Ali Goudarzi
Business Coach, Mentor and Business Consulting
Analyzing a Business
When a business isn’t growing as it should or isn’t making the money it expected, it’s time to step back and conduct a business analysis. You need to check everything and ensure all components of the business are working together in harmony. Every business, regardless of its size or the number of people working in it, has several components, often referred to as departments. These include accounting, management, marketing, sales, production, customer service, and so on. Even a one-person company has these departments, and they are all interconnected. Each one must function properly for the business to operate as expected. If one department isn’t functioning correctly, the entire business will suffer. For example, if the sales department isn’t doing its job, no matter how well the other departments perform, sales will be slow. Or, if the accounting and financial department isn’t working properly, the management of money—which is like the lifeblood of the company—will deteriorate, and the whole company will be in trouble.
If the company is in trouble, or even if it’s running okay but not as planned, you need to start by defining and examining each department one by one. Check to see if each department is operating correctly. For instance, you might spend a lot of money on marketing and attract tons of potential clients, but if they don’t stay with you, the problem isn’t your marketing department—it’s working great. Instead, you need to look at your production, sales, and customer service departments.
So, if your company isn’t operating the way you want it to, either ask an expert to analyze your business or do it yourself. Check each department to ensure it’s running as expected.
Business Personality
A business is like a living creature—it needs to grow. However, sometimes it can become sick, slow, or fast-paced. Like any living creature, a business has many components that must work in harmony for it to operate healthily. One of the most important aspects of any business is its branding or the image it holds in the minds of clients and potential clients. Essentially, for most businesses, the image or brand is the business itself. People come to you or purchase your products and services based on what they perceive about your business. Think about the products or services you buy—why do you choose them? It’s because of what’s in your mind about that business. You’ve likely heard the terms brand and image; I refer to this as the business personality. To learn more about business personality, please click below.
You, as the Entrepreneur
You’ve probably heard that, as a business owner or entrepreneur, you are responsible for everything that happens in your business. When something goes wrong, you need to look no further than the mirror to see the person responsible. That’s true. However, I’ve seen many entrepreneurs translate this responsibility into self-blame, constantly blaming themselves for every shortcoming and problem that occurs in their companies. Blaming is not productive at any level, and it’s especially damaging and destructive when you blame yourself.
A business is full of ups and downs, surprises, good decisions, bad decisions, losing money, and making money—that’s the nature of running a business. Mistakes are an inevitable part of every business, and as long as it is not intentional or the result of sabotage, they’re simply part of the journey.
There’s a magic sentence and a magic word that, as a business owner, you should print out and post somewhere in your office:
- The sentence: Is there any better way?
- The magic word: Next.
Whenever you’re making a decision or doing something, ask yourself, Is there any better way? This question triggers your brain to look a little deeper and more carefully to make sure you’ve considered all aspects of the decision you’re making or the task you’re doing. As for the word Next, it’s for when something goes wrong. Learn the lesson, plan to do it right the Next time, and move forward. There’s always a Next time. As long as there’s a Next, there’s no reason to blame or sabotage yourself.
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