Business Success Map
Business success means working on the right things at the right time.
Are you interested in starting or growing a business? This map simplifies the process of building a business by helping you to focus on the right things at the right time and guiding you to stay on the right track.
Completing each step is not a set and forget exercise. As your business grows and circumstances change you need to review each one of these steps regularly. Save this page to your favourites so you can check back regularly.
Business Planning
During this phase you are going to get clear on what you want to achieve, why you are passionate about it and how you are going to get there.
Mission & Purpose
Where you're going & why?
During this step: you want to start laying out your vision for your business and the reason why you want to achieve this.
Concentrate on:
- Your purpose
- Your business vision
- 5-10 year mission
- Business values
Notes: Don’t see any of this as set in stone. As your business evolves, a lot of this will change during the first few years as you pivot. So don’t stress if it is not perfect and DO NOT hold off starting your business because you don’t have the perfect mission statement or values.
Market Research
What does your market want, what is already out there and where could you fit in?
During this step: you want to understand your potential customers. What your competitors are doing, and where you stand against them. Investigate current trends and try to predict future trends.
Concentrate on:
- Understanding and validate your target market
- Competitor analysis
- Industry analysis
- Understand trends
Notes: Remember that not everyone is your target market. Businesses that try to serve everyone end up serving no one.
Need help with market research?
Product Design & Development
How can you create products and services that are irresistible to your target market?
During this step: you are going to start designing your product and services. You are trying to do two things. You want to make sure that your products and services are completely irresistible to your target market but also are differentiated from your competitors or anything else in the market.
Concentrate on:
- Unique selling points
- Strategic canvas
- Brand positioning
- Pricing
- Product & service design
Notes: Remember that your products and services will constantly improve over time and they will never be perfect, to begin with. Perfection should never be an excuse to not start.
Finalise Your Business Plan
What is the exact plan to build the business and how are you going to finance it?
During this step: you're going to be focused on pulling everything together and ironing out the details of your business. You are going to be crunching the numbers on how you are going to fund your business and solidifying things like your business name.
Concentrate on:
- Creating your business name
- Seek advice from your accountant & lawyer
- Mapping your business plan
- Gathering funding
Notes: This is one of the most important steps that you are going to take in your business and the decisions you make here will make or break your business. Be sure that you are seeking expert advice that has your best interest at heart.
Foundation Building
During this phase you start laying the foundation for your business getting it ready for massive growth.
Hiring and Onboarding Plan
What positions do you need to fill and who do you need to fill them?
During this step: you want to start hiring your first team members.
Concentrate on:
- Laying out what positions you need to run your business
- Hiring your first team members
Notes: These first team members are going to be critical to shaping your business culture and growing your business. You want to find people that complement your skill sets and bring different opinions to the table.
Insurance & Risk Management
How can you make sure you are protected if the unexpected or unfortunate happens?
During this step: you are going to focus on making sure you and your business are protected.
Concentrate on:
- Contracts for staff, contractors, suppliers and customers
- Insurances
- Complying with all government and industry regulations
- Trademarks, copyrights and IP
- Asset protection
Notes: In business it is not about if something goes wrong but when. You want to make sure that you are prepared. A lot of time and a little bit of work here can save countless hours and dollars down the road.
Business Brand & Messaging
How can you make sure that people can easily recognise and connect with your business?
During this step: you will develop a brand that resonates with your target market and makes you stand out from your competitors.
Concentrate on:
- Logo
- Style guide
- Website
- Business tone of voice guidelines
Notes: Many people get stuck on this step because they believe they have to create the perfect brand. The truth is a brand is more than just a logo and colours, it's actually the business itself. A great looking brand connected to a bad business = a bad brand.
Free Brand Style Sheet Template
It is essential to have a defined brand to be recognised and stand out from your competitors. Find out how to create a basic brand guide below.
System & Workflow Design
What systems and processes do you need in order to make sure your business runs as efficiently and effectively as possible?
During this step: you are going to be setting up the system infrastructure you need in order to run your business and the workflow your team needs to follow in order for your business to service it’s clients as smoothly as possible while maximising profitability.
Concentrate on:
- Creating processes
- Reviewing software and systems
- Creating automation workflows
Notes: As you are creating your processes and systems you want to be reviewing them regularly with your team. A good question to ask is what should we start doing and what should we stop doing? As many processes and systems can become redundant or automated over time.
Growth Building
During this phase you are focused on scaling and growing your business.
Conversion strategy
How can you create a sales process that not only converts but builds rapport with your audience?
During this step: you are going to be focused on building your conversion content, landing pages and sales funnels for your business. To learn how to increase your conversion rate read our blog on how to increase your conversion rate.
Concentrate on:
- Your purchasing process
- Offers and deals
- Conversion content
- Sales team and framework
- Landing pages
Notes: Many businesses skip this step and go straight to marketing. Before you start trying to pour leads into your business you want to first optimise your sales and conversion funnel.
Marketing strategy
How can you constantly generate high quality leads for your business?
During this step: you should focus on creating a lead generation and content strategy that educates your audience on your business and how you can make their life better. Nurturing your potential leads into your sales funnel.
Concentrate on:
- Content strategy
- Marketing strategies and campaigns
- Strategic partnerships and alliances
- Referral strategies
Notes: Great marketing doesn't just produce leads but quality leads. There is no point in sending thousands of leads into your sales funnel if they don’t end up converting into a client.
Retention Strategy
How can you exceed your clients expectations so that they will not only continue to work with you but also advocate for your business?
During this step: you are focused on not only keeping your current clients but completely exceeding their expectations enough so that they will happily recommend your business. For ideas to improve your retention rate read our blog 24 ways to increase your retention rate.
Concentrate on:
- Improving your service delivery and products
- Find ways to offer more value and delight your clients
- Optimise your client onboarding
- Reducing mistakes
- Improving your client’s overall experience
Maximisation Stage
During this phase you are going to focus on maximising your business finances & building out your executive team.
Cash flow
How do you maximise cash generation to fuel business growth?
During this step: you are focused on maximising the amount of cash your business generates. Ideally without affecting your business profitability. To learn how to increase your cash flow check out our blog for 18 ways to improve cash flow in your business.
Concentrate on:
- Getting paid sooner
- Reducing stock or work in progress days
- Increasing creditor days
- Generating new reliable cash flow streams
Notes: Cash fuels business growth and it keeps the lights on but many businesses fund their business cash flow through debt or funding. This is fine for the short term but in the long term your business must generate internal sources of cash to fuel growth.
Profit
How can you increase your profit margins?
During this step: you are focused on maximising the profits of your business.
Concentrate on
- Reducing COGS
- Reducing overheads
- Increasing prices
- Optimise and grow your revenue streams
Notes: Remember that profit is very different from cash and sometimes more profit does not equal more cash for your business. Having a clear understanding of your finances is critical to growing your business. Check out our resources for profit growth calculator specifically designed for business owners who want to grow their business.
Free Profit Growth Calculator
Our Profit Growth Calculator will help you gain a deeper understanding of the levers that drive your profits, allow you to see how changes to each area will affect your bottom line & create an action plan to grow your business.
Leadership
How can you make sure you have world class leaders at all levels of your business?
During this step: you are focused on building out your leadership team and developing your current leaders.
Concentrate on:
- Leadership development plan
- Filling out your executive team
- Leadership values
Notes: If possible, do your best to raise up leaders from within your organisation rather than hiring from outside the organisation. The exception to this is if you want or need to make a cultural change within your organisation.
