lead a business they love. Let’s chat about how we can help you get to where you want to be.