Welcome to Corporate River The following questions are a sample of those that we have received from business owners.
Q. I´ve heard you talk about receiving the right sort of assistance at the right time. There is so much business assistance on offer out there and some of it is being marketed aggressively. How can we recognise the ´right assistance´ for us?
A. I recommend that you research carefully before choosing an advisor that best suits you and your business.
Advisors offer quite different levels of assistance. Some advisors are like travel agents – they help you find the best route and then send you on the journey. Others are like tour guides – they help you find the best route and then travel with you using their experience to make the best of the journey.
Good advisors ask key questions that challenge leaders´ thinking. They lead their clients to solutions that take the organisation to a new level – and they always leave the client capable of continuing at the new level without the advisor.
Advisors need to be experienced in order to understand what phase your organisation is currently in so as to be able to guide you to do the right things at the right time.
Obviously a good advisor has a great track record of success. Their clients will know if they are a great return on investment. Always ask to talk to an advisor´s existing clients before making a decision.
Ask clients: “In terms of reaching your big business goals, has this advisor been a good investment?”
Q. We have been quite successful in this country and have been thinking about setting up in another country. What advice would you give to increase our chances of success?
A. Prepare well and don´t expect things to happen as quickly as they do in New Zealand. Become incredibly curious about the market you wish to enter. Understand the new market from the inside, not from the outside. Build relationships with good people already operating in the new market. Take a mature view of your business. Generally the larger the market the slower the wheels turn.
Q. I believe my business has export potential. I hear that a business needs to be successful in New Zealand before moving to export. Others say that´s nonsense. What´s your view?
A. There is a difference between building a business primarily for the domestic market and building one for export.
Some successful domestic businesses can evolve and scale up for export. Others find it difficult.
If you believe that your business model has a viable export business case, build an export capable–business from the beginning. Keep the following in mind:
Externally
- Take time to invest in understanding prospective customers in the market you wish to enter
- Learn about your competitors in that market
- Consider a higher level of secrecy and confidentiality than you might normally consider
- Protect your IP as you develop it
Internally
- Build a robust business capable of scaling up in size
- Understand and embrace global best-business practices
- Gather a capable customer-minded team around you
Successful exporting usually requires rapid scaling up in size at some point. If your business has weaknesses they will scale up in size as well and that can add new challenges that domestic business leaders never have to deal with.
It could be that your strategy calls for success in New Zealand first to prove your business. If you are fortunate to have good financial backing then you might build to export capability from the beginning.
By the way: I believe that New Zealand is amongst the easiest places in the world to build and test a prototype export business.
Q. Is there one sort of person who´s more likely to succeed at growing a business than another?
A. I´ve seen many different personality types succeed in business. It´s not always the most assertive or the most intellectual person who succeeds. In my view, people who have the following traits increase the odds of succeeding in business today:
- They do what their business needs them to do, not just what they want to do
- They are teachable and willing to change but also discerning about who they learn from
- They are curious. They always want to understand the what, why and how
- They are able to subdue their ego, particularly if some success comes early
- They understand the value of a worthwhile vision and plan
- They are able to keep the big picture in mind at all times
- They admit to their weaknesses but don´t get hung up on them
- They surround themselves with capable people and empower them
- Once they are clear on the plan they have the courage to execute it
- They love business. Not just their business but business in general
Q. Is there something that most business leaders don´t do early on that you would recommend they do, and that might surprise me?
A. Yes. I find that many businesses people unwittingly implant an early bias on their business that unless identified and corrected early can lead to unnecessary challenges and perhaps business failure later on.
Two examples of this: A ´people person´ leader may concentrate on building their ideal team at the time when they should be winning clients. On the other hand a ´sales oriented´ leader may make too many promises to customers before developing the capability to deliver on the promises they´ve just made. The result is disappointed customers who never return to buy. It´s about balance, doing the right things at the right time and learning fast.
Even knowing about biases, many leaders will deny having a bias and are then surprised when some “unforeseen” set–back occurs, or things take longer than expected
Q. I´ve not had much luck with hiring people and building a team I can rely on. Over time I´ve become resigned to engaging employees who disappoint me. This is not how I want to operate.
A. If the wrong employees are entering your business look carefully at your recruitment process, particularly from the time that you first decide that you need a new employee through to about two weeks after the new recruit has joined your organisation. It could be that you are pitching your advertising at the wrong level and then hiring the best of the people who respond, not the best person for the role.
Or it could be that the right people are entering your business but they haven´t been fully briefed and they are not clear about the outcomes of the role and your expectations from day one.
I don´t have the space here to go into more detail but in both cases, you almost certainly need to add more steps into your recruitment process.
This is well worth spending some time and effort to solve. Many organisations employ people they are delighted with. A good team that continually earns your respect is very valuable and achievable.
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