Here’s a special message for every Small Business Owner who wants to adapt and prosper right now and build their business into one that delivers growth, profit and a work life balance.
Small business is rewarding and can provide the freedom to live life the way you want, on your terms. Your business can provide flexibility in your time, the freedom to work where you want and it can be financial rewarding. But it isn’t all beer and skittles. It can be hard work, long hours and sometimes you might just think to yourself ‘why am I doing this?’
Let’s face it though – in 2020 – things changed. COVID-19 has massively impacted the way things get done and it is no longer business as usual. Government shutdowns of economies and businesses have brought with it long lasting change and forced small business owners to look closely at how they are running their business, what they sell and how they deliver their products and services.
Right now, as you read these words, through no fault of your own – your revenue, your cash flow and your peace of mind are all at risk.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. You can take back control … and that’s by getting back to small business basics. These basics are Strategy, Cash, Capacity and Clients.
We built this framework based upon our 20 plus years of experience each across broad areas of small business, including leadership, finance, operations, branding and marketing.
As a small business owner, are you going about your day to day thinking ‘How could business be going better?’
Better clients, better staffing capacity or better cashflow. These are the three C’s of any small business. Clients, capacity and cash. But these alone aren’t enough. They all need to be wrapped in Strategy.
Imagine asking a builder to build you a new house from just a hand drawn sketch on the back of an envelope, no drawings or building plans. What sort of result would you expect?
You need a blueprint for what you are trying to achieve. This is the strategy. Strategy alone though isn’t enough. You need a way to get the strategy implemented – and these are Tactics.
On the other hand, tactics without strategy can leave you at risk of wasting time, money and resources on the next shiny object that comes along.
So you need them both … you get these through the 3CS Framework. We believe so strongly about this that our Quarterly Themes are built around these four things. So each and every year, you cycle through a three month program where you work on programs to keep your business moving forward. So you get to spend three months each year on Strategy, Cash, Capacity and Clients.
Why do we do that? Because problems with any of these, lead to problems in all of them. Bad clients impact capacity and cash. Lack of capacity impacts clients and cash. Poor cash flow impacts clients and capacity. And it all leads to an overall unhappy small business owner.
This framework is a flexible guide that provides structure and direction on the key areas where you can focus your precious time. These four things are the pillars of all businesses, everywhere.
The 3CS framework is the foundation of your reimagined business. Every Quarter contains three monthly projects built around the themes of Strategy, Cash, Capacity and Clients. Each Project is an actionable plan that is designed to bring change in your business.
These Projects are delivered through a workshop, following by a group coaching session so that you can get all of your important questions answered and access to a mastermind of fellow members along with the sixty:forty team. This focused training, combined with group coaching and masterminds, means that you remove any obstacles and get projects done so that you keep moving your business forward … each and every month!
The best part, you don’t have to do this all by yourself, you can find people who are micro-certified to deliver these Projects for you.
The end goal is a small business that supports the life you want .. If you are looking for:
By looking at your business through the lens of 3CS you can:
And finally, you can once again become excited about your small business.
The bottom line is that every small business owner who wants to take ownership, and build their business in a sustainable way should understand that time waits for no-one and there is no ‘right time’ to build the business you’ve always wanted.
No matter whether your business is just starting out and your turnover is as small as $50,000 per year or you have a solid small business already turning over 7 figures and you are looking for that bit more – you just need to make the decision to change.
If you haven’t already, please watch these five quick videos that explains our view on these four areas and the next steps that you can take.
Succeeding in any business means making the right decisions frequently. I’ve seen small companies dominate in niches that were owned by big-business giants simply because they made better decisions. But I’ve also seen companies run themselves into the ground in less than 12 months because they made too many wrong decisions.
As a Small Business Owner, you’re likely faced with hundreds of decisions every day, even if it doesn’t feel like it. You’ve got to know what to say YES to, and when to say NO.
I know the best way to consistently make winning business decisions is to have clear goals, accountability and a community of like minded business owners and professionals to talk to.
If you’re ready to double your net profit and cut your time working IN the business … all in 12 months or less – then sixty:forty is here to help.
You might be thinking, ‘It’s just not the right time” or “when things slow down a little” … or even “when there’s more spare cash”. Don’t put it on hold though because the time will never be just right
The last quarter of the year is a great time for you to improve your systems and methods for Strategy, Cash, Capacity and Clients. Let’s get your business ready for 2021.
