My Core Principle
Every business needs proper planning in order to be successful.
Forty-five percent of small businesses in Canada don’t survive more than two years, and typically more than seventy percent fail within five years. In almost every identifiable reason for business failure, a properly written and followed plan would have reduced or completely eliminated the causes of failure. It’s often said that failing to plan means that you’re planning to fail. Although cliché, it’s valid. By not planning, you’re making a deliberate choice to skip planning in favor of simply jumping in to the project and hoping it will work. And seventy-five percent of the time… it doesn’t. Proper planning is at the foundation of all of the work I provide.
While failures can often be great opportunities for gaining experience, I don’t believe that failure is the best way to gain experience. I believe that good experiences and success stories are a better model for success than failure stories. It is my goal to provide proper planning that helps to identify both successes and failures, and put them in perspective to help you progress.
My Core Goal
Small businesses must learn to operate where large businesses already succeed.
One of the hardest factors to address in a small business is the ability to compete with other companies, especially large organizations. Of the top four reasons identified for business failures, three of them are factors that are only a minor issue in larger businesses: lack of management, lack of planning, and lack of marketing. Large companies have the management and marketing resources, and a cash flow to sustain them. For a small business to compete, it is imperative to set a plan, set specific financial goals, and outline the results that are expected to be achieved from those plans. I provide my services to startups, small- and mid-sized businesses to help them work in a saturated market. Devoting resources to having expert consultation and goal-setting plans is an effective and positive way to move your company forward, and it’s my goal to make sure you have the resources available to you to accomplish that.
As a small business, you need to project the same level of professionalism and support that your corporate counterparts offer your client. However, you often have the added advantage that as a small a business, you will attract a different clientele than your competition, and this can in turn increase your clients’ loyalty. But don’t blow it: never fail to secure and maintain that loyalty, because it doesn’t take much for a large company to scoop up all of your customers with a single promotion, marketing effort, or special offer. Know what makes your buyers unique, and stay on top of it.