MAKE YOUR BUSINESS DREAM COME TRUE BY MAKING EFFECTIVE, FAST AND EASY DECISIONS

Why do people go into business?

First of all, to have financial success and independence . To be able not to depend on a boss for yours and your family's welfare and survival. It's the only legal way to become rich as a result of your effort and activity! The fact that not everybody achieves that and eventually some end up with just making a living is irrelevant and does not reduce their achievement of financial independence at all. At the end of the day, the worst day working for yourself is better than the best day working on someone else's dream.

A second reason is to have control over your time and to which direction other precious life energies (e.g. your effort) go. It's all about ability to make your own decisions and determine your own future and destiny. I know you would like to be able to take an afternoon off to attend your son's school sport day, because I do! Never mind that you end up on the same day having to work harder than you ever did when you were an employee.

Thirdly, you are driven by sheer ambition and by your need for recognition. It's only natural! Remember when you were a kid how incredible effect your mother's hug or a smile from your dad had on you? It's the same with adults, albeit it's a different game! That ambition fuels you with the engine steam to push forward for the achievement of your goals. You are driven by ego and you want to have status, to be a Chairman. Never mind that you might end up being everything. A receptionist, a courier, a secretary.

No matter what their primary motive for going into business, there is a common denominator that applies to each and every single enterpreneur:  They are all working on a dream, their own unique dream...

What I am getting at here is that you need to make sure that you go into small business ownership with your eyes wide open , or your dream is at risk of becoming a nightmare.

You see, it's a tough world out there. And you need to make the right decisions that will not throw you off the tracks and that will eliminate the risks that go with the job of being a small business owner. Whatever you do, you need to keep that dream alive! You can't afford to be casual with your business and leave success to luck! After all,there are big stakes at risk, we are not talking about going fishing or losing some weight.

It is not possible for businesses to develop and grow, to stay in existence, without efficient and fast decision making. And that's probably the basic reason so many businesses don't make it into their second year.

A business operates within its environment (both internal and external) and as such it is open to influences from it. It has to adjust to those influences (that represent both potential problems and opportunities). The business owner must listen and react to those messages.

A business owner cannot afford to ignore those factors that affect directly or indirectly the progress of his business.

Let's look at the framework (legal, ethical, emotional etc) which the business has to take into account in decision-making:

First of all the Government through legislation and red tape (as the administration burden and the bureaucracy is known). Alright, there is nothing one can do about that (other than lobbying) but you can stay informed of those changes so that you can lessen the bad effect and maximise the good when faced with having to make certain decisions. For example, the effect of adverse new tax legislation can be minimised by the use of tax planning.

Secondly, business ethics . Today's entrepreneur has to comply with the etiquette, the "good manners" that is necessary in order to create the trust and good faith among businesses in the market field. For example, today's businessman knows too well that he cannot draw unpaid cheques or delay paying his suppliers beyond a certain time limit. No respect to what constitutes acceptable business behaviour, breaking the rules of thegame, means that he will inevitably face the negative consequences of his actions. Those can easily lead to financial losses and the business being sunk. For example, legal sanctions against the business can be taken by unhappy suppliers to recover their outstanding debts.

And thirdly, the business owner's own attitude to risk, his determination to succeed influence and determine the decisions he takes for his business. They say that willpower is the biggest determinant of success. How far does he want to go? Without taking risks in business, nothing can be achieved. How persistent is he? Does he have the succeed or die attitude alive in him? When he goes into business he should be prepared that it may neither be an easy ride nor a fast one. There will be a lot of obstacles in the way and it might take years to achieve his goals. Being patient and persistent to overcome those hurdles and having faith will one day make him succeed. And having an impatient attitude will inevitably lead to incorrect, spurious decisions and making mistakes, perhaps fatal.

And finally, his own background and knowledge. Nobody knows everything and acknowledging it does not mean admittance to non-intelligence. Not knowing something doesn't mean that somebody is stupid. On the contrary, admittance is on its own a brave act of intelligence, courage and superiority because it's the first step towards improving the situation.

Let's now have a look at some of the key decisions that a business owner will be faced with in running and developing his business.

Some of those decisions have to be made even before starting operations.

It is very important to have a CLEAR vision and develop a business plan.

For example, deciding what the business niche market and the target customer profile is, will enable the businessman concentrate, focus and direct valuable energy towards approaching the market that will benefit most from the product instead of trying to sell to everybody.

And the business owner has to decide how to come close to his prospective customers and how to make them not just aware of the product but also create a need for them so that they will make the purchase. It's like connecting the dots!

Take a barber shop for example. A barbershop situated on a high street with no competition next to it is less risky than a new venture that manufactures cleaning materials because people will always have a need for a cut. With the second business nevertheless, there might be a good product or service. The difficulty is to create a need for it so that customers will buy.

Part of the marketing energy should be spent on developing his pricing strategy. Ascertain the maximum price which customers will be prepared to pay to enjoy the benefit of his product or service. How will prices be determined? With the competition in mind or to increase market share or to break even?

Development of the business Unique Perceived Benefit is essential. This represents the reason (that unique benefit) that will make people jump when they hear about the product!

All those matters (and many others) need to be clearly thought and decided before the show begins.

When he starts operations, the enterpreneur should constantly monitor the progress of the business. It's like a ship that needs steering to avoid collusion on an iceberg that lies ahead. There must be a warning system that will supply him with information on how the business does.

That valuable and useful information should be made available to the business owner in a regular, understandable and reliable format.
Please click here to read an interesting article on the importance of getting understandable information in a regular manner.

That information will enlighten the business owner of problems and favourable opportunities at an early stage so that he can take action to deal with them at an early stage when it's easier and less costly to do so.

There will be problems ahead, for certain. And it is almost certain that opportunities and favourable trends will emerge. Please click here to find out how the business owner in real life can cope with the need to make decisions.

How do you get hold of that information necessary for easier, faster and more efficient decision making? By asking your existing accountant to provide that information to you or by choosing the RIGHT accountant . Read how to choose the RIGHT accountant for your business and how you can derive maximum benefits from your accounting service.

That way, the dream stays alive.

Please feel free to use all the information that you will find on the web site.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me personally at any time. You can call, e-mail, fax or write to me and I will be happy to answer any and all of your questions.

Good luck in your business ventures!

Demetris Savva BA FCCA
Constantine Savva Accountants Ltd
Chartered Certified Accountants
155A West Green Road
London N15 5EA
Telephone: 020 88094468
Fax: 0845 0500905

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