Do you drive a car?
If so you’ll know that periodically it’s important to take your car for a check up.
A professional mechanic will perform a number of services, checks and tests. �These will include:
- changing the oil
- changing the filters
- checking the brakes are safe
After the check up, your car is ready to keep you mobile for the next year or however often you get your check up.
But how about your business? �How often do you have a small business check up?
Like your car, neglecting a business check up can quickly lead to an�under performing�business or worse no business at all!
Here are three reasons you should plan for your next small business check up today.
1. Your Small Business Will Run Better
Our car always feels great to drive after a check up. � It’s much smoother – no doubt happier after a fresh drink of oil.
A small business check up will ensure that your business runs better. �It will help you:
- ensure that your business is running�profitably�- because, after all, there is no point being in business if you are not making some money.
- ensure that it’s�sustainable�- and you’re avoiding the feast and famine cycle.
- ensure that you are�focused�- focused on both what is working in your business and what is not.
2. Your Small Business Will Be Safer
Your small business check up isn’t just about performance. �It’s about safety.
Just as the garage checks your car is safe to carry on driving you and your family, your business check up makes sure your business is safe.
- Safe from Economic Conditions – ensuring that your business is safe from recessions and equally that it’s not growing too fast. �Growing your business too fast risks your customer experience and can damage customer relationships.
- Safe from Your Competitors – checking where you are in your market compared to your competitors. �Are you doing enough to differentiate your business, attract your perfect customer and beat your competition.
- Safe from Your Customers – it can be all too easy to rely on one customer too much. �They’ve kept you so busy that you’ve not had time to build your network, build new customer relationships and build a sales pipeline. �Before you know it the customer is applying pressure for unreasonable discounts or worse finds another supplier and a large piece of your business is gone.
A business check up not only checks your safety now but highlights actions that need to be taken to keep you safe in the future.
3. You’ll Reach Your Destination
As much as a car might be nice to drive it has one purpose. �To get you to your destination.
Your small business has the same purpose – to help you achieve the goal for which you started it.
It could be to retire in the sun, to give your family a fantastic life, to be able to travel and write from anywhere in the world or to help as many people as possible.
A small business check up gives you the opportunity to review your progress in getting to your destination. �It will help you:
- Review your goals – give you the opportunity to review your destination and see if you need to make any changes, change your goal from a villa in Spain to a thatched cottage in England for instance.
- Check your progress – see if you’ve gone off course and need to correct your course to get back on track with why you started your business in the first place.
- Reach your goals – reach your goal without grinding to a steaming heap at the side of the road.
It will also give you the opportunity to set some short term goals to ensure that you are making progress. �For instance the steps you need to take towards your goals within the next six months.
It might be that you’ve been in business a while and the day to day running of your small business has taken over. �You’ve lost sight of your goals, or they seem�unattainable. �A small business check up is an excellent opportunity to look at your business with “fresh eyes” and review your future goals.
The Bottom Line
A small business check up is vital in keeping your business running smoothly, safe and helping you reach your goals.
I believe it’s so vital that I’m going to give five small business check ups for free over the next few weeks. �Would you like one?
They will be conducted over Skype, last up to an hour and you’ll even get a written set of notes and actions by email. �All I ask is that you’re signed up to receive my free weekly small business advice.
To book your free small business check up simply contact me�today.