Every business (and individual in that business) hits a ‘brick wall’ at some point and in order to get over or break through the wall the business (and individual) needs to do something different – but often working out what this is can feel nigh on impossible and therefore many business remain at the brick wall, hitting their heads against it and not surprisingly, feeling the pain.
That is often the point my phone rings and I begin working with a client. Here are 4 areas to consider to help get you through the brick wall (or avoid it in the first place):
1. Have a vision
The problem about a brick wall is you can’t see over it and therefore what is in the distance. This is the first issue that needs resolving. You need a clear vision for your business that excites and motivates you. Business owners often hit this brick wall because they have lost motiviation and lost sight of why they started the business in the first place because the day to day activities have de focused them.
2. Build the foundations
I know it’s cliched but if you try and build a bigger house without the supporting foundations, it is going to fall down. The same is true with business. It is one of the major reasons businesses feel like they are taking one step forward and one back. Creating a scaleable business makes it easier to grow and avoid that brick wall altogether.
3. Hire the right people
Your staff need to align with your business and buy into the vision. They both need to be technically competent to do the job and culturally match the values of the business. They need to be as excited about delivering the vision as you are. Then you need to delegate as much as possible, leaving you to working on the bigger picture strategic activities of your business.
4. Revisit, review and revise your vision
A mistake many organisations make is to create a vision, cast it in stone and one year later use it to beat everyone up with for failing to deliver it! A vision (and business strategy) needs to be a living document that is frequently reviewed (to identify next focus area) and refined (based on current knowledge and circumstances).
These are 4 of a number of steps I would recommend following to enable you to break down, climb over or even build a door, so that you can painlessly get through the brick wall and move to the next stage of your organisation’s evolution. Want to know more? Then please get in touch. You can also download my whitepaper on building a scalable business here.