Have You Got the ABCD to Do Business?

When you start out in business one of the last things that you will do is interview yourself for the role of MD in your company, but if you were to then would you make the grade?

Well a simple way to find out is to ask yourself have you got the ABCD to do business?

A is for astute. Are you savy enough to know a good business deal from a bad one? Have you brokered deals in the past in someone else’s company? Were they good or bad deals? Are you astute enough to be able to run a company…I mean not everyone will have the skills to be able to do everything from Marketing to Accounts to Sales but that’s what you have to do when you first set out as an SME – so whilst you may be lacking in some of those skills would you be canny enough to know what to do and who to seek out out in order to plug those skills gaps?

B is for Balls. And I’m not talking footballs here guys! Sometimes in business you are going to have to have the front to make tough decisions. You’ll have to take the bull by the horns and when push comes to shove can you really do that? Can you make the tough decisions – sometimes on your own with no one to support you. Do you trust your own instinct that you are doing the right thing for you and the company you are building? Have you got what it takes to lead your company from the front…to be the person who says we are doing this and it’s definately the right way forward for the company?

C is for co-ordination. I’m not talking dancing and John Travolta here either! 🙂 No…are you able to multi task whilst keeping your eye on the bigger picture? Can you do more than one thing at once and still get things right? It’s a skill set that not everyone has I can tell you. Can you plan everything so the timings are just right on everything and the company moves forward at the right speed? Can you get Press Releases out in time for the exhibition that you may be planning – whilst still arranging all the printing for that same exhibition along with getting your promo staff on to the stand on time, along with balancing all the books for that event? Oh and can you do all that with a cheery smile on your face and without loosing your temper with anyone or ending up a nevous wreck in a ball of tears in a back room somewhere! If you can, then you probably can co-ordinate!

Even better is if you have the knack that comes with experience to expect the unexpected. So for example the printer said it would be a 3 day lead time but you know the chances are you’ll need that print desperately and they won’t do it in less than 5 days…so you book the print run on the Monday when you need it for the Friday…now that’s just getting into the relms of super co-ordination (or obsessive control freaking!!)

D is for determination. Without which you WILL fall at the first hurdle I promise you. I remember when I first started being turned down for a loan by the bank…but I went away and begged and borrowed the money from family members – but I grew the company without the bank’s help. I’ve also heard on so many occassions “experts” (mainly acountants it has to be said!) who have said the venture is too risky, no one would back it, we’d never find an investor who would risk an investment in such a new area, in something that has no benchmarks. In something that is outside the traditional mould…and do you know what? I ignored them!

Not the best of advice for all occassions I’ll admit, however taking the view that I knew there was a market for what we were doing, that it was a growing market due to dissatisfaction with the current options in the market place (ie estate agents) Knowing that if I had a six figure sum to invest, I’d probably have made that money myself and would understand and appreciate the calcuated risks that all entrepenuers take on a daily basis much better than any account who’s never taken a risk in their life ever ever would!! And you know what- with determination we found our investors and we continue to do so everyday with our franchisees. And with determination, a lot of good luck and a strong wind at our back I know undoubtably that our company will make it. And that determination is what will make us succeed – that and a great business idea of course!

So ask yourself, have you got the ABCD to do business?