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Eight Steps to Successful Business Development
Vision
Risk vs reward
Business plan
Commitment
Investment
Execution
Review
Adapt
Why do you need to plan for new business?
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New Business Success Rate
A 1 in 10 rule-of-thumb is an average success rate used for new business. Whether you are working on developing new suppliers, brands and customers, the premise being that you need to have a number of different projects in play, as not all will succeed.
One of Graham Greenidge’s mottoes is:
It is better to try and fail than to fail because you did not try.
With a clear plan, and an understanding of the risk verse reward, the odds of success can be improved.
According to 2021 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more. (https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1010/top-6-reasons-new-businesses-fail.aspx#citation-1, July 29 2022). According to the article the following are the reasons for this success or failure rate:
1. Not Investigating the Market
2. Business Plan Problems
3. Too Little Financing
4. Bad Location, Internet Presence, and Marketing
5. Remaining Rigid
6. Expanding Too Fast
Top 6 Reasons New Businesses Fail, by MICHAEL T. DEANE, Updated January 10, 2022, fact checked by KATHARINE BEER.
What can you do to increase your success?
A vision for the future
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A ‘spark’, or an idea, something that gets you excited for the future.
For visionary thinking to flourish, management needs to welcome and encourage the enthusiasm and excitement of generating ideas, ‘thinking outside the box’, to get ahead of the competition’ and a willingness to take a ‘qualified’ risk.
Business ideas need to be encouraged and guided, with a review process that provides focus and discipline. Too often ideas are dismissed or shot down with no analysis of the potential or regard to its originator. How you review ideas and provide feedback, will likely determine if you get another one. Execution needs to be a team action and not a solo flight to failure. If the decision is a go, then there needs to be both management and execution team commitment.
Products, portfolios and businesses all have a life cycle and it is critical for the longevity of an organisation, to generate new business to replace those in the later stages of maturity or decline.
Developing a Business Plan
A business plan is a key tool to guide the path to success . A plan makes you think, really think about how to take an idea and make it into a tangible reality. It is an approach that combines creativity, with the disciplines of research, consumer behavior, marketing and finance. The ultimate value of a plan is it makes you question yourself, validate and measure the future.
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Brain storming sessions with a small group of diverse members is a good place to start the embryo of the plan. The more input you can get from team members, the wider the net for ideas and the greater the team buy-in for the final plan – you now have a vested plan.
The plan should:
- define the opportunity
- establish clear objectives
- conduct a competitive analysis
- define risks both internal and external
- identify resource requirements
- and set time lines.
- team buy
- enthusiastic roll-out
Services offered by Graham Greenidge
-
Develop business plans
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Assist the senior team in identifying and developing new business direction and opportunities
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Facilitate team planning workshops
Market Research
Research offered by Graham Greenidge is tailored to suit your business needs.
- Competitive analysis
- Consumer behavior / behavioral economics
- Economic review
- Market share analysis
- Price survey
- Service rating
- Share-of-shelf
- Top-of-mind awareness
- Trend analysis
Project Management
All projects need a champion to help plan, organised, monitor, measure and to complete the project on time and in full. The phrase ‘the devil is in the details’, can make or break a project. Where businesses fail to deliver on a project, is often due to lack of focus, resource commitment, over ambitious expectations and no clear champion.
According to kisflow, there are six reasons why projects fail:
- Lack of resource planning
- Unclear goals and objectives
- Lack of project visibility
- Communication gaps
- Scope creep
- Unrealistic expectations
Projects can be completed in phases and the Project Management Institute (PMI), has identified five phases of project management:
Services offered by Graham Greenidge
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Customized project management
Contact
To learn more about the business services offered, please click on the service categories below:
I can be contacted directly via my contact page and I will personally respond back to you within 24 hours.
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