3 min read
How To Create Value In Business And Promote Growth
To create value in a business is hard and with the current volatility it is even tougher, yet many people still manage to create exceptional businesses. How? The right product or service, time, location, and people are all essential. Capital and cash flow are also critical, but the approach of the leadership team is central to success and needs energy, clarity and confidence.
Building and accelerating growth in a business requires effort, and lots of it. However, by exerting precisely the ‘right effort at the right pressure points’ it is possible to contribute effectively ‘in flow’ to scale-up. How do you know the right effort and points? Well, that is the mastery; but many leaders are too busy to take the time to find those pressure points; leading to inefficiency and exerting efforts in the wrong place. How much time do you spend looking objectively for the right pressure points or strategy to create growth, as opposed to being busy with other people’s agendas or fire-fighting issues?
Business can be easier and more rewarding by focusing on the areas you can control rather than those you cannot, by being positive, strategic, listening and objective at all times. With that mindset, you achieve flow, confidence, clarity and energy, which drives growth and creates value. Let us examine this in more detail:
1. Understand What Is and Isn’t Important
Foremost this requires time, determination, fresh minds and objectivity. It starts with questions, not answers, and needs research and brainstorming. Clarity then leads to confidence and enables high levels of energy.
2. Create Value In Business With an Ultra-Simple Plan and Purpose
Most leaders know what they know and are highly energised although few have the knowledge and experience to be confident in every situation. More importantly, is there a plan in place, and is it simple?
3. Collaboration
It is hard to be truly objective about yourself and your business as we all come programmed with preconceptions quite rightly built on years of experience, however sometimes these need to change to create the right scale-up plan. A good internal team and help from external advisors can be critical to creating clarity so long as it is backed by decisions. A word of caution, don’t have too many “kites”, too many ideas blowing in the air are hard to land.
Be aware of that over-enthusiastic salesperson who is inspiring you to lead too many initiatives? “No” is as important a decision as “Yes”. Ask for help when you need it, even if it is between potentially ‘rival’ businesses’. Just remember to differentiate collaborations vs competition, and NI Business Info have a great quick read on this very topic.
4. Lead with Clarity
Cut the waffle, set the clock. Time is money, therefore, quite simply, you and your team will be more productive than the competition where everyone knows the plan, you create purpose and get to the point every time.
5. Listen
Questions, research, data and analysis backed by objectivity. Set yourself and your opinions aside, so you can really listen and learn, then recognize the time to make decisions and lead.
6. Be Decisive
Knowing the responsibility stops with you as a leader can be a huge pressure. However, failure through procrastination can be worse than learning from making a poor decision. Look at the direction of travel, create a clear plan and give it your best. Collaborate to get the team behind the approach, explain the risks and vision then execute. With everyone clear on the goal, you can all move faster.
7. Be Clear, Confident and Energetic
If you understand absolutely what you are trying to accomplish and have the process in place to achieve it, confidence and energy levels will rise. It then becomes obvious when you are unclear, or aspects start to wander enabling you to reset the agenda without wasting time. A clear plan and purpose generate the confidence to say “Yes” or equally “No”, to anticipate challenges, to make decisions and to scale-up fast. If as business leaders we take the time to create the right environment, with the right team adopting the right outlook, together with the right effort, it is possible to contribute tirelessly and more effortlessly, which will create more success, enjoyment and result ‘in flow’.
8. Create Value In Business
Management time gets caught in operations and making profit today to survive. Boards rarely take the time to look at their ‘value builder’ strategy. How they can influence their multiple on exit, reduce buy-side risks and prepare the business for sale. Profit doesn’t always mean value. Owners of valuable companies take time to align their business to create value and understand better their multiple influencers setting the strategy around growth with value rather than simply growth.
9. Value Builder
If you are looking to create a more valuable company or looking for advice on pre-sale preparation, Avondale run a Value Builder programme. We can help you understand your value drivers and “Scale-Up” options better both pre-sale or long before it takes place, which is crucial to create value in business, be it your own or in the wider business sphere.
If you are looking to create value in business or simply want an exploratory discussion without obligation, please contact us on +44(0)20 7788 8250 or email av@avondale.co.uk. Alternatively, you are welcome to watch our ‘Scale-Up to Create Value’ webinar where we look at scaling up in order to create value in business.
For information on other webinars within the series, visit our Webinars & Events page.
