Ignore the bad news if you want your business to grow

DATE: 17 April 2018

Ignore the bad news if you want your business to grow

If you want to grow your business, ignore the bad news about Labour’s taxes and Trump’s trade war because anything other than an optimistic mindset is going to be bad for your business personally.

Director and co-founder of Auckland based NexGen Group, Niran Iswar, says growth follows excitement because mood is infectious and will influence the behaviour and productivity of those around you, particularly your team.

Iswar urged business owners to filter the chorus of negative business media, particularly reports that ‘business confidence has dropped,’ because the pessimism is at odds with New Zealand’s current economy.

“Of course, what the Government does will impact your business if you let it, and you have no control over that,” says Iswar. “If you want to be able to ignore all the bad news – or to instead be able to view negative developments as an opportunity – you must put your business in a position that is largely impervious to developments outside your control.”

Iswar recommends that small business owners implement these three key actions to ‘confidence-proof’ their business:

1. Planning

Imagine every possible worst-case and best-case scenario and then list what actions you will take if any of those eventualities arise.

“The last thing you want to say is ‘I don’t know what I’ll do’. A business owner with a plan can take remarkable confidence from knowing what he or she will do when developments outside their personal control develop.

“By planning for your business and knowing what action you will take in any given scenario you take back power; you take back control,” says Iswar. “Take heart from the fact that there’s no surprises because business problems are almost all the same – talk to other people and get good advice.”

2. Outsource

Wearing ten hats – for example, CEO, operations manager, marketing manager, financial manager and product delivery – stunts growth and makes the business owner blind to opportunity.

“Get support. You don't have to hire people to get help. It’s a global economy out there, so support can come from within New Zealand or overseas. Hire specialists or outsource to professionals who can focus on their areas of expertise while you get on with yours.”

3. Budget

A well-prepared budget may seem like a ‘thumb suck’ to begin with, but it becomes more accurate through trial and error, and there’s nothing to beat it as the best possible roadmap a business can have.

“It really is a guide to begin with – perhaps part inspiration, part aspiration – but it removes uncertainty from your business. Uncertainty is the biggest killer for any business because it messes with your head.

To get rid of uncertainty, put in place a business plan and a budget, and get the right kind of support around your business.”

There are a lot of good and positive things happening in business at the moment and the pessimism that the media is reporting is not congruent with what’s actually happening.

“Yes, Labour might muck it up. But they might not. Either way, plan, budget and get excited because business is good and you’re the architect of success or failure, not the Government,” says Iswar.

For more information: http://nexgen.nz/

Ends.

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