10 tips for business success in 2022

The impact of COVID-19 has forced many business owners and managers to rethink their business strategy, objectives and goals.

By Nicholas Guest

As business owners grappled with the complexities of maintaining cashflow, keeping employees safe, managing supply chain challenges, and meeting evolving customer needs, they have been forced to innovate and evolve what they do in a rapidly evolving business landscape. This year will provide plenty of opportunities for Australian business operators who are prepared to continue to evolve and embrace the changing market conditions. We have set out below some strategies and observations that may help set you up for success in 2022.

1. Set goals and celebrate your success

Take the time to sit down and set some realistic goals around what success looks like for you over the next 12 months. The process for setting goals typically starts with a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis leading into ways to measure outcomes and take ownership for achieving your goals. This does not need to be complicated and kick-starting the process will not only motivate you to strive for these goals, but it will also help focus your attention on what is important to you (why you do what you do) and may see you revisit the business’s purpose. Make sure to celebrate your wins along the way, no matter how small.

2. Spend more time on the business not in it

Identify the tasks that are of lower value and can be delegated to others. As a business owner/operator your priority should be to work on the business as well as in it.

Nicholas Guest,

Partner, Advisory, HLB Mann Judd This includes setting the business vision and taking actions leading to greater success. If you are spending a large chunk of your time working in the business, it is important that you prioritise valuable time each week to focus on enhancing the business operations. This may be as little as a few dedicated hours each week that are quarantined to working on actions to assist in achieving the most important strategic priorities of the business. While counter intuitive, finding and investing in this time away from the daily operations can lead to improved business performance, success, and enjoyment as a business owner/operator.

3. Ensure your housekeeping is in order

To ensure you have access to accurate, reliable, and timely information, invest in technology or process improvement. There have been radical advances in low-cost solutions that can strengthen your competitive position supporting good financial controls and accounting processes. Access to high quality information supports agile decision-making and provides greater optionality to business operators to respond to opportunities including access to financing or incentives, customer/supplier contracting and succession options.

4. Innovate and evolve

The global pandemic has demonstrated how agile we can be when we need to. Take the best of your organisational learnings from the pandemic and identify further opportunities to innovate and evolve your business. Are there opportunities to automate repetitive tasks and processes so your employees can

focus on more important areas for your customers? Nimbleness and out-of-the-box thinking is what has saved some businesses and allowed others to flourish in new markets during the pandemic. Promoting and developing a culture of innovation not only helps to solve complex issues but also helps to maximise opportunities and encourages the organisation to take calculated risks. Things to consider include improvements to customer service, revamping internal processes, or introducing new products or services in the market.

5. Do more with your best clients and customers

The businesses that have been able to navigate the pandemic successfully often are the ones that have developed stronger relationships with their customers. Going the extra mile to assist and support your key customers especially during the pandemic or post pandemic recovery can strengthen customer loyalty and have long lasting benefits to your relationships and business.

6. Retain and develop your best staff

A business is only as good as its employees who embody your mission, work with passion, and represent your brand in the best possible manner. Employee retention is without a doubt a key area of focus for many businesses as staff have reconsidered their priorities in life. Identify and recognise top performing staff in your business, and work with them to understand their key motivational drivers — whether that be continued learning, career development, or achieving lifestyle goals. Work together to develop objectives and career plans for these individuals. Simply having a shared vison and positive business culture can have a huge impact on employee motivation, performance and retention. Having high quality and motivated employees also enhances your ability to attract new staff.

7. Collaborate to succeed

The pandemic has highlighted the importance and benefits of a strong supportive community and network. Identify the business partners (suppliers, customers, service providers) you work with the best. Businesses with great stakeholder relationships where you can depend on each other and draw on each other’s knowledge, skills and strengths to achieve common goals, are often the most profitable and successful. Identify these key relationships within your community and work together to achieve mutual success.

8. Cash is king

It is critical you continue to focus on the free cashflow within your business. We anticipate that 2022 will continue to see some challenges to the usual market operating cycles, this includes delays in supply chain, potential for localised lockdowns and other health order restrictions which may place added pressure on cash reserves. It would be prudent to maintain a higher level of cash on hand (or have access to cash) where possible. This may be achieved by tightening debtor collection timeframes, management of supplier payment terms and/or having access to bank finance facilities. Having access to cash in times of uncertainty may allow you to quickly take advantage of new business opportunities and also provide some ability to retain key staff and sustain the business through challenging trading periods.

9. Do more of what you love

You spend a large portion of your time working in your business supporting customers and staff. It’s important that you identify and strategically plan to spend time doing the things that bring you joy. Whether this be within your business, hobbies, community activities, interests outside the business or time with family and friends. Ensure your plans for 2022 will see you spending more time on the activities you love. Achieving this balance will ensure you are motivated to drive your business to greater success.

10. Plan for your future

As we enter 2022, it is an opportunity to take some time out from the business to consider your longer-term personal goals. This may include stepping back, retirement or exiting from the business. Proactively mapping out your personal plan helps to focus on your ‘why’. It is critically important that you plan for a future exit from your business in advance to ensure that you can both maximise your profits while running the business but also set the business and yourself up for success after your exit. This may include ensuring that you have identified succession plans in place for your and your key staff. We have observed that business owners who actively plan for their future exit from their business achieve greater success on transition of leadership roles and a greater return from the eventual sale of their business.

There is no better time than now to set you and your business up for success in 2022.

HLB Mann Judd are a strategic partner of the Hire and Rental Industry Associations and work with business owners and operators to assist them achieve their strategic objectives and maximise the performance of their business. We provide a range of tailored solutions to businesses within the industry ranging from establishing strategic plans, business transformation, succession planning, accounting and taxation compliance, and transaction advisory, among others, to assist these businesses in their journey.

For a complimentary business diagnostic review, contact Kim Kelloway on 02 9020 4285 or kkelloway@hlbnsw.com.au.