Fluid Business Magazine - Winter 2019

FLUID BUSINESS THE MAGAZINE FOR BUSINESS OWNERS WINTER 2019

All Change, Please!

MANAGING TEAM CHANGES

CHANGING YOUR MIND

PLANNING FOR CHANGE

ENSURING YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR YOUR PEOPLE

IS YOUR HEAD IN THE RIGHT PLACE FOR YOUR CURRENT BUSINESS?

HOW TO GET READY & STAY FOCUSED DURING TIMES OF CHANGE

AUTUMN 2018

Use code WINTERMAGFREE valid until 31st March 2019Â

THE CHANGE ISSUE 04

14

Fluid Insider Find out what we've been up to over the last

Will your Business Deliver the Life you Want?

Knowing what you want will help shape your

few months.

business

05

16

Coaches Q&A

The importance of the right mindset for

The coaches share their expert knowledge by answering our question of the issue!

08

Planning for your People

Where's Your Head At?

20

growth

A D A P T to The Levels How to ensure your business is ready to grow

Does your business have a plan for all your people? Find out why you need one

23

The Fluid Book Club Literary inspiration from the Fluid Business

10

Why Looks really are Important Why branding and marketing are so

Coaches

24

How will an ageing population affect business?

important & how you can manage a change of look

The Silver Tsunami

26

Surprising Stats A fun look at business related numbers

A note from...

NATALIE HARIRAM Managing Director, Fluid Business Group

Welcome! Incredibly we're nearly at

In our 'All Change' issue we're

the end of January already but a

sharing ideas on how best to deal

quick (belated) Happy New Year

with some of the most common

from me.

change scenarios faced by business owners.

To kick off the new year we've made a change to the magazine

I'll leave you with this great quote

and issued our biggest ever edition. on change Many of us don't really like change

“Yesterday I was clever, so I

but adjustments of some kind are

wanted to change the world. Today

inevitable when running a business.

I am wise, so I am changing

It's how you chose to handle

myself.”

change that makes the biggest

― Rumi

difference.

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Fluid Insider A roundup of the last quarter and the latest news from Fluid HQ. The Fluid Team are well into the new year with various levels of commitment on the dry January and new exercise regime front! But at least we're trying to change our ways....

Being ready to change and prepared to grow your business is an exciting but potentially daunting time - check out Ray's article on P.20 to ensure you're able to A D A P T when the time comes.

Enjoy 2019 and embrace as much change as you can realistically manage!

New to Fluid? Visit fluidbusiness.co.uk for an explanation of the Levels Framework®

Highlights in this issue...

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Will your business deliver the life you want?

Where's your head at?

P.14

P.16

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Coaches Q&A What's the biggest business change you've experienced & what did it teach you?

Ray Moore - Founder & Managing Coach

That’s a great question and got me thinking.

The biggest impact on me personally hasn’t been technology or online trading, it was the year 1992.

Now some of you may have been very young or even not born so let me give you a little background.

I started my first business in 1988.

The economy was booming following the Thatcher years.

Business was buoyant.

My company grew quickly and sales and profits allowed us to maintain the growth. With a wide spread of customers including Canary Wharf the future looked rosy.

Unbelievably, Canary Wharf filed for bankruptcy in May 1992.

That was bit of a shock but we could weather that storm.

Then Black Wednesday hit in September 1992 when the UK was bumped out of the ERM and George Soros came close to breaking the Bank of England. Interest rates went from 10% to 15% in a matter of hours and the economy dived into the longest and hardest recession with over 3 million unemployed.

My learnings are that I could only control those things that were within my circle of influence. It would have been so easy to focus on things that I could not change.

I focused on what I could control and survived to build sustainable businesses.

It was character building!

In businesses even in those dark days the sun will still rise again. The economy will ebb and flow. It will recover.

However, I am reminded again and again of what Thomas Schelling, Nobel laureate in economics in wrote in 1988, the year I suffered my entrepreneurial seizure.

‘It is the nature of human beings to forget that we keep forgetting’ And boy do we keep forgetting!

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Coaches Q&A Continued Andy Sleet - Business Coach

The biggest business change for me came when I left corporate life and got involved with coaching.

I spent 25 years working in a Corporate environment, starting as an apprentice Engineer and working my way up the greasy pole to become a senior manager with what I believed to be an important role within the company. During this time I was focused on doing the right things and putting in maximum effort to enable my progression. Sure enough at each annual appraisal I was rewarded with a good review and reassurance that I was doing the right things. At the time my mood was mixed with elation as I got promoted, but also frustration as progress felt so slow. I was confused and at the time wasn't able to understand what was causing it however the reason for my feelings became clear the longer I spent in the coaching environment.

The corporate organisation had grown large but some of the essential building blocks of Vision, Mission and Culture had not been put in place properly.

The main challenges start right from the top.

So on reflection what has it taught me?

The Leadership team must be aligned & communicate the same vision effectively through all levels of the organisation. It's usually clear why this vision is good for the company but needs to be communicated in a way that shows why it's good for the employees as well. If not presented as a 'Win - Win' why would any of the employees 'buy in' to it?

There needs to be some level of autonomy in the decision makers throughout the levels of the organisation. I had a handful of great bosses in my time in this environment and at my appraisals they would let me know how well I was doing & help with my development, however there was no real 'talent development' system within the organisation to allow the best to progress.

The overall Leader cannot just write down a few values on the wall to get ISO9001. This isn't a list of desired values, it must be demonstrated that leaders live the values first and then be the keepers of the culture for the rest of the organisation. Unfortunately, if the leader doesn't do this they have no hope that the rest of the business will.

It is important when recruiting that the HR process understands the need for VALUES first and makes sure that only people with values in line with those of the company get hired.

If the goal for the Business Owner is to grow their business, then it's imperative that these things are fixed first as a strong business can't be built on weak foundations!

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Coaches Q&A What's the biggest business change you've experienced & what did it teach you?

Peter Boolkah - Business Coach

The biggest change I've experienced was the challenge brought about by the 2008/09 recession.

Overnight the taps were turned off and nobody really knew what was really going on or how to deal with it. There was an expectation that it was just a blip and things would bounce back quickly, however that was not the case. Things just got worse and worse and many businesses failed to act fast enough to prevent irrevocable damage.

I saw three key issues that caused devastation for many industries;

> Credit lines were too lax and many companies failed to recovery monies owed to them. As we know, cash flow is vital to the survival of small businesses.

> Costs were not cut fast enough. Many companies tried to ride out the storm but did not have enough capital behind them to do so.

> Banks pulled facilities and put companies into liquidation overnight because they had no confidence in the businesses they had over lent to.

The reality is many companies had no frame of reference, were adopting poor practices and were not strong enough to survive the downturn.

As a result I now encourage all my clients to plan ahead, chase down debts promptly and have a cash reserve. Ideally, you should also have an emergency plan in case the worst does happen.

The question now remains with the next downturn approaching are companies better placed this time around?

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Does your business have a plan for its people?

Peter Boolkah - The Transition Guy®

Do you really need a plan?

Make Hiring the Best Employees Your Top Priority

When it comes to maximising growth, companies typically have strategies in place for essential

Whether it's perfecting your management

areas like revenue and sales - but what about a

structure or identifying any department gaps

people plan? And more importantly, why does

internally which could help your business scale to

your business need one? Let’s find out...

its full potential; it’s worth remembering that people are THE lifeline when it comes to your

If we pinpoint some of the key strategies that

company’s development and future success

SMEs define as ‘game-changers’, above all most

rates.

business owners choose to focus the majority of time and effort on creating an airtight sales

So even if thinking outside the box sounds a little

pipeline, along with costing and profit margins.

daunting at first, change is extremely valuable in that it can allow you to plan ahead and remain

But in terms of structure, revenue is not what's

prepared. By pooling your resources together

posing a threat to today’s high-profiting

early on to identify which areas could use more

organisations. In fact, the common culprit for

manpower, ultimately this will save valuable time

where things can go south if not addressed is lack

for everybody as the rest of the business year

of time spent on the recruitment process.

pans out.

Simply put: Hiring the right people at the right time is an absolute must.

While a healthy revenue is crucial for any operation to build steady success, if you want to cut out the guesswork and focus on your

In many global surveys carried out the number one

it's far more effective to switch your attention to hiring the best calibre of employees in the first sales quarter rather than leaving recruitment until a

thing that is currently restricting revenue growth is

later date. So many companies hire at the last

people.

possible moment often robbing the company of

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company's long-term goals,

a resource that was much needed earlier on.

Still not convinced?

Organise Your Team and Set Long Term Goals So if you're experiencing consistent high profits but haven't done this next step already, it's a good idea to draw up an organisational

It pays to advertise any vacant roles early on in

chart that maps out your entire workforce

the year so that come Christmas time, your

structure and pinpoints exactly how your team

new team members will have passed their

will align with your long term business plan.

initial training period and can be fully qualified to enter the growth stage of helping you

By getting into the habit of referring to your

transition into the next quarter - with gusto!

organisational chart - one year, two years or even three years in advance - not only will this simple exercise allow you to gain valuable insight into what your people plan looks like

Recap: Top Tips for Creating an Effective People Plan

ahead of the upcoming sales year, it will also provide the necessary structure every company needs to be able to thrive.

1. Design an organisational chart that

Give Your New Recruits Time to Learn the Ropes

identifies any gaps in your company’s internal structure so you can advertise the most relevant jobs as soon as possible.

Although in an ideal world the hiring process runs like clockwork, that's not always the case with the addition of new recruits. There will inevitably be an adjustment period which can

2. Set a realistic time frame for how much time your management team will need to focus on the hiring and training stages.

take anywhere from 1-3 months for everybody to learn the ropes, pick up in-house systems and generally understand how things run in your company dynamic - so prepare to invest in the gift of time here. Also, remember that your entire team must work together to stay

3. Once you’ve defined a clear recruitment strategy, the third and most important point to acknowledge is the need to take ACTION, stay accountable and make these changes a reality.

productive and serve your business from a place of confidence and strength.

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Why looks really are important Branding is what people say about you when you're not in the room -Jeff Bezos, Amazon

Better to be looked over than over looked.

Marketing is your best asset for growing sales and generating loyalty, and covers advertising,

In our social media, selfie obsessed society

public relations, promotions, branding and sales.

looks seem to be gaining more importance – especially for your business. So why is it

It’s needed to create and maintain ever-present

important that your business carefully considers

relationships with customers. To be successful it

its marketing and branding strategies?

requires a carefully monitored and measured ongoing strategy.

Marketing is fundamentally a process of communication and education. We want to

It’s now even cheaper to talk to your customers

make sure that our ideal client knows who we

– social media platforms and email offer a

are and once they do we need to tell them why

budget friendly way of talking to potential and

we’re their best option. In order to buy into a

current customers. Regular efforts can help

product, service or idea your customers need to

spread the word not only to existing customers

have a good understanding of what it does,

but potential prospects too.

how it works and why they will benefit. The last

Now that customers want an immersive shopping

point may well be the most important one; with

experience social media makes it easier to tell

so much choice available the customer really is

your story and personalise it to different

king.

customer groups. Modern customers value experience and individuality over pricing so

Without marketing you may have the best

social media is a big win for SME’s with limited

product or service available but none of your

budgets.

potential customers will know about it.

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Marketing helps keep customers engaged

There are many strands to creating a solid

outside of your shop or office hours. Whilst how

brand including your offer, advertising,

you treat your customers during face-to-face

customer service, promotional merchandise,

situations is, of course, paramount marketing

reputation and logo. These elements combine

allows you to keep the conversation going long

to create a unique and (hopefully) attention-

after that interaction has finished. By forming

grabbing professional profile.

lasting relationships with your brand marketing helps generate loyalty and higher spend per

The benefits of a brand

head.

Ultimately marketing is vital because it helps sell your product or service. The bottom line of any business is to make money and marketing is an essential channel to reach that end goal.

Get Recognised & Create Trust It seems fairly obvious but one of the most important reasons for branding is because it’s how your company will get recognition and become known to your customers. Your logo needs to be easily memorable because it’s essentially the face of the company. A polished, professional image will give the impression of being an industry expert –

In todays competitive world you need to create fresh and engaging content to draw customers in and lead them to a purchase. Marketing

current and potential customers will feel that they can trust your business to deliver what they need.

helps sales and sales are the lifeblood of your business.

What about Branding?

Increase your Business Value A strongly established brand can increase a business’ value by giving the company more

Branding is a marketing practice whereby a company creates a name, emblem or design that is easily identifiable as belonging to them.

In developing a brand personality you highlight why you’re the better option as well as giving an identity to a product or service, and

leverage in the industry and therefore making it easier for you to gain new customers. If you reach the point of wanting to sell your business an established brand is a more attractive investment opportunity for potential purchasers.

distinguish it from your competitors offering.

Branding is key because it helps your audience know what to expect from your business and creates a memorable impression for consumers.

Your brand should be a true and accurate reflection of how you are as a business, what you offer and how you fulfil that offer. Getting this right is critical due to the overall impact it has on your business – it influences how customers perceive your company, it can raise awareness and drive new business.

Drive Employee Engagement Your brand can be used to increase team morale and loyalty because when staff can easily understand and identify with the brand they can get behind the ethos of your company and then share that with your customers. In branding your office you can create a sense of belonging, which has been linked to higher levels of employee satisfaction.

All key in meeting your goal of growing a profitable enterprise.

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Why change your look?

Some of the most likely reasons as to why you would want to rebrand are:

Your company is going to grow and evolve over time – you may add new products or services to your list, venture into new markets or work with different customers.

Any of these changes will require you to

• To update the image of your company.

It’s important to keep pace with customer demand for innovation

think about how well your brand fits its new environment.

• Give value and appeal to a set of new product launches

As a business owner, you might have your own reasons as to why you want to rebrand.

• Recover from a negative experience

However, it’s vital that you map out your motives and goals before starting to ensure there is no negative impact on your business. You want to aim for a seamless

• Highlight positive attributes after a period of internal change (partnership break /change of ownership)

transition from your old brand to your new one.

• Your target audience is changing

Having a clearly defined set of objectives will help you better prepare and allow you to keep focussed during the brand transition phase. But, you’ll need to proceed with caution, re-branding shouldn’t be undertaken lightly.

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• The competition is gaining market share

Things to consider when re-branding your business 1. Make sure you have a valid reason for changing Re-branding can be costly and time consuming so if it isn’t essential there may be easier ways to grow your business. Make sure you’re confident of the return on investment before committing to change.

2. Establish what actually needs to change Do you just need to re-fresh your logo or does your entire business need an update? If it’s the former it’s a much simpler exercise but if you’re going for a complete transformation you’ll need to include all your marketing materials, office, uniforms, social media pages, company name, photography and even your company’s working style.

3. Assess your re-branding budget Once you’ve defined your brand goals it’s a great idea to ensure that you can afford the changes within your budget. Don’t forget to include changes to new and current marketing materials.

4. Include your mission statement If you’re going for a complete company re-brand don’t forget to update your mission statement to ensure it accurately reflects your new goals and objectives. Ensure it’s positive and highlights the benefits of your business versus your competitors.

5. Get people involved- hold workshops to understand what needs to be done, where you need to go and how you’re going to get there. Before you finalise changes to your logo and promotional materials ensure that you’ve got input from your team, contractors and clients.

This will help confirm that the changes you're making will be well received and allows you to make adjustments prior to the launch.

6. Check you’ve covered all the bases Double check your list of items that need to change – it’s easy to forget some of the smaller items when you’re focusing on such a big project. Name badges, complement slips and stationary are some of the things that can slip through the net.

7. Launch your new look Ensure your efforts in creating your new look don’t go unnoticed. Hold an event where you can promote your new image to new and existing customers. Cover the event on social media to raise awareness and educate people on the changes you’ve made.

Conclusion Re-branding your business can be a huge undertaking and there is a great deal involved but it’s also an exciting opportunity for change and to really embed your DNA in the look of your business. In order to successfully re-brand your business you’ll need to develop a new marketing strategy to ensure it aligns with your brand new look.

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Will Your Business Deliver The Life You Want?

By Andy Sleet

So, what are you in business for?

This basically means how can I set up the business

This is the first question that I always ask any

to allow me to live the ideal life.

new client. The most common responses are:To make money Because I enjoy it, I'm certainly not ready to retire I don't know, I often ask myself the same question To grow the business Because I care about the people who work

Now if the ideal life is, I'd move up north and live off the vegetables I grow in the garden then I generally suggest to sell up now and go and do it as they can probably afford it. If however the ideal life is fast cars, holidays, big houses etc then I suggest we find out how much that costs and then set about building a business that will fund it.

for me and I feel responsible for them So what's the first step?

This question is then generally followed up by a

If you had all the money in the world, what would you choose to do with your time? Once again the most common second one:-

answers are:Certainly never go into work again

An exercise that I did recently was to engage the services of a Personal Wealth Management company. What happens here is that I was encouraged to really define my ideal life via a series of well directed questions

The Key Questions

Go on an endless holiday No different, I love my work / business

How many holidays a year do you want at what value?

From my experience these two questions appear to be very difficult for most people to

Where do I want to live?

answer and that's probably most simply because they never ask themselves the question. Now I

What do I need to put aside for dependants?

always encourage Business Owners to envisage their 'ideal' life (What would they truly do if money was no object) and then view their business as the vehicle to help them get there.

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What are my annual living expenses?

When I completed this exercise I had to declare all

The last part is to systematically execute the

my assets and income streams, now and in the

business plan.

One of these numbers was the business that I run along with what my plans were for the business i.e. Do I want to sell it? When?

How much for? Will I keep it and take a passive income from it? future.

This may all sound too simplistic and theoretical, I can hear the groans already from many of you because I've heard them many times over before, things like; *It's all very well for him over there to say that but in my industry it just doesn't work like that

Now all this information was put into a software program and it basically produced a personal

*You just can't get the good people to make all

cashflow forecast for the rest of my life (At this

that happen

point it became clear that I still had a way to go in producing cash to support my ideal life!!)

*HR laws won't let me do with my team what I want to do

Seriously though this was a very enlightening experience and quickly gave me an appreciation

*My customers would never deal with anyone

that with the right figure from the business at the

but me

right time I can have a lovely life without having to work like mad for the rest of my days. It instantly

*It's all too risky to change what I'm doing

gave me an objective to aim for, backed up with a real meaningful 'WHY' for me.

*I've tried all this before and it just doesn't work

I have carried out this exercise now with a few

All I can say visit our website and look at the

clients as well and they too have shared with me

testimonials. most of those business owners

how it has cleared the fog for them in their own

were like you a while back but now they have

businesses.

pushed through and made the changes in their organisations they have either achieved what

Armed with this information we are now in a position to start preparing the business. Therefore if we need a passive income,

they set out to do or are well on their way.

If you'd like to chat to any of the people who

what would the business need to be like to allow

have shared their story on the website, drop us

this return without me having to be there?

an email and we'll be able to put you in

Alternatively if the goal is to sell it, what would it

contact so you talk to them direct.

need to look like to be worth the figure I need? If however it is to hand it down to the next generation or allow a management buyout, what

So the moral of the story is.....

would it need to look like? To get these answers it

Decide what you want in your ideal personal

may be necessary to engage some external help

life and then set up you business to give you

to value you the business now.

that.

And don't be afraid to make changes if that's

The next step along with producing a proper

what's needed to get you to your goal!

written business plan backed up with the financial numbers is to develop the strategy year by year of how we are going to get there. Now at this stage it is worth getting the business plan valued to ensure it will deliver the outcomes we need!

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Where's Your Head At?

Is your mind in the right place for your current business?

Taken from 'Can you step up to the growth challenge?'

by Ray Moore

In your business it is really important that you focus

Of all the things holding you back, the biggest

on the fixed destination and know what it means to

culprit is everything going on in your own head. I

you to achieve that vision. Then you can build up

would go as far to say that probably as little as

the strategies and plans that will take you there,

20% of the issues restricting the growth of your

making sure you keep the route flexible so you can

business are hard issues (such as money or skills

overcome the obstacles that technology, the

gaps); the rest are all soft issues (the uncertainty,

economic environment and your competitors will

fears and comfort zone you’ve created in your

put in your way.

head). The first step to taking action is changing the mindset.

Keep the plans fluid but don’t lose sight of the ‘future history’ and you too will be able complete

In this article I’m going to help you get a clearer

your own mind boggling feat. Hopefully it is the kind

understanding of your role as the leader of your

of vision that will make you jump for joy!

company. We’ll be looking at how the way you position yourself in your company influences your

So, let’s start taking some action right now and get

behaviour, the behaviour of your team and impacts

working on the mindset changes you need to make

on your business

to start moving your business up the Levels.

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Firstly, let me remind you of the Levels Mindset model; Level 4

Level 3

Owner

Director

Transition

Take a long look in the mirror & then answer these questions Do you know your destination? Are you in the best place to have a clear view of it?

Manager

Are you investing the right balance of your

Level 2

time in managing the priorities of the Supervisor

Level 1

business?

Have you communicated these clearly to your Worker

team and aligned their goals to the priorities?

Are you keeping a watch out for the law of This is primarily about the mindset change needed to successfully and smoothly make the Transition from a Level 2 small business to a Level 3 medium-

vacuum and the persistent threat of productive avoidance?

sized business.

The mindset change I’m talking about is learning to

Are you leading and inspiring by example? Is

take off the ‘supervisor hat’ and proportioning your

the hat you wear most often really the right

time to wearing the ‘manager hat’ instead.

fit?

So, how do you actually make that Transition?

First of all, forget about whatever official title you hold in the business. Making the switch from the Supervisor to Manager mindset isn’t about a change of title. It’s all about a change of perspective in you as the business owner.

When you can honestly answer ‘yes’ to all of these questions, the chances of your business making it up the Levels without falling out of balance will be much higher.

Your perspective of what is important will influence how you spend your time. That will affect how your

Faced with the daily pressures of business, the

business copes with change and subsequently will

priorities that get dealt with first are those that are

either drive or restrict growth.

considered to be urgent. All those competing issues are shouting ‘deal with me now’ and it is

The real key to successfully growing your business is

understandable that the one that screams the

completely tied up with where you position yourself

loudest gets the most attention.

within the company – how you choose to spend your time and how well you direct the team to that

It is very easy to focus our minds on the ‘to do’ list,

place they need to get to by setting the right

ticking off tasks with a great sense of self-

priorities. It is not just about standing at the front

satisfaction. This is the mindset we need when

and getting the most attention!

wearing either the Worker or Supervisor Hat.

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However, if the business owner stays too close to the coalface, they will be caught up in all the everyday stuff that sucks away their energy and

The result is a company where the strategies and plans are short-term, vague and not aligned to the End in Mind.

time. Very quickly they will lose focus of what is really important and the business will suffer.

Let’s look at what you can do to ensure you identify, set and align priorities in your company in

The problem is it is so much harder to focus on choosing the important things – the priorities for

a way that enables you to face the challenge of growth.

ourselves, our team and our business – where the gratification comes a lot later. This is the mindset we need when wearing the Manager, Director and Owner Hat.

Priority Timeframes So, we now know that, as the owner of a SME

This is how it should work in every business. The

going through the Transition from a small to

owners (shareholders) decide what the business

medium sized enterprise, you will juggle all five

will look like when it is finished. The owners entrust

Hats (roles) – Worker, Supervisor, Manager,

their vision to the Board of Directors to make it a

Director and Owner. In each role you will have to

reality.

manage your own priorities and those of others.

Before we look at a model for setting and fulfilling

The Board of Directors align the strategic plan,

priorities that are aligned to your end- goal, it is

maybe a five year plan, that will set the direction

important to understand that the fundamental

of the company to achieve the owner’s objectives

difference between the ‘Hats’ you wear is one of

and receive the return they want.

timeframe.

The Managers then align the annual and monthly

From the ‘Worker’ to ‘Owner’ mindset, this is how

budgets, plans and forecasts (the milestones) to

the level at which you think affects the timeframe

achieve the goals set out in the strategic plan.

of the priorities you set (see table opposite).

They ensure the short-term priorities of the Supervisors and Workers are aligned to the

Remember that, while these different ways of

achievement of the daily and weekly goals.

thinking should fit with the job titles given to team members, this is not always the case. A worker in

So, all priorities, in effect, cascade down from the

title may well step up to take on a project

top and so are aligned to achieving the End in

requiring a monthly outlook. Equally, the owner of

Mind. Sounds easy when we say it like that

a business may well have set their mindset to

doesn’t it?

‘Supervisor’, keeping themselves in the thick of the business and ignoring all long-term planning. But

So why, in reality, it is so difficult in SMEs? In small

here’s the crucial point. Using your manager

and micro organisations (those employing less

mindset will help prepare you for the challenge of

than 50 people) the difference between the

growing your business.

proactive Owner, Director and Manager Hats are often indistinct and blurred. In reality, they are only rarely worn by the owner.

Unfortunately, the reactive Supervisor and Worker Hats often take precedence and, at best, the vision (the End in Mind) is only a thought, a dream.

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With the Manager Hat on, you can review how you and your team use your time and whether that is effective; you can start forecasting in preparation for the journey ahead; and you can break that down into plans, milestones & a schedule of activity that is aligned to meeting the key priorities across the whole business.

Yes, you may still have to wear the Worker and

However, if you want to grow your

Supervisor Hat for a while yet, but now is the time to be measured for that Manager’s Hat so it feels and looks natural.

Let me put it another way. By wearing that Manager’s Hat, you’ll be in a position where you can take a view of your business challenges from 1,000 feet up!

business, you have to wear the management hat.

That means being focused on your vision; ensuring priorities are set at every level of leadership across your business; motivating and involving your team to help you; staying in position and constantly questioning if what you are doing is the

Changing your mindset is ultimately your choice

best use of your time.

and I’ve got no desire to force anyone’s hand.

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FBM Winter 2019

A D A P T to The Levels

By Ray Moore

In my first book, ‘Can Your Business Step Up to the

In nature, the transition process of a butterfly

Growth Challenge’ I introduced The Levels which

has been the result of miniscule chance

charts the growth pattern of a business as it

changes of evolution. This type of evolutionary

transforms from a start up business to a medium

transformation is passive and the reaction to

sized business and beyond.

external environmental change and can lead to evolutionary cul-de-sacs.

The Levels explains why business growth is not in a straight line but is more like a series of steps, The

In business, leaving transition to chance can

Levels. The initial business transitions from one

achieve an evolutionary transformation from a

level to the next may not cause major discomfort

small business into a medium business but this

but the biggest and by way the hardest transition

will be too slow in a rapidly changing

is from a small, Level 2 business employing around

environment leaving the business vulnerable.

35 people as it transforms into a medium, Level 3 business employing over 50.

Rather than relying on evolutionary transformation business owners must proactively

In this article I am going to look in a little more

ADAPT and plan in advance if they are going to

depth at the transition process in business.

scale their business. The business must remain

A transition is the process or period of change

flexible to cope with further changes and

that produces a marked change in form, nature, or

seamlessly transition through the Levels until the

appearance i.e. a transformation.

transformation from a small to a medium sized business or beyond is complete.

In nature the chrysalis is the transitional stage which transforms a caterpillar into a butterfly.

Here are the five steps that allow a business to

Similarly, in business the transitional stage

ADAPT

between a Level 2 and Level 3 business allows the transformed business to achieve balanced growth to Level 4 employing over 100 people and beyond.

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20

Awareness

Transformation

It is essential that the business owner and their

Finally, quick and seamless transitions will

team are aware of the business challenges and

maintain the momentum of change to transform

how the business processes, systems and team

the enterprise envisaged to achieve the End in

must change and develop to meet those

Mind.

challenges.

Destination A clear vision of what the finished transformed business must be to achieve the desired end goal

Adaptability is the key to long term success!

for the business. Knowing the direction of the business will maintain confidence during the

In my first book Can Your Business Step Up to

successive transitions to keep the business on

the Growth Challenge (first published 2010) I

track and not get lulled into one of those cul-de-

look at how every SME will experience four

sacs.

transitions to natural Levels or plateaus.

Activity FREE copy of Can Your Business

Timely and consistent execution of the plans will

To obtain a

ensure the transitions are seamless and complete.

Step Up to the Growth Challenge to understand

Maintaining the momentum of change will support

how to use the Levels Framework to transition

the business and team through their journey.

your business to the next Level email as at hello@fluidbusiness.co.uk

Prod Use external accountability (a Business Coach) to professionally prod all the team, including the

Also, complete The Levels Assessment® to get

owner, to meet their goals and targets to keep the

your personalised Levels Framework® to start

transformation on track. The momentum of

your business transformation. Visit

transition can quickly grind to a halt as the day to

fluidbusinessacademy.com for more details

day challenges make evolution and that waiting cul-de-sac seem an attractive alternative

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21

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself Henry Ford Collaboration means more business for everyone.

We own all the IP associated with our simple, yet

It also gets you more of the right kind of business,

highly effective online training courses meaning

because as you prove your expertise, prospects

we can re-package the Fluid Business Academy

make their decisions more quickly.

with your Company branding! You can then

It helps you know what to say when people ask “so, what do you do?”, and they don’t just want to know that you are an accountant. Telling them that you do accounting for dentists, or for landlords, or creative agencies, encourages them

present this to your clients as your own business growth training package.

Make 2019 the year you emerge as a truly collaborative organisation, with more to offer than your competitors.

to say “Oh – I am one of those! How can you help me?”

There comes a point when their passion, hard work and experience won’t take your clients

And when it comes to collaboration, if you get to the point where you are only working with a certain market or markets, you have the opportunity to get and receive business in a way you never imagined.

The majority of SME owners would love to expand their business but don't necessarily know where to begin - it can be a daunting prospect stepping out of your comfort zone and onto the path of the unknown!

At Fluid Business Group we've recognised the need to help business owners grow their enterprise by creating a series of online resources that guide clients through business growth in a practical, realistic and useful way.

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FBM Winter 2019

business to the next level – that’s where Fluid Business Academy is your best partner for genuine business growth. Get some time back let us take care of the coaching so you can focus on your core business.

Like to know more? Email us at hello@fluidbusiness.co.uk

The Fluid Business Book Club Looking for some literary inspiration?

This issues top picks from the coaches

Ray

Damaged Goods Oliver Shah

Andy

Peter

Sales EQ Jeb Blount

Good to Great Jim Collins

A brilliant insight into the workings of

An easy read packed with simple to

building an empire built on sand.

implement ideas that will help improve

NB: 18 certificate.

any salesman's conversion rate

Reads like a novel and full of reasons why some make it and others don't

Do not read if easily offended

The Deals That Made The World Jacques Peretti

Psychology of Persuasion Robert Cialdini

An evil book! It’s not for everyone but

Great book which shows it’s not

it’s hugely thought-provoking. Much of

necessarily just what you say but how

the world around us is shaped by

you say it

private negotiations and business

Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography Guillem Balague A fantastic philosophy to building teams and getting the best out of people - absolutely ace!

deals few of us know anything about

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FBM Winter 2019

The Silver Tsunami

By Ray Moore

How will an ageing population impact the business community?

Undoubtably there will be many forces that will

Globally, by 2050 the number of people 60 and

impact the economy and therefore business over

over is projected to more than double.

the coming years.

One of the largest effects will be the impact of

Yes, it’s a global trend not just a local problem.

our ageing population.

However, is the gloomy outlook based on facts or However, the SME business community has not yet

opinions. Unfortunately, economists use the

truly fully grasped the unprecedented ways that

dependency ratio to predict the trend. This is the

ageing will change the employment rules of our

ratio between the number of people typically not

businesses.

working (under 15 and over 65 years old) in the population divided by the number of working age

There has been much talk about the Baby Boomer

people.

Generation and the impact of The Silver Tsunami but generally the news coverage has been

Today’s older adults are generally healthier than

negative and focuses on the predicted funding

past generations and are changing the nature of

crisis of providing health and care to the elderly.

their retirement as they continue to learn, work

Initially, when we look at the statistics, they are

and contribute. In the workplace their talents can

potentially frightening.

complement younger workers.

In the UK by next year, 2020, people aged over 50 will comprise almost a third of the working age population.

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FBMÂ Winter 2019

The gloomy statistical trend takes no account of the desire for the older generation to have an active lifestyle and stay productive and continue to work. This desire will be magnified as pension underfunding forces the retirement age ever upward.

As owners of small business, we must recognise and be prepared for the transformation in the workforce. Soon your workforce could cover five generations from teenagers to 80 plus.

Are you and your business ready to adapt to this massive demographic transformation?The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against employees because of their age and there is no upper limit to unfair dismissal and redundancy.

However, whatever the age of the employee, employers can discuss their future aims and aspirations which can help identify their training and development needs.

The employment market is currently in transition from the ‘old job for life’ to career variety and flexibility. This trend is due to continue and future changes in computing and AI will undoubtedly bring further challenges in the future.

As business owners we must be ever adaptable and be aware of what is happening in the environment around us.

Our ageing workforce is a trend that will impact us all.

It cannot be ignored.

It is time for the discussion to become more vocal.

Is it as a threat or an opportunity?

The choice is ours.

Let us know what you think and the plans you have in place by commenting on our blog post - fluidbusiness.co.uk/blog Editors Note: Ray has reached the milestone of official retirement age!!

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FBMÂ Winter 2019

Surprising Stats UK businesses exporting abroad increased by 6.6% to 235,800 in 2017

The internet has 4.2 billion users

The number of SME companies exporting abroad increased by 6.6% to 232,000 (9.8% of all SMEs) As of November 2018, total worldwide population is 7.6 billion

Number of Users Facebook: 2.072 billion Google+: 111 million Instagram: 1bn

54 per cent of SMEs thought Brexit would have no impact on their business with 27 per cent anticipating a detrimental effect and 8 per cent a positive benefit. (The other 11 per cent of SMEs were uncertain).

LinkedIn: 562 million

81% of all small and medium businesses use some kind of social platform 26|

FBMÂ Winter 2019

There are 3.03 billion active social media users On average, people have 5.54 social media accounts

Sources: Annual Business Survey by Office for National Statistics (ONS), Brandwatch.com 121 Amazing Social Media Statistics and Facts by Kit Smith. Enterprise Research Centre State of Small Business Britain Report 2018

A fun look at numbers in business

Unlocking Success for Small Business Owners

From The Levels AssessmentÂŽ to business growth strategies and training for your team we're with you at every step of your enterprise growth journey

Unlock your growth potential at www.fluidbusinessacademy.com

Ray Moore

STAY FOCUSED YET FLEXIBLE GEORGE'S PURSUIT ACROSS THE PERILOUS OCEAN A tale of a business adventure from start up to financial freedom

and fluidbusiness.co.uk