What Sort of Business Do You Want?

This might seem like an obvious question, but knowing the sort of business you want to be running is vital to your future happiness and the success of your business. Today we’re taking a look at why it’s so important, and the ways you can use this insight to boost your success (and revenue!).

Your Business Strategy

Having a strategy is important for any business. It’s the document that guides your growth and development, and the vision that ensures all the little day to day decisions you face as a business owner add up to a coherent brand. Without a strategy guiding your decision making, you run the risk of each individual decision, while good in isolation, pulling against the others, and undermining your efforts to build a business your customers will feel loyal to, and that will survive long into the future.

Building your strategy depends on your knowledge and insight about what you want your future to look like. While there are consultants that can help create successful, responsive business strategies, it’s no use spending money on a London strategy consulting firm if you fundamentally don’t know what you want to achieve.

Visions of Success

When we ask ‘what sort of business do you want?’, what we’re really asking is ‘what does success look like to you?’. There are many different ways for a business to be successful, but it’s difficult not to get attached to the default vision of success in contemporary society: endless growth – using any means necessary to acquire more and more customers, higher and higher revenue and a greater and greater market share.

This rapid-scaling vision of success that is largely an artefact of startup culture, and it has several drawbacks, from concerns over profitability (Netflix, for example, has achieved global dominance without once turning a profit) to the simple fact that it may not be what you want!

There are many alternatives available that mix with various business models more or less naturally. That rapid scaling growth is a legitimate option, but it fits startups developing digital products far better than traditional bricks and mortar shops. You could also opt for a slower growth model, acquiring more customers and a more secure reputation organically, over time, with lower marketing spends and more focus on loyalty and word of mouth.

The most important thing is for you to know why you’re starting a business: is it out of an entrepreneurial spirit, a simple desire to provide for yourself and your family, or as a challenge? Make sure that initial drive plays into your plans for the future, and you’ll continue to find running your business as satisfying and rewarding!

About The Author

Clare Louise

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