Learning from 2023, pt. 1
There’s something special about a fresh, new year, like sitting down with a clean sheet of paper that could become anything. But since in reality each year builds on the old one, it’s useful to look back and see what we can strive to do better in 2024. This week is part one of a two-part series on overcoming challenges faced by Bureau members. Let’s take a look at some of these issues and how we can make them a thing of the past.
Getting Better in 2024
Both in business and in our personal lives, success is an iterative process. To make 2024 the best it can be, I wanted to get a sense of what challenges have been keeping Bureau members up at night and see what we can do to overcome them. So I reviewed over 800 member surveys and found 10 main issues to review. This week, let’s tackle the first five.
Growth and Scaling
Most shops go through growth spurts that are every bit as painful as the ones we experienced as kids. This creates pressure in a lot of different areas. Some of it is the workload itself, getting it all done on time with your team. It can also be the stress of finding new employees and getting them up to speed. How do you handle these issues?
Identify leaders: Growth means more responsibility for everyone, so it’s important to determine who can be trusted to take on more as teams expand and the workload increases.
Prioritize: When too much work is coming in, you need to determine what is most important to pursue. Is it diversifying with new kinds of projects, or just whatever offers the highest margin?
Communicate: Your team needs to understand the direction your company is taking, and as things get busy you can easily lose them. Talk to them regularly to keep everyone aligned with your goals.
Expanding Your Customer Base
The most persistent challenge we hear about is related to developing new business and acquiring new clients. It can be the lead generation itself, converting those leads to customers, or retaining them. Some also struggle with developing new business areas that help them diversify their offerings.
Identify your preferred customers: Casting too wide a net is ineffective for attracting customers. Focus on what kind of client you are targeting and who you are best positioned to help with the services you provide.
Reinvest in yourself: You need to dedicate a certain amount of time and money to marketing your business. Don’t let this get lost in the day-to-day.
Leverage your current clients: Referrals are still the best way to attract new clients. Consider incentives to spur them to send friends your way, or maybe just ask them?
Hiring and Retaining Talent
Next up is an internal challenge. You can’t do your best work without a top-notch team, and the whole process from recruiting, to hiring, to keeping your team members is a never-ending responsibility. How do you build and keep the right group to help you succeed?
Culture: Developing a clear company culture isn’t easy, but maintaining lines of communication with employees helps you understand their needs and feelings.
Growth opportunities: If your people know you’re invested in their professional development, they are much more likely to stick around.
Recognition: Give public praise early and often for a job well done, including financial rewards where it makes sense.
Efficiency and Operations
Business operations are also something that requires constant attention, especially in the face of growth. Everything tends to get more complicated over time, and workflows need a lot of adjustments to keep everything running smoothly. How can you keep things efficient?
Project managers: The secret ingredient in every top shop, PMs keep everyone on the right track.
Find the right tools: A lot of automated tools are out there to help you deal with specific processes. Look for things to help with communication, invoicing, project tracking, and more.
Regular process audits: As your business grows, some processes become outdated while you need to implement others. Set regular intervals for checking on things, perhaps once every six months.
Send your team to awesome events like Operations Summit Online
Financial Management
The last item for this first installment is finances. I’m hearing a lot of money-related issues, from achieving profitability to managing the day-to-day expenses, as well as getting sustainable revenue streams in place. How do you keep the lights on so you can focus on helping your customers?
Budget: You shouldn’t do anything without a budget already in place. This should be the guiding document for all your financial decisions each year.
Tracking: To keep finances on pace, you need regular check-ins to see where things stand and so you can course correct.
Forecasting: You have to keep one eye on the future, and forecasting needs and trends will help you build your budget for the next year. If you haven't checked out Parallax, folks in the community love this product for its quality forecasting capabilities.
That does it for part one. We’ll be diving in deeper with several of these throughout 2024. Stay tuned as we round out our top ten challenges next week!
The most rewarding part of guiding the Bureau is helping leaders find success, and I love having a chance to hear from everyone about their successes and challenges. I feel like this year is going to be really significant for a lot of us, and I for one can’t wait to see what’s in store. And if you're listening 2024, BE KIND!