What Makes a Good Salesperson?

 

I was asked this exact question by a high-profile CEO last week, and it made me smile. Having been one in my younger days and now working with sales directors for over twenty years it is still a great question. From hiring the right people at the start, to supporting them throughout their role as it evolves, what makes a good salesperson really has not changed. Let me explain why. 

 

Recruiting Good Salespeople

Recruiting the right people is still a hugely challenging issue. What is a good fit not just to the role but to the business strategy and the culture of the business? This simple question is really a minefield for any director recruiting a salesperson.  What is a good fit, depends upon what you are looking for? What is a good fit? Is that someone who comes across well at interview or a person with an excellent track record?  In the 1980’s the lone wolf salesperson was the ideal role model, the high energy go getter, who won at any cost. That changed to the team player who positively responded to direction and management and was a predictable and reliably consistent.    

The fact that sales candidates have personality characteristics and skills that are difficult to evaluate adds a level of complexity which makes it hard to identify the ideal candidate. Companies want someone who can sell, but they are assessed either on who they know within the market or the last company they worked for. Either of these is not a good basis for who is going to be the right person for this company and this role.

Many are highly skilled at making a great first impression, but getting the right salesperson requires attitude skills which are not about first impressions. Hopefully every salesperson can make a great first impression, but can they build trust and credibility over the longer with clients? How do you assess that within an hour’s assessment? 

 

Evaluating potential salespeople is challenging  

Too often recruiting salespeople becomes a continual process as the revolving door as the wrong people enter and leave on a regular basis.  One recent report identified that 1 is 3 salespeople does not last a year in the role. This leaves companies with a continual open door for new salespeople. Carrying deadwood and with open vacancies in place becomes the normal situation in many companies.  An eternally evolving team which leaders cannot rely upon and develop.  

The solutions I most often seen tried range from trying different recruitment companies, to swinging the personality selection criteria by 180 degrees from the previous failed salesperson. While both seem attractive ways to overcome a previous failure, neither get the root cause of the issues a sales director must resolve. 

The key issues always start by understanding the strategy you are trying to deploy. Where do we want to be in five years’ time, is always a good place begin? Stop trying to look for a quick fix. Recruitment is a slow and expensive business, made more so by getting it wrong. Not only missed opportunities in sales but in morale and credibility with customers and other stakeholders. 

  

Sales Start with Sales Strategy 

To resolve these key issues, I always recommend identifying the importance of the long-term goal over the quick fix in finding the right salespeople. The right strategy defines the nature of the sales process, market, customer profile, and above all the key traits that they are looking for. Who do you want to have as customers in 5 years’ time is the first question I always ask? That should define the type of relationship you will need to achieve those goals. 

Secondly what are the key traits of existing good salespeople. What does good look like inside the team and company? Identifying that persona as the optimum salesperson profile, from background to adaptiveness and above all the right attitude.  Attitude is a major challenge is finding the right salespeople. It is difficult to tease out in an interview and even harder using crude sales personality tests. Like all tests some people are good at them and with frequency can pass them without revealing their true personality traits.  

For a salesperson in any sales role, B2B or B2C to succeed they must have the right environment. That is one where they have the support, structure and systems in place to support them succeed. 

 

 

Good Salespeople have the right Attitude.

Ask 5 sales directors what are the most important skills criteria that a salesperson needs to have, and you will get a shopping list a mile long. From problem solving to team player through to advanced role specific skills in negotiation and critical thinking soft skills. They, and many other role specific skills are all genuine skills, but none are as important as attitude. 

Attitude Is an approach that all good salespeople always seem to demonstrate. It is a consistent metric of success in selling roles.  But it I hard to pull out in an interview.  Skills you can train but attitude is hard wired into people’s DNA. Attitude is how people approach and undertake their role. For example, a good attitude enables people to self-start in the morning, bounce-back from a major set-back and remember to do the hard groundwork rather than just chasing the quick wins.

A good attitude is seen not in someone being perfect on day 1, but someone who will learn, adapt to become a team player within the culture of that business today and will develop themselves to be ready for the next stage of the business.  A good attitude is someone who learns from others and mistakes. They bounce back from setbacks rather than complain.  Attitude is the single most important factor in a successful salesperson. It comes across in actions and outcomes, someone seen as possessing grit in selling.

 

 

Attitude is Everything in Sales

What does a great attitude bring in sales behaviours. A person with a positive attitude is that they learn from the high achievers. They learn the products and the sales process and often challenge existing assumptions. They ask the annoying questions to sales managers like why do we do it like that?  Good salespeople quickly learn enough to be able to represent the brand, but they do not hide behind needing to know everything before they get out here. They are not perfectionists.

Good salespeople recognise that their real value is spend in-front of customers. They do the grunt work. Getting out and knocking on doors. The groundwork of any good salesperson is the unseen and unvalued work of learning the territory, meeting with existing and target customers. They have a plan, and they work the plan every day.  

Positive attitude is not just about having a sale and celebrating it. It is about continually building a multileveled pipeline of real opportunities. With a positive sales attitude good salespeople are always forward looking and don’t sit back on their laurels. The old saying you are only as good as your next sale, is their mantra. 

 

Growth Mindset

With the right attitude a company has salespeople who do not need to be micromanaged, or having their hands held through every sale. They have and own their plan ad they live their plan every day.   They focus on their goals and every step to get there they undertake builds towards their goals. They don’t short-circuit the process they know and trust.

A growth mindset is also one that stretches themselves to go the extra mile. Always looking for new possibilities and feeding back new ideas and product / service suggestions. A growth mindset is one that starts with an approach that says why not that customer, and how do I get into that target customer? Rather than the approach that says, I’m doing alright, I’m not at the bottom, I won’t win that customer.  A growth mindset, I can grow, is a great attitude compared to the fixed mindset, which limits the salespersons horizon.

 

Build the Customer Base

Great salespeople focus on their target customers. Many salespeople spend time in the office, being seen. Others spend too much time on email or their phone. The best salespeople spend their time in-front of customers. The prioritise getting in-front of existing and target customers. Focusing on time in-front of customer, with well worked out journey and engagement planning is the solid foundation of any successful salesperson growth mindset. 

They spend time building trust and understanding of the customers business. Relationship building with customers is the most valuable way to open value-added business with a customer. From pre-research to adding value to the customer which develops a win/win/win relationship with the customer, great salespeople focus on building their customer base’s width and depth.   

Build Lifetime Customers 

Great salespeople build customers who value their input into their business. They move from the transactional, need based relationship to one of mutual respect and long-term partnership.  They get to know the business, its people and its culture.

 

So, what makes a great salesperson?

Great salespeople are not great on their own, it takes a company culture that values people for the long-term and leadership that has a clear strategy to succeed. It takes clear achievable goals with the support resources in place to enable a salesperson that allows a salesperson to operate with freedom and trust. 

A great salesperson is one who understands that no matter the pressures, that there are no shortcuts to success. An average person can make a sale, but a good salesperson builds a lifetime customer. Not in one visit wonder but a trusted partner.

Like to learn more about developing the right sales culture then contact me.

 

 

What to focus on when looking to sell your business.

What to focus on in selling your business. 

The time to sell your business is when you want out. The best time is when you have a new exciting project that you want to commit to. The optimum time to sell is when investors are excited by your sector and your business is in tip-top fighting condition within a dynamic market. 

This simple checklist should be at the heart of all business owners when looking to define their exit strategy timetable.  Buyers buy because of the potential they can see in making money from the business they are buying. They will pay a premium for a well-run company, with a motivated and dedicated management team, delivering efficient processes to loyal customers.     

Buyers Expectations

Buyers look at potential business acquisitions through the lens of perceived financial risks and rewards. Buyers weigh up the potential rewards over 3 to 5 years both in terms of profits coupled with its potential asset value (share value) as their return on their exit plan. The stronger your key business drivers, from the market you operate within through to how well you deliver your products and services define the start-point of the business value. In essence how you manage the risks around and within your business combined with how well you maximise your opportunities is what buyers are prepare to pay 

The strength and quality of your key business drivers is critical to receiving the highest possible price. In every business there are a whole host of significant business factors, depending upon industry, but the key common ones are consistently recurring income streams from diverse sources, strong strategic business plans delivering sustainable growth, strong future profitable cashflow all being delivered by a strong management team with appropriate operating systems.   

Business owners today looking to sell need to build each of these drivers to maximize your company’s purchase price.

1. Business History

The first driver buyers look at is a history of increasing revenues and profits year over year for the past three to five years. Remember, buyers buy businesses to make money. They want to see the track record, based upon the old adage that the past is the key to the future. Your history reduces risk to buyers as it shows your position with your market, and explains your product / services in terms of income and returns and it shows consistency of you operations.   

2. Strategic Business Plan

The second driver, the strategic direction (business plan) demonstrates the businesses strong organic growth, what happens if the new buyers do nothing once they have bought it. This provides buyers with a base case or buying the business.  Is it sustainable without the purchase, or is the purchase propping it up, if so the investment is being salted away on running the business not in creating value for the investors. 

The second fundamental element of this driver is the buyers investment plans, or often called their the inorganic growth plan.  Their plan must create a compelling competitive advantage within the target market for scalable growth.  High-growth markets are key target for investors particularly where that can be coupled with multiple market development to accelerate that growth. So if your business operates across multiple sectors, or can be able to then it is more appealing to investors than one which operates within a single or limited market.   

3. Future Cashflow 

Expected future cashflow is the third major business driver of business value. Cashflow in all its elements, from profit generation to working capital and investment capital requirements (including any future CapEx) all fit into the mix which financial assessment will include. 

The future EBITDA, as this is assessment is expressed are all-dependent upon the business owners strategic business planning. Understanding your market from the macro factors through to the micro drivers all combine into a well throughout plan which demonstrates sustained profitable sales and market growth. The strategic business plan needs to thoroughly explain how your business is both organically able to grow but also how the buyer will be able to leverage enhanced growth through its investment.  

4. Operational Risk

The fourth major business driver is in operational excellence through a strong management team in place supported by effective operating systems. The more your business revolves around only you or another “key people,” the greater the perceived risk among buyers. If that person is the owner, then any sale will buy them in, so owners need to make themselves redundant within the business. 

A strong management team, from leadership through to operational delivery people, is an ideal buyer purchase scenario. So metrics such as a high quality recruitment strategy and low staff turnover are highly desirable. What buyers are looking for is a strong culture and a stable labour force for future growth.

Next Steps

If you are looking to sell your business then the first steps are to get some professional advice to see where they are compared to where they need to be. Owners need to understand the key business drivers, which they can influence and take steps early towards developing these to improve your business drivers. That will drive your business value upwards and begin the process of polishing your business, making it more attractive to potential buyers.  

Strategic planning is one of the most effective things that business owners can do to add value to their business. Like to learn more then contact us to learn about our strategic planning services enquiries@cowdenconsulting.com or learn more at www.cowdenconsulting.com/strategy

Strategy v Culture – They Aren't Opposites 

Is culture more important than strategy, or is strategy more important than culture?

This classic question has grow in the mindset of leaders in recent years as the rise of culture in the workplace is recognised for its importance not only in improving performance but in driving whole enterprise competitiveness. For anyone familiar wth the McKinsey S7 model will know that the shared values within any organisation ultimately drive the delivery of both the hard 'S' factors, (strategy, systems and structure) and the soft 'S' factors (skills, staff and style). 

McKinsey 7S model for ANY Business

The focus today on culture over strategy is really a misunderstanding of the importance of strategic thinking in business. The relationship between strategy and culture is in fact  one of mutual dependence. Without a clear strategic vision in place, thoroughly developed by the leadership team, then no amount of investment in culture will deliver improved bottom-line business performance.  

Culture, is actually an integral part of delivering / implementing any business strategy. If you cannot motivate people to successfully work together, to be more than the sum of their parts then the leadership team cannot deliver its strategic vision.  Therefore strategy and culture are mutual partners in any successful enterprise. What you do, matters just as much as how you do it. Simon Sinek's the 'Power of Why' is an excellent explanation of the mutual nature of culture and strategy combining. 

Is Business Strategy Failing?

So why do so many organisations quote that only 20% to 30% of their strategic initiates succeed? Figures such as these immediately make leaders think about culture as the primary driver of successful organisations, rather than focusing on strategy. The additional value of culture as a driver of enhanced performance within a sector is primarily seen in high-value service led west-coast millennial businesses, (which are the ones always quoted), by cultural advocates who so often tag brands such as Apple, Google and Facebook. 

While looking at these types of new business, its easy to see their culture at work and how it improves performance within the workplace, but what underpins every one of them is that they have their successfully developed strategies in place, which underpin and drive their success.  

The passion with which these organisations promote their cultural identify would make it look as if their success is due solely due to their unique culture, but if that was the case then companies such as Bebo and Myspace would also be quoted as outstanding examples of success in west-coast culture. 

The Cultural Advantage 

A positive and rewarding culture can drive a successful strategy deployment quicker and more dynamically than their competition. This type of competitive advantage can deliver  rapid emergence of a new entrant, or accelerate a high-growth competitive business within a dynamically developing market. 

The key aspect of a vibrant company culture is that it creates an inspiring work-place, which enables the rapid deployment of a strategy coupled with the flexibility to respond to change quicker than the competition, often through empowerment of employees to take ownership of decision making at the front-line.

This cultural advantage in business enables those businesses able to enhance their cultural identity to outcompete their competition in emerging and rapidly developing markets effectively, but it does not replace sound strategic thinking, it just supports and allows rapid acceleration of a strategy being delivered successfully. There is in effect a symbiotic relationship between a successful strategy and the culture within which it is delivered.    

Those leaders who focus on culture rather than strategy are chasing the defining differentiation within the market, rather than the fundamental definition of any business. No matter in what sector you are operating within without a fundamental strategic purpose no business can succeed. 

Results Only Work Environments ROWE

Dan Pink in his excellent book DRIVE talks about Results Only Work Environments ROWE, where employees are free to work on their own projects for a period of their work. The apparent results show that businesses like Google found that about half their profits came from work undertaken by 20% of employees time. 

While this sounds an outstanding impact of culture in driving results, it does not always reflect the reality. The controls put in place within an organisation direct where the employee puts their energies in ROWE, so they are not free, more managed towards projects that fit within strategic parameters. Secondly many projects which people work on are dream projects which enhance the base functions of the organisation, or they department, so that ROWE work extends or commercialises work within organisations rather than is purely derived from a ROWE culture. This is not to decry a ROWE culture, which can be inspiring but it is important to understand that ROWE cultures are not a panacea for success.   

Culture cannot replace strategy, it might camouflage a weak or lapsed strategy for a short time, but no matter how much spirit there is within any workplace without a long term strategy no business will succeed. While cultural evangelists passionately quote Apple, they quietly forget Nokia or Motorola as organisations, who both had positive cultures, Motorola invented the mobile phone and Nokia was the definition of innovation for many years, but who have been let down by strategic failures.     

Strategy development, an often misunderstood leadership skill-set, has become a phrase to describe everything from an aspirational dream through to a quick win tactic. This ubiquitous  usage of the word of strategy attaching it to everything has heavily damaged and de-valued it, compared with the fairytale soft skill cinderella which is culture.   

Strategy Defines An Organisation's Purpose

Success is not just about having a clearly defined strategy, it is about having a strategic intent within the leadership which makes an organisation able to succeed. If the leadership has a clear direction and focus for the business, combining both the external view rigorously developed integrated, coupled with the internal focus on core competences, then that business can outcompete its competitors. 

Organisations led by strategic thinkers who focus on growth within their sector, by looking beyond the horizon and developing a clear understanding of where their market is going and therefore how to develop an advantage in their market. How the leadership use those advantages, how fast they can develop and implement strategies, relies upon the belief others have in that strategic vision.                 

Without strategic thinking, organisations will not succeed, here's why. Strategy underpins success, not just because it provides a focus for all activity within an organisation, but organisations with a strategic purpose attract the best talent, develop the best talent to deliver and retain the talent by providing them with a results focused purpose to stay and develop their talent further. 

Without that ability to provide a purpose for talented people, they will not come, develop or stay. That ability, which only a strategic drive can deliver, underpins the purpose of an organisation, its the clear goal focused approach, which drives the existence of a positive cultural environment, where the value of culture can make a difference in competitive performance.       

           

The Solution

Fundamentally leadership is about driving change, and that can only come from the leadership themselves.  You can't  delegate strategy or structural change, you have to own it live, believe it and drive it relentlessly until it achieves not a paper model but a realisation in achieving tangible outcomes towards strategic goals. Building the 'strategic model' is not strategic leadership, that is just dreaming it, it is the  'built it and they will come' approach to strategy.     

Having a great strategy is only a small part of the real challenge which leaders face. Being able to execute their entire plan, requires the ability to visualise their strategy as the big picture for the business and being able to communicate it to all levels of stakeholder with personal conviction which creates and sustains the momentum you need for your strategy to succeed. That means by beginning with the end in mind, that clear strategic objectives which fit into the future which the leadership team must believe in and focus on with ambitious and measurable goals.

Successful leadership must engage all the people throughout their organisation, so that hey all understand the strategic drivers that are creating and driving the market within which they operate. Only through open and frank discussion can leadership teams enable employees to understand the drivers and implications of change within the organisation will they be able to carry people through the change process successfully.

Summary: Strategy V Culture, it takes one to have the other.

It is not the case of culture eats strategy, if you look at successful businesses and organisations around the world, a great strategy, well thought out resourced, driven and supported will deliver bottomline results. Great strategic thinking, creates, nurtures and sustains dynamic cultures within organisations, which in turn drive strategic thinking to new heights, creating brand leaders in every sector of industry. But short-term thinking and a lack of investing in leadership skills, robust strategic thinking processes and people investment will continue to hamper the success of strategy in business today.

Author Richard Gourlay provides strategic planning consultancy to business leaders to grow and develop their business skills. 

Learn more at www.cowdenconsulting.com or www.richardgourlay.com

   

What Great Leaders DO Differently

Peter Drucker's iconic quote above defines the need for leadership, but what makes a great leader? Is the question which people placed in any position of authority, want to know. 

Leadership is often described in terms of being the figurehead, the ultimate power and the final authority.  

While there are many excellent qualities which people can identify in good leaders, these traits are the outcome of leaders being bale to work well with people inside their business. What makes the exceptional leaders is not people doing all of them better than average, but being able to do a few of these core skills to an outstanding standard, making them great leaders. Great leaders play to their strengths, not trying to do everything, just the things that matter, those which make a real bottomline difference in performance. 

Leadership Skills

Leadership skills, those personal attributes which people recognise as able to inspire others, are always built upon the ability to motivate other people. All leaders must be able to inspire, to keep people driven and focused on their goals. 

There are a number of ways in motivating people, for some using their charisma and energy can be great motivators, their personality drives people to follow them. This type of charisma leadership is often focused around the culture of the personality, the successful sales person, the inspiring leader, using their relationships with staff and often key customers, they lead through the force of their personality.   

For others their technical knowledge and expertise within their field provides the inspiration for others to follow. Their ability to foresee and create products and services which meet target customers needs and exceed expectations open up markets and generates business through the leaders insight and forethought. This type of leadership, the technical leader, relies more upon their ability to achieve results rather than to personally motivate.   

No One Leadership Type

Being a leader, either by be placed in a position of leadership or by the accident of assuming the role, either as the inspirational or technical leader within an organisation, puts pressure on leaders to perform. Being the focus of attention, the decision maker, requires leaders to develop a range of skills to lead in a number of situations and to lead different types of people.  

There are no definite way of stating 'do this to be a great leader', everyone can be a leader, it all depends upon the circumstances, but what makes great leadership, is not just the ability to take decisions,  but a few specific factors often grouped into three areas which separate great leaders from the rest. So here's what I see great leaders do differently.  

Importance of Diverse Voices

The first thing great leaders do differently is create diverse and strong networks of contacts. If you always listen to the same people you will always be limited to their views. Most leaders listen and make decisions based on a small group of trusted advisors. 

The weakness for leaders of always listening to the same inner group is that as change happens to our business, as it grows, as change impacts on our markets this inner circle becomes outdated, not fit for purpose. Those people that leaders listen to when they are starting out, for example you first accountant, maybe a compliance account (keeps you legal) as your business grows you need new services and expertise (expansion funding, tax advice, etc) outside that persons skill set. Great leaders recognise they need to add to their advice panel, good leaders often don't.

Investing in your trust network is a core skill which great leads do, they sharpen the saw as Stephen Covey phrases it. Always be learning, sharpening your skills by working with the right mix of people who you trust to take advice from. This investment by great leaders is about having a diverse set of trusted advisors who provide the balance and foresight which great leaders need to think ahead with the right sources of information. The great leaders I have seen often introduce Non-Executive Directors, new experienced people from different industries and widening the trust network with greater diversity of views.

Leaders Stand Back

The second thing great leaders always do is the ability to stand back and see the big picture of your industry. The role of being the general commanding your resources. Great leaders not only command today's activities, as the ultimate controller, but are always looking at develop fresh understanding what is driving your industry, the change making factors. 

"Where you are is not as important as knowing where you are going and why." Great leadership is about creating the tomorrow you want to achieve.  It is looking for the drivers of change within your business.  It is one of the hardest skills which great leaders have to master. It takes time, effort and resources, often with blind alleys and a high degree of uncertainty. 

The struggle for busy leaders is to value doing enough of the right research to create clarity in an unclear future, which changes matter and what impact do they make on the future of your market, your customer and your future as a organisation? These are the most important and valuable questions any leader can and must answer. 

The importance of understanding the impact change and using it to create your forward strategy is one of the defining characteristics of great leaders. Great leadership is about focusing on what you can change the future, not fire-fighting todays problems. Not only is it more productive but it is also the only way to be effective as a great leader. 

Be Decisive

The third and vital attribute of great leaders is that they make change happen. Sometimes seen as being ruthless to make change happen, great leaders are proactive in making change happen. This pro-activeness in making change happen, can see to others as utter ruthlessness, because great leaders can see why the change is needed, while those elsewhere in the organisation see the change but not the drivers of why leaders are making that change happen then and there.

Great leaders are not frightened of change and when I say change, I do not mean evolutionary or organic changes, but revolutionary changes.  Great leaders make bold changes at the optimum point for sustainable success, when do we need to make the change to succeed in the long-term. 

Good leaders make changes, but often only when they have few other options, or are forced into making that change, they are often reactive change, Great leaders on the other hand make proactive revolutionary changes because they can see the long-term benefit.

Each of these three great leader attributes support and drive all those other skills which good leaders often portray, and this is what makes some leaders great at leading their people and their organisations. 

By creating diverse trust networks it enables leaders to find better information about the future and the changes they need to make. This virtuous cycle is what makes some leaders great and very different from those who rely upon gut feel and reactive enforced decision making.   

If you would like to know more about what makes a great leader, you can read more about my work in working with great leaders, then get in toch to learn how I can support you develop your leadership skills: Contact Richard 

www.cowdenconsulting.co.uk

Richard Gourlay supports leaders develop their leaderships skills, from strategic planning to mentoring, based in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland he covers the UK, learn more at www.richardgourlay.com  or Contact Richard 

Business Startups: How to Start your Business Successfully

Starting Up A Business: You Need a Business Plan 

Starting a business is an exciting and yet daunting time for everyone, from the seasoned veteran to the first time start-up. Starting up a new venture in any field is one of the most frightening steps anyone can take. Stepping out from the known and safety of being part of another community to stand alone with your idea sounds exciting and thrills people, but also creates a mountain of new and often insurmountable challenges.  

  

The excitement of starting a new business can be quickly matched (and outshone) by the size of the daunting challenge you have set yourself. Where do you start in turning your idea into a business? For many it is talking it through with friends and family, seeing if it has legs, if it is a runner, trying to find the next step in turning the idea into a business.     

Hidden Challenges Facing All Entrepreneur

The next stage for many is to try to write down a plan of what they are trying to launch. This is where most people struggle, what to plan and how to plan what you are doing. How to turn your embryonic idea into a fully sized business is one of the hidden challenges facing every entrepreneur.

For many creating a business plan, is too big a challenge, re-defining it as a pointless exercise, or more realistic something they know they need to do, but want to postpone having to do it until the last moment, or later. Quite often planning their business is something entrepreneurs want to or try to delegate to other people. They want to keep the model flexible, or often in their head, I am working on it are other phrases I come across.

Putting All the Pieces Together

Yet to take any idea from embryonic idea to a recognizable business model, requires an investment in planning all the details of your business. Not just focusing on the core product or service, the exciting concept, but functional aspects of how the business will operate, from where and how, what operations have to be undertaken and by whom.   

Then a business needs to answer the biggest challenge, where will the customers come from and how. This key area is one, which entrepreneurs struggle to define publicly and honestly, relying on the old adage “build it and they will come.” But turning an idea into a successful business requires more than hope, it requires a clear plan, based upon a defined winning strategy driving a business model which makes sense and explains why it will succeed.

Defining The Optimum Solution  

The first step many successful entrepreneurs undertake is to review their idea and build their strategic plan, to take their idea from embryonic idea to a fully formed business model. From understanding your market and the size and scale of opportunity, to working out where to position yourself and what needs to happen to create interest in what you are offering and how you need to respond to it.

Developing a strategic perspective is a vital first stage in developing an agile and responsive business, by defining your strategic plan enables entrepreneurs to fully assess the whole business model, evaluating all aspects of your business and giving you all the ingredients for a business plan.   

Take Some Action

However you decide to start your business, do look for support. Run your idea past experienced people in bringing businesses to market, look at answering the difficult questions early, while optimism is vital, so is reality as is persistence.

 

If you are looking to develop your business model then look at developing your strategic plan for your business then why not look at my book Strategy: The Leader's Role by Richard Gourlay which will help you develop your strategic plan for your business.