Whether you are a Micro Business Owner or running a global concern, there are 5 key function areas of your business you need to lead effectively at all times:

Marketing, Sales, Operations, People and Finance.

A function is defined as “A process or operation that is performed routinely to carry out a part of the mission of an organization.” At Engineering Business Growth our logo includes cogs being in alignment because we’re all about helping business owners get all of the functions of their businesses working together, like a machine, for one purpose.

Most of the time you will have immediate challenges demanding your attention in one area, but the smart Business Owner knows it’s all connected and maintains a joined up perspective, consistently “chipping away” at all 5.

What does that mean you have to work towards, then stay on top of?

Marketing – Putting your business out there in the world in a way that will attract the potential customers you want to – qualified leads.

Sales – Taking that pipeline that your marketing has generated and consistently converting it into great business.

Operations – Creating a robust, scalable business system that supports the delivery of the business functions in an efficient way that ensures the best customer/client experience every time.

People – Resource, grow and retain top talent in all areas of the business to enable the achievement of the business objectives and deliver excellence in all five function areas.

Finance – Build a profitable, scalable, cash rich business to fund the business, personal and lifestyle objectives of the Business Owners or Directors.

Now that’s quite a diverse list to stay develop and stay on top of.

What did you do before running your own business?

Most people will have in-depth experience in 1 maybe 2 of the 5 key function areas of business.  So it is no wonder that a business can have strength in the areas the business leader is experienced in and be weaker in the other areas.

For example:

– a former Operations Director who has gone into business for themselves may have set up the perfect production line to deliver efficiently to his customers, but not many people are experiencing the benefit of their amazing service because they struggle with marketing and selling.

– a former Marketing Manager may be overflowing with work, so much so that they run into cash-flow issues that threaten the business because they are not strong on managing the finances.

The challenge is that all 5 functions are vital to building a successful business and as SME Business Owners, we are ultimately responsible for all 5 areas.  We need to lead, manage and in many cases deliver in all 5 areas.  No wonder it can be such a challenge to get where we want to!

In order to be successful as business owners we need to be clear on the vision for each function, have a strategy for each function, create long term, medium term and short term plans for the development of each function, and work on these plans on a weekly basis.

So what is your strategy and plan to develop all 5 functions in your business over the next 12 months?  To move forward in all areas, effective planning is essential.

To help you to get started in thinking about this then why not attend our next Business Growth Masterclass CLICK HERE for more information.

Or contact us here.