Everyone is looking for the secrets to business success. Some of the real pro tips are not actually “secrets” at all. Join a mastermind group to get your company riding fast on the highway of big business. Get clarity on the business model you’re working with. Grow your support team by hiring virtual staff. Putting these tips in practice will grow your business quickly.
Join a mastermind group
We all have unique skills that set us apart. As experts, we hold the missing piece to others’ business problems. Other professionals hold the missing pieces to our problems also. When we network with others with complementary skills we’re able to help them as much as we’re being helped.
Mastermind groups are small focus groups of like-minded entrepreneurs. Business owners join together to support each other through their growing pains. Managing a business is a challenging task. There are many new things to learn and big decisions to make. There are regulations and laws to conform to, supply chain challenges, and HR difficulties. Join a group of other professionals to share ideas. Express your frustrations and also offer helpful advice. A mastermind group ensures that we gain expertise from professionals in a variety of niches.
It’s important to make sure that everyone in the group gets a chance in the spotlight. No one person should hog all the help and creative brainstorming. Set up a weekly meeting time and schedule. Meet once a week and rotate the member focus each session. This will give each member of the mastermind group a chance to speak about their current struggles. With a few heads working together to solve problems, brainstorming will be quick and efficient. Working together you’ll all make short work of whatever difficulties you’re facing.
Map Your Business Model
Even if you’ve been in business for some time, it pays to regularly revisit your company model. We all need to constantly evolve the way we present our products and services to customers. Regular evaluations help us see how we might be able to grow, expand services, cut costs, or manage other resources. It’s useful for everyone, from seasoned executives to small business startups, to tackle business modeling regularly.
One way to get a clear picture is to fill in a Business Model Canvas. The open source downloadable canvas was developed by Alexander Osterwalder and a team of over 270 others in the late 2000s. The canvas visually presents a way of organizing our businesses. The unique format also makes it easy to move pieces around. We can also easily make changes to the model to see how they will affect the bigger picture. This free tool can also be used to map out other successful models. We can better understand how they work and and learn their secrets.
The canvas encompasses all areas of business and has nine distinct sections of unique focus including; Key Partners, Key Activities, Key Resources, Value Propositions, Customer Relationships, Channels, Customer Segments, Cost Structure, and Revenue Streams.
With the canvas you can map out your business in about 20 minutes. For a more detailed explanation of the canvas, and to learn how it works and how to use it, you can watch this series of videos.
Hire virtual staff
You’ve got your business mapped out. You’ve also gathered a great team of professional supporters in your mastermind. Now it’s time to hire some virtual staff. Virtual staff will free up time for you to focus on important aspects of your business. Outsource the bits of work that you don’t enjoy doing, or that are very time consuming.
As the serial entrepreneur Chris Ducker outlined in his book Virtual Freedom, hiring help allows you to grow farther, faster. You’ll also have less stress and headache than trying to do it alone or with a limited staff. Virtually staffed teams might include; personal assistants, web developers, graphic designers, video editors, business consultants, marketing consultants, and accountants.
Look for seasoned freelance professionals. Avoid staffing agencies or hiring through third party websites. If you headhunt and hire staff yourself, you’ll form stronger working relationships. This will inspire your virtual staff towards more dedicated and productive work.
There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. Model what’s proven to work for others and combine it with your unique selling point.
With a solid team of professional cheerleaders, and a dedicated support staff, you’re sure to be winning in no time!
Janet Kozak is a business writer for Win Fin who is driven by company dynamics, CEO insights, and creative outputs. Particularly interested in business development, Janet is your go-to lady for all your company-related queries. When she’s not writing and designing, you can find her indulging in masala fries, taking cross-country road trips with her husband and daughter, or elbow deep in scraps of paper creating her one-of-a-kind art collages.
Are you ready to take your business to the next level? Meet Janet and get ready to grow your business at jkgallery.wordpress.com.
