The main reason why businesses fail is incompetent owners and managers. Business owners will blame a shortage of cash for their business failure. But why was there a shortage of cash; poor products, poor sales, poor cash flow management, no marketing etc. All of the reasons for no cash goes back to poor management decisions and controls. The mind-set is the foundation of every successful business and the reason is because your perception determines the way you do business. Your mind-set determines your business mission, its vision, your business culture and your work ethics. Many people start a business because they believe building a business is the fastest way to make money and get rich. While making money from your business is not a bad idea, you must never forget that your primary aim should be to provide value and take care of the customers. The owner of the business is the person that must have the skills to ensure the business will succeed and continue to grow. You should be spending a large proportion of your time working on strategy and vision. You are the person who must drive the organization, ensuring the plans are in place for the business to go forward. As a business owner you need to have these skills or hire people that have the skills to drive the business. To many business owners have big egos and are afraid to hire people that are smarter than them. The most successful business owners have surrounded themselves by smart people. No business owner can know it all, and recognizing this fact is one of the greatest keys to success. People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the company’s product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps. Your internal team should comprise of individuals that see to the smooth daily operations of your business. They include your accountant, operations manager, product development team, etc. Your role as owner today is to create a climate that encourages and values the contribution of each person to the team effort. Your people’s energies should be directed towards problem solving, task effectiveness and achievement of your goals. Your energies should be directed at providing the best possible conditions that allow your people to contribute effectively to growth and success. Nothing kills a business faster than irrational decision making, taking miscalculated risks or making ill-timed business moves. To reach the pinnacle of success in business, you must have a strategic plan and a team to execute such plan. But most importantly, you must execute such plan at the right time. I have seen businesses with potential fail simply because they announced their innovation too early; thereby arousing the attention of their giant competitor. Jack Welch said - “If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it, you almost don’t have to manage them.” The writer is a Kigali Based business consultant and strategist. www.gmskigali.com john@gmskigali
