Step 1 of Building a Better Business

Anna Stubbs • August 2, 2023

Define what success looks like for you

What exactly does your better business look like? Be crystal clear on what you want from your business; it's there to serve you, not the other way around.

The average person spends 40,000 hours at work over their lifetime and life is simply too short to be stuck doing things we don’t enjoy. Make the most of your time and do what you love doing.

To build the vision of where you want to be in the next 12 months, answer the following questions on a piece of paper.

1. Who do you need to be right now?
Stop having a mindset of ‘when I have this, I will do that, and I will be this’. Instead, think about who you need to be right now and start acting in a way that’s consistent with that person - doing what you need to do to get what you want to have.

2. What do you love doing outside of work and at work?
Define the things that you love doing most. We all have tasks we don’t enjoy doing and put off for as long as possible. Determine which tasks can be delegated to free up more time to do the things you love.

3. How many hours will you commit to the things you love doing?
Write down how many hours a week you’ll spend doing what you love. Commit to doing this - tell someone so they can hold you accountable and block out time in your calendar. Setting aside time to do things you love doing is a great way to start taking back control of your life.

4. What holidays do you want to have?
Write down where you want to go and when. Be specific so the image is implanted in your mind. Block out the time in your calendar now.

5. How much income do you need to deliver on this new life?
Write down a figure. Don’t worry about how you’ll achieve this right now, just write it down.

You now have your own personal plan for what you want to get out of your business. Make this visible and start working towards it now.

“The first secret of getting what you want is knowing what you want.” - Arthur D. Hlavaty

Grow your numbers – Increase leads generated

By Anna Stubbs • June 3, 2025
No one can deny that to grow your business, you must attract new potential customers (or leads). It’s how you generate these leads that’s important though. STEP is a lead generation acronym to help you generate quality leads without pointlessly blowing your marketing budget: S = Strategy T = Target E = Efficiency P = Process

Grow your numbers - Reporting and accountability

By Anna Stubbs • June 3, 2025
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are essential to measure the performance of your business in order to grow your numbers. Of course, the measures themselves are pointless unless there’s reflection and discussion to ensure they’re met. Here’s a simple and effective way to link KPIs to a reporting and accountability framework. Firstly, make sure there is ONE leader for each of the departments in your business: Director, Leadership, Product / Service Development, Operations, Marketing, Sales, Finance, HR, and Admin / IT. One person can lead more than one department, but two people can’t lead one department. You can also contract out departments to avoid needing a large head count of team memebrs (finance, marketing and IT can be outsourced relatively easily). Be clear on who reports to who . One person can only manage 5 or so people effectively. Consider establishing teams with team leaders to enable you to achieve a ratio under 6 to 1. Set up regular department meetings . This may be the CEO with each of the other department heads, the Operations Leader with the Operations team (if less than 5 in the Operations team) or with the Operations Team Leaders (if more than 5 in the Operations team).

Grow your numbers – Control overhead expenses

By Anna Stubbs • June 3, 2025
One of the simplest ways to grow your bottom line is to tighten your belt and spend less.