Strategic Business Planning Gets Your Business Out of Survival Mode.
Updated: 3 days ago
While the nightmare of operating in survival mode may make you contemplate if your dream of running a business is worth the headaches, we’re happy to announce that you can do so. Read on to learn how.
Success doesn’t come right out the gate for many small business owners. Oftentimes, it’s months—or even years—of feeling like you’re barely keeping your head above water. This stage of business development is often referred to as survival mode. The feelings of stress aren’t unwarranted, either: about 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years.
How Do You Know if You’re In Survival Mode?
Even the most relaxed, well-run companies have moments of stress and chaos. So how can you tell regular business challenges apart from the feelings of all-out war that come from being in survival mode? Here are a few ways:
You find yourself constantly putting out multiple fires. Even though everything feels urgent, you can focus only on one task at a time.
Your team can’t give you the help you need because explaining the problem—and training them on how to solve it—will take even more of the time and energy you already don’t have.
You find it impossible to plan for the future. Years, months, even a few days down the line—all you can focus on is the here and the now.
The stress of operating your business is bleeding into other areas of your life. You have no time for different activities, and your sleep starts to suffer. Your friends and family start voicing their concerns for your mental health.
Your job no longer makes you happy. There’s no smiles or laughs or ‘good days.’ You don’t have it in you to celebrate achievements. Everything feels like a chore, and you question whether owning a business is worth it.
How to Escape Survival Mode.
Staying in survival mode isn’t sustainable for long-term business growth—and it’s also not great for your health, either. Fortunately, survival mode can be a temporary phase as long as you address the issues that have caused you to enter into the situation in the first place. While some factors will remain out of your control, most companies can exit survival mode with a little bit of strategic planning.
Here are several ways to free yourself from the pains of early-business headaches.
Take a Pause
When it feels like everything is going wrong, it becomes harder to tell what’s actually the problem. Even though it may seem scary with so many moving pieces flying about, set aside some time to do a thorough run-down of everything going on.
Many times, issues arise as a result of a critical error in one key area of business. For example, unsatisfied customers, decreased sales, and inconsistent profit might stem from the root issue of a faulty payment platform. Once you uncover the primary issue and implement a solution, you might also see more problems than you expected start to dissolve.
It’s also important to spend a few moments celebrating your wins and recognizing your accomplishments. Running a small business is a massive feat that most people will never dare try, so be proud of what you’ve already achieved! A little cognizance of your success will give your brain that extra boost needed to power through difficult times.
Determine Your Capacity—And Stick To It!
Humans have many strengths, from love to empathy to creativity, but we also have a major weakness: planning. Even the highest-skilled professionals still underestimate the amount of time required to complete certain tasks.
Instead of being optimistic about timelines, try being realistic instead. That means giving yourself extra grace, lengthening project deadlines, and being openly communicative about where you are in the completion process.
Create A Strategic Business Plan.
Perhaps the biggest way to ward off survival mode is by creating a strategic business plan. A strategic business plan is a living document that outlines a company's vision, goals, and the strategies required to achieve them. Successful organizations use these plans to make more informed decisions, manage risk, and track growth.
Many companies—especially small businesses—either lack a strategic plan or have not consulted the one they do have in multiple years. Creating and following a business plan is critical to avoid the pitfalls of staying in crisis mode.
Ready to Enjoy Your Job Again?
In an ideal world, no business would ever enter survival mode except maybe our competitors. Fortunately, there are ways to remove yourself from such a stressful experience, especially if you build a comprehensive strategic plan. Companies that think proactively are better positioned to move forward should trouble keep back in.
Of course, you don’t have to embark on this journey to success on your own. Our team at King’s Dream is ready to support you every step of the way. We’ve developed a strategic needs assessment to help small businesses uncover where their biggest stressors are coming from, along with action plans to resolve those findings.
With a team of business consultants by your side, no problem, whether financial, technical, marketing, or strategic, is too large for us to overcome! Set up a call today!
About King's Dream Business Consulting: Founded in 2019, King's Dream Business Consulting is a small business consulting and management firm established initially in response to Seattle's gentrification and displacement of its minority business communities. To Date, King's Dream has served over 200 small businesses nationwide. King's Dream Business Consulting is a leading provider of business advisory services, offering strategic planning, marketing strategies, financial management, operational efficiency, and human resources consulting. Committed to the success of small businesses, King's Dream Business Consulting provides tailored guidance and support to drive sustainable growth.
Samaria Johnson writes many things, hopefully, none of which you consider boring. She loves taking complex information and breaking it down into engaging understandable content. Samaria’s goal is to only use her words in ways that help make the world a better place.
コメント