6 Steps to Building a Business that Delivers Results

You only have to do very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong. Great quote from Warren Buffet. He is spot on with that comment, yes? Doing things wrong far outweighs doing things right. Especially in building a business that will deliver results.

Check out our thoughts on building innovation. Why? Our view is that mistakes are more prevalent and certainly more costly. That is why we believe if you are planning on starting a new business, it is critical to spend time on these 9 recommendations that will help deliver results:

Focused business plan

It’s not clear to us why business plans are the way they are, but they’re often focused on too many things. If you want to maximize success, the key is to focus on five topics. We recommend dividing the business plan into these five sections:

• Competitive analysis
• Market research and analysis
• Marketing plan
• Financial plan and cash flow
• Short versus

Building a business … creator of change

Be a creator of change. Watch for trends in the market and what your customers are doing. Stay ahead of the change curve by adapting before you have to. Remember the status quo is usually your worst enemy.

Network for support

Find local business leaders that can exchange ideas and support your thinking on the day to day activities. Activities like being a sounding board, idea generation, and offering lessons learned. They often see solutions that you can’t see. You can do the same for them. Create a large network and make it social … like a casual advisory board.

Building a business … work on the right things

Sounds trivial, doesn’t it? But you would be amazed at how many of our clients have their priority lists inverted. Or work on things that should be ignored.

Trust your intuition

Tackle real problems on behalf of your customers, many of which may challenge the status quo. Be curious. Experiment on a small scale often and learn. Place lots of small bets to see what will work best. Don’t be afraid of unconventional paths.

Building a business … don’t get totally consumed

Be a team player … caring about your employees. Delegate and empower them to act on your behalf. Remember that you can’t do everything or be everywhere. Learn to back away occasionally. Maybe an afternoon … sometimes for a day. Find a balance between work and life that works for you.