Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? Get fit, lose weight? Stop smoking? Drink less, work less? Spend more time with the kids? Fresh start?

Some people look forward to planning and mapping out some goals for the year or upcoming quarter. It is well known that those who plan and share with others make the most progress in life and business.

For those who feel it’s just another year, today we will challenge you to set some goals, think about the direction you are taking your business, and ask what knowledge you will need for the journey.

The Business Pyramid

I think we can all agree that there are only a few companies at the very top of the pyramid in our industry. The overwhelming majority of businesses are classed as sole traders or micro-businesses with fewer than six staff members. 

Most people start at the bottom, where most of the competition is. We call them ‘busy sole traders’, as that is often their plan. Being busy leaves the sole trader with little time for learning or business development. 

One step above the sole trader is ‘the growing busi-ness’. With a focus on growing their trade business to the performance level, these business owners often will grow too fast without the correct data to guide their decisions. 

Every year that passes, the team gets busier, often with little profit. Smaller profits do not support the development of the business. These businesses often fall into the expansion trap with no time available, failing to reach the next level.

Above these first two levels are ‘the lifestyle business’ owners and ‘the performance businesses’ with a team of experienced directors.

Performance businesses run like clockwork and are predictable. The performance engine is fine-tuned with lots of moving parts. The marketing is already in place with a mapped out and polished customer journey. Slick systems and teams of experienced people deliver that excellent customer service.

Performance businesses are established, have earned trust with their customer database, and have the know-how to attract more custom if needed quickly.

In between the performance businesses and the growing busi-ness owners are the lifestylers. In the past, these lifestyle business owners focused on building a business that gave them maximum time to develop their companies. 

Concentrating on building foundations first, these companies provide predictable profits and time. The lifestylers then have an option to build better marketing and business systems or kick back and enjoy life doing the things they like with the people they love.

Conclusion

The expansion trap is waiting for those trying to rush to the next stage or grow that performance business without putting in the time to build on solid foundations. In this modern world, the hard graft is not enough to guarantee success.

Success will come to those who work smart, finding the knowledge required and then taking action on that knowledge, taking it to the next level.

I often tell people not to worry about knowing the final destination or where your business will end up in 10 years. By all means, put some thought into your long term plan, but what is more important is knowing what direction you are going and setting the first checkpoint towards that end goal. 

Climb the mountains by taking small steps every month, week, and day towards that first checkpoint. Doing so will help you keep focused and on track knowing the following checkpoint is also within reach. 

All businesses need solid foundations, predictable marketing, and robust business systems in place. The higher up the pyramid you go, the longer it takes to develop to that next stage. 

Over the last three years, hundreds of heating engineers have embraced business development with The Boiler Business – Built to Last team. Why not start your journey with the introduction one day workshop or jump into a six month programme, surrounding yourself with like-minded people from the industry.

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