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The COVID-19 pandemic was brutal to small business owners and entrepreneurs. It particularly kicked the butts of momtrepreneurs the world over. Just when we thought we would get back on our feet these past few months, we get shut down again by the recession.  I am not going to go into the why’s and what’s - if you are living it, you know what I am talking about.

So where does it leave us? Pivoting yet again? Well….maybe.  I have been working with a number of female business owners over the past two months, utilizing strategies that I would like to share with you….quite simply it is about getting back to the basics of business development and growth strategies.

For the past 25 years I have helped numerous small businesses, NGO’s and startups grow from two-(wo)man teams to mid-sized institutions.  Now I want to take this experience and knowledge and help you. So let's start with the basics. 

I know you started your enterprise with a vision - you had an idea, a skill, a talent. You opened a gallery, started a veterinary clinic, established a traveling massage therapy service, practiced law from your spare bedroom while supervising three other lawyers virtually. There are currently 1.1 million women-owned small businesses in the USA amassing $1.5 trillion annually.  Yet for many female small business owners things are stagnant - maybe even precarious.

So what do you do to move things forward?

The answer: Go back to square one. Take out some blank pieces of paper and lets do a little exercise:
 

1. State your purpose

Stop - don't just write. Think - what is the purpose of your company right now? Not why you created it 12, 5 or 2 years ago…now.  You have changed, the world has changed. Think through your wants and needs. What do you want out of, and for, your company today. Boil it down to one sentence, one statement.  

Examples of your purpose are:

1. The purpose of my company is to provide legal services to marginalized communities.
2. The purpose of my company is to provide quality health care to pets.
3. The purpose of my enterprise is to assist women in attaining their ideal childbirth experience.
4. The purpose of my company is to offer organic skin care to mature women.

2. Zero in on your goals

Now let's zero in on your goals. Your goals define the general intentions and ambitions of your business. Setting goals is an important step in business planning, as it will have an impact on your financial objectives, corporate culture and marketing strategy. You want to set the goal as an ideal, yet with the ability to actualize in a realistic way. For example, a person could have a goal to become a successful insurance broker. This is a good goal, it is a target to aim for and to create an action plan to achieve. As Sara Blakely, Founder of Spanx (BX) said "You've got to visualize where you're headed and be very clear about it. Take a Polaroid picture of where you're going to be in a few years."

There are no specific actions or time frames associated with general goals like this. Now you need to define the terms of achieving this goal. What defines a 'successful insurance broker’? How would you know when you have reached your goal? A generic action or project goal is motivating, but adding in precise targets or objectives will help the would-be broker to reach her goal effectively. Goal setting helps an individual and small business owner to motivate herself towards a destination or achievement. Goal setting is the beginning not the end of the exercise.


3. Objectives and benchmarks

Objectives and benchmarks are now needed to help you along your journey to reach your goals. Objectives are specific targets that have a time-bound schedule or timeline for completion. Benchmarks are points of reference against which things may be compared or assessed. Both objectives and benchmarks should be added to your yearly calendar now. They will ensure that you are working steadily toward achieving your goals and enable you to take stock of where you are in the process.

Print out a yearly calendar by month. Lay the monthly calendars on your table/desk. Put your goal at the end of the 12 month mark. Now work backwards. Look at the year on paper. Now take out a notepad and answer: What do you need to accomplish to ensure you are at your goal by the end of the year? What actions do you need to take on the quarterly, monthly and weekly basis? Now, write them in the appropriate places on the calendars. Start big and then work it down to the details.

This is your basic Year 1 Strategic Action Plan.

4. Financing your goals

Now, how are you going to finance your goal/s? Don’t let the numbers frazzle you. Take a breath. You have your year plan written in front of you. Now let’s create your budget. How much do you need to spend to bring in the funds you require? How are you going to set your pricing to meet your expenses and turn a profit?  

Take out another piece of paper. Draw a line across the middle of the page. On the top of the paper write out all your expenses - phone, internet, social media, PR, marketing, accounting, legal, rent, association fees, equipment/production, etc. If you need help with this go to your credit card bill or search your snail mail bills. Take any month and multiply it by 12 to get your approximate yearly expense for each item. Do you need to include your costs for healthcare and/or childcare? 

Then do some preliminary market research on your competitors in the space - how much do they charge for the same (relative) service/product? Are you able to charge the same? More? Do you need to charge less at this point to get customers in the door? Set your pricing. Now you can determine how much product you need to sell or service hours you need to provide in order to break even - and to make a profit.  Do your numbers mesh with your Strategic Action Plan from step 3?

This exercise is a method which can help guide you to achieve your desired business growth. It is not the answer to all small business growth issues, but it will help you start the process. The next steps involve market research, evaluation and assessment, business image, PR/marketing, and more. I hope you join me as I offer up some tried and true small business growth strategies which have helped many sole practitioners, small business owners, NGO’s and start-ups gain traction in their industries and attain business success.  

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