Do you have an overall battle plan?

Many business owners will have received advice encouraging them to ‘work on the business, not in it’ – but what does that actually involve in practical terms?

It is widely accepted that it means setting aside time to consider the overall strategy, as opposed to solely focussing on everyday tasks, because any thriving business needs a mixture of short-term goals and long-term objectives. However, the challenge for many business owners is that they may not have sufficient capacity within their management or administrative teams to allow the time needed to extricate themselves from the day-to-day.

The immediate ‘profit motive’ encourages business owners to run lean teams, and there is, of course, the difficulty of recruiting individuals with the right industry knowledge and experience.

Either way, escaping the day-to-day and taking a more strategic role can prove almost impossible.

Helping you take flight

From my own leadership training (led by ex-members of the Armed Forces) a mantra that has stuck with me is that in any conflict, military leaders are better served by getting in their helicopters and hovering above, looking out over the battlefield and directing their forces to where most needed, rather than engaging with the enemy directly. Of course, at times, they may need to drop down into the fight, but overall, the troops are better served when the leaders focus on the overall strategy.

In business, it’s a delicate balancing act that requires practice, but rewards are possible through being organised, setting time aside, and putting systems in place that allow you to step away occasionally. It may involve the delegation of some management tasks, outsourcing responsibilities, or utilising software to automate menial tasks to free up resources across your teams.

This is partly the reason we are about to launch our Tailored Finance Function, highlighting our ability to support business owners with whatever they need. From basic bookkeeping and management accounts through to software integration, from a full back-office function through to strategic support and regular meetings – it is designed to allow ‘leaders’ to stay in their helicopters.

Support and guidance

The most rewarding aspect of my job is the role of trusted advisor. Simply providing consistent advice and acting as a sounding board – or even a (mostly) metaphorical shoulder to cry on when needed – is something I know my clients truly value.

When I meet business owners for the first time, I ask them ‘so, what is the plan?’ and while many have a vision of early retirement, too often there is no formal structure in place to achieve that goal.

This highlights an opportunity: if business owners invested more of their time and energy into creating a solid business plan, and less on managing the day-to-day aspects of their business, they could well put themselves in the best possible position to achieve those long-term goals.

I believe that small businesses are the backbone of our economy and with the right support, enabling business owners to think more strategically, we can help them make the most of all the resources and opportunities available to them.