BUSINESS BUILDING
Are you working on your business, or just in it? No-one else is going to do it. As the leader of your workshop, you need to make time to think about the direction you want your business to go in, and put plans in place to make it happen. How much time do you spend planning, developing, learning and growing your business, as opposed to working on customers’ cars, ordering parts, and fighting with your apprentice? If the answer is “not that much”, and you want to have a prosperous business, it might be time to set a new course for success. If you’re spending a lot of time working in your business – working on cars, doing admin, and keeping suppliers, customers and staff happy – then you’re not working on your business. Working on your business means thinking about and setting goals and tackling the problems that hold you back in the long-term. Your job as the owner, or manager, of your business is not only to oversee daily operations, but it’s to set the standard and know where you’re trying to go between now, next year and the period after that. Setting goals for growth, customer experience and profitability is a powerful way to focus the mind and remind you daily why you’re doing what you’re doing.
1 8 CAPRICORN IGNITION DECEMBER 2021 JANUARY 2022
We know from the State of the Nation Report 2021 that 69% of Members have plans in place to grow their business in the next 12 months. Over 60% of those Members are planning to improve business efficiency, 48% plan to increase profit margins and 41% plan to employ more staff. And whilst 75% of Members told us they are confident on the tools; only 42% of Members told us they were confident growing and developing the business and, likewise, only 39% were confident planning for the future. The skills you need to plan for the future and grow and develop the business come with practice. They probably aren’t taught as part of your apprenticeship, so if you’re not confident, don’t panic.
Working on the business takes time, so make time for it It will be a conscious decision you make. You need to carve out time in your calendar for annual planning, quarterly check-ins and regular times in between to think about the difficult problems facing your business. This can be time you spend alone, with your entire team or with a business coach. An annual cycle for setting objectives works well for most businesses, when you decide where you’re going: • •
Are you setting the scene to open a new location in future? Are you setting a target for the average star rating you receive on Google Reviews?
