The 5 Secrets to Long Term Business Success
Let me scare you a little. There’s a 20% chance that a business in the UK won’t make it past the first year, and even if it does, there’s a 60% chance that it will go bust within the first three years. Long-term business success is not nearly as common as it may appear.
That means, statistically, over half of all new businesses face challenges that could lead them to close within three years.
On average, every year in the U.K. over 304,000 businesses fail – and yours, or mine, could be one of them.
The top reasons cited for business closure include:
- Spreading focus too thin
- Inconsistent marketing
- Relying too much on just a few clients
- Leadership challenges
- Not having well-defined systems and processes
We recently had the opportunity to join Sophie Comas, founder of RIMU Marketing, as she celebrated her 10th business anniversary. Sophie is also a member of Mastermind9, and she inspired us to write this blog.
So just what are the secrets to longevity in business?
5 Secrets to Long-Term Business Success
It’s quite fascinating how the world of business keeps us on our toes. Every day seems to bring something new our way. With changes happening all the time, we’ve got to stay on our game to keep up.
Here are 5 secrets to long-term business success:
- Adaptability
- Smart Financial Practices
- Powerful Brand
- Employee Loyalty
- Continuous Improvement/
1. Adaptability
The world of business changes overnight, without much warning. Economic changes can wipe out demand for certain goods and/or services. Similarly, a natural disaster might suddenly impact the customer base in a specific area.
COVID-19 is a classic example of an overnight change that threw a lot of people out of business. The hospitality industry, fitness industry, restaurants and bars, and entertainment services were highly affected.
Businesses that stay strong over time are the ones that stay adaptable. They quickly find solutions to problems and implement the changes as fast as possible.
Here are two ways to remain adaptable:
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Build a Flexible Business Model
A flexible business model makes it a lot easier to adapt to changes when necessary. These include remote work capabilities, scalable processes, and variable cost structures.
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Keep Up With The News
Staying on top of things can help you to foresee market changes and adapt accordingly. For example, the COVID-19 lockdown didn’t happen overnight. Keeping up with the news could have helped all business owners predict it and make changes to their businesses.
2. Smart Financial Practices
Discipline is the single most important trait when it comes to running a business. This discipline leans into your finances. If you’re going to stay in business for a long time, you have to get smart with your money.
You can’t afford to operate without intention. Every penny counts, and you need to be able to account for it.
Here are two things you can do to get smart with business money:
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Separate Business Money from Personal Money
Your business should be treated as a completely separate entity from you. When it comes to money, you need a separate business account from your personal account.
Pay yourself a salary as you would if you were employed. And don’t use business money for personal expenses, no matter what.
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Financial Adaptability
In business, you may also need to quickly adjust your finances as per the market needs.
You need to know how much you are spending on the business and assess the expenses to see what can be tripped.
A work-from-home model can save you on hiring office space. Working shifts rather than hiring extra workers, closing the business during slow hours or eliminating products that do not bring in a good return on investment are all things that you could do to adapt financially.
3. A Powerful Brand
A powerful brand is the cornerstone of business success.
Think about it. What brands are you loyal to, and why?
Wherever you travel in the world, when you see that cursive white lettering against a red background, you think of Coca-Cola.
When you see that simple, fluid black check mark, you think of Nike, and when you see that big bold letter ‘N’ in red on a black background, you think of Netflix.
The goal is to make your brand so strong that your customers are automatically inclined to it just by seeing the logo and colours.
Here are two ways to build a powerful brand:
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Brand Identity
Your brand identity goes beyond its colours and logos. It’s also about your mission, vision, and personality. Make your brand identity as distinct as possible to set yourself apart from competitors.
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Brand Loyalty or Advocacy
You’ve probably heard that word-of-mouth marketing is resourceful, powerful, and affordable. You need to create advocates for your brand by fostering a sense of community and encouraging user-generated content and customer referrals.
4. Employee Loyalty
Building a dream team is one of the less popular yet most effective ways of creating long-term business success. You want to remain on the good side of your employees.
When you have talented people in your team, you need to retain them for as long as possible. Replacing talent isn’t as easy as it looks. It’s a time-consuming and expensive task. Beyond that, it leads to decreased morale.
Here are two ways to build employee loyalty:
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Create a Positive Workplace Culture
Nearly everyone has had that one bad boss who made work a living hell. When people don’t like their jobs, it reflects in the output. On the other hand, a good workplace culture motivates the employees to work harder and remain loyal to the company.
At Mastermind9, we foster a positive culture through perks like unlimited leave, birthday leave, bonuses, and celebrating employee achievements.
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Seek Feedback
Your employees’ feedback is really valuable. They know how they work best, and if they are vulnerable enough to share that with you, then you should pay attention.
Create open communication lines where they can share with you what they feel is working well and what isn’t.
5. Continuous Improvement
I’m a firm believer that when we stop learning, we start dying. In fact, at Mastermind9, we’ve started a new culture where every employee reads or learns something new every month, and then presents it to the rest of the team. It’s been working great!
Think about it – Just a few years ago the idea of ChatGPT would have been a dream. And today, it has changed our lives in so many different ways.
Here are two ways to make sure that you are continuously improving your business:
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Embrace Technology
Technology evolves every day. Staying up to date with the latest advancements can save your business time and money while keeping you ahead of your competition.
Leverage technology to streamline processes within your business and enhance the customer’s experience.
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Market Research
Constant research can quickly show you how to improve your business. There are a lot of free resources available online, and specific to your industry, that can help you monitor market trends and industry developments to identify opportunities.
This is also where networking comes in handy because speaking to business owners helps you identify new opportunities and ideas in the market.
Check out Networking-in and book in for one of the sessions. We meet twice a month online, bringing together good-egg business owners all looking to expand their businesses.
First time? Use the code “FriendOfOi” to snag a full discount code.
Conclusion
Crossing the one-year milestone in business indicates you’re on the right track, considering that 304,000 businesses similar to yours don’t make it past that point.
Business is not easy, and resilience is the secret to longevity. In conclusion, here are 5 ways to achieve long-term business success:
- Adaptability
- Smart Financial Practices
- A Powerful Brand
- Employee Loyalty
- Continuous Improvement
We have proven through our clients that a business community of like-minded people can help you navigate the highs and lows of business, leading to success. Mastermind9 brings together diverse and respected business owners with real-world experience, honed skills and a vast range of knowledge. Find out more.
