Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow.

Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.

Mary Moore

When planning our holiday most of us do some research on cost, availability and country or area we wish to visit. Another important aspect is travel, how are we going to get there, how long will it take, as well as the cost involved.

Well should the same rules apply for your business?  Do you ever stop to ask ‘Where are you going’.

Q. Where do you want your business to go? –  I imagine all of us obviously want an upward trend rather than downward, but how can we ensure that we achieve this.

A. You need to know where you are going, i.e. how much you want to achieve and progress.

Some may want to be high earners, expand their business and live the life of luxury.  Whereas others may want to expand a bit but still remain in full control of the decision-making and others might just want to make enough money to comfortably get by.

Whatever category you fit into you need to have an idea of where you want to go and it needs to be realistic. So much depends on other factors in your life, i.e. family – a single person will probably have more time to devote to their business than a person who is married with children. Also where you live can be a factor as well as any other commitments etc. The list could be endless.  You need to know what you want to achieve and what you can achieve realistically.

Q. How much will it cost?

A. You need to be realistic with costings. Make sure you don’t expand too quickly and try to run before you can walk.

Sometimes the urge to start working from home and then wanting to expand to office premises can be a difficult decision and sometimes made too quickly. You have to think about the extra overheads – travelling to and from the office, rent, office equipment, security etc.  Or maybe you need more help and are thinking about taking on extra staff but again this can be expensive and time consuming from interview to employing someone. These are some of the factors you need to consider when thinking about expanding and growing your business.

Q. How long will it take to get to where you want to be?

A. Well this is a difficult question as it depends on the first and second answer. So much depends on other factors – how much time can you devote to your business, how much capital have you got to invest but most important of all is how far you want to go.

Some businesses may take longer than others to get where they are going but with determination, realistic ambition and a little bit of patience hopefully you will achieve what you set out to do.

I know one of the most important things for me in my business is enjoying what I do!