For the relative Start-Up company or the more established business that is seeking to go to the next plateau, work through this Checklist to address key fundamentals:

100 Point Growth Checklist

For SME business owners who are serious about growing their business at home or in export markets.

Frustrated? Pressed for time & short on expertise?

Failing to make real in-roads?

Then the following Checklist can help as a self-diagnostic tool. Start to see ‘the wood from the trees’. Gain direction, focus, fresh ideas, solutions & improved results.

Working as a Business Coach, I have recently used the following Checklist (and others) as part of my Growthology program to help one of my clients, Stormwater360, to take stock of their Growth Plan; and to particularly help with the phasing in of a new General Manager into their operation. By working through the Checklist they have been able to assess whether they are on track; strength areas to be leveraged; gaps to plug; and clear roles, responsibilities and accountability moving forward.

The feedback has been great, prompting me to share further!

Decide the Focus Areas to work on moving forward

• I have accurately captured the areas across my Business Model that need attention.
• I know what the key “Focus Areas” are for my Growth Plan.
• Realistic priorities have been discussed, set & agreed with team involvement.

In particular:

• I have a clear, differentiated and credible Value Proposition
• I have identified my target ‘ideal customers’.
• I am targeting the right market(s) with sustainable revenue streams & have considered whether I need to expand or refine my market choices – for better margin/less risk.
• I have considered whether I need to ‘spark-up’ my current Product/Service offering – to catch up/leap-frog the competition, and whether I need new Product/Service.
• I have the effective Distribution Model(s), and effectively manage my sales team, agents, distributors etc.
• We win targeted business – with good ‘brand’ market presence, & we have real capability to position & win targeted work.
• We have the Capability & Capacity for Growth – across financial management & funding; operations; HR and systems – to meet increasing levels of sales & to manage risk.
• My team is one of real expertise, talent & motivated

Ignite your Growth Plan

For each Focus Area, my Plan captures:

sensible goals

strategies, with key tasks

activities

schedule & milestones

budget responsibility & accountability, with sensible & measureable KPI’s

Keep your “Finger on the Pulse”

• I have regular visibility on progress for each of my Focus Areas
• I have identified the key elements of my business that I must have a good handle on “to get a good nights’ sleep” e.g.:
  • Cash Flow
  • Sales Pipeline
  • Sales conversion/success rates
  • Health & Safety
  • Productivity
  • Margins
  • Team performance/motivation
  • Competitor activity
  • Meeting customer timeframes
  • Quality
  • Other

I have systems in place to ensure that I get visibility on these key areas when needed – quarterly, monthly, weekly, immediately:

• Productive Meetings
• User friendly, to the point Reporting
• My team have delegated authorities & accountability
• We manage our time effectively
• We operate on a ‘no surprises’ basis.
• I have a “Dashboard” to monitor real-time the key performance indicators for my business.

Rate each Checklist item to help identify areas for digging deeper & priority attention

The above contents is a sample of the full content of this Checklist. To receive the full content, in the form of a free eBook, please visit the Subscribers Corner of this website.

Regards

Neil

Last modified: October 24, 2017