Five easy steps to take your business to the next level

The sign of good business leadership is reinventing and realigning strategy to constantly evolving market dynamics. It is more about adding value and caring for customer satisfaction than merely adding to sales figures.

The main challenge in managing a mature business is taking it successfully to the next level: to keep innovating to be relevant and build scale for further growth.

Here are my five tips for taking a business to the next level:

1. Change is inevitable: Be open to it and embrace it. You never know where the next good idea might come from. It can be a casual chat with your friend over a cup of coffee or an irate customer complaining about the product to seeing a new trend at a roadside stall. Keeping your eyes and ears ensures you're in sync with current trends. It is important for any entrepreneur to have one foot in the business and one in the external environment and balance both to see the best opportunities for strategic growth.

2. Invest in technology: In today's economy, information is power. The quicker information flows into the system, the quicker we can react to external market situations and consumer demands. There are several technologies in the market today to optimise supply chain and enhance business processes, though it is important to investigate them thoroughly and see which add the most value to an organisation. From social media platforms to smartphone shopping apps, the business rules are being rewritten and it is important to stay contemporary for the business to stay relevant.

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3. Strong financial control: Proper financial planning is the backbone of your business. Unless you get the maximum bang out of the buck, you are not doing it the right way. This does not necessarily mean a limit to spending, but to ensure that the return on investments is monitored and maximised. It is important to put down the worst case scenario for leaks in an organisation and to keep contingency plans for the same.

4. Never get complacent: Never allow the success of your business lull you into inaction. The power of pre-emptive approach will keep you ahead of the competition and help you tide over any potential business challenges. In other words, despite the success keep your feet firmly on the ground.

5. Invest in your people and communicate openly with your team: Promote a culture of openness with your team members. Most importantly, let them know they are precious because your business ultimately is dependent on the individual motivation, dedication and hard work of your team members. Being very strongly hierarchical may limit the ability of an organisation to adapt to change. It is usually the people at the ground level that feel the first tremblings of change and it is important for the decision-makers to get this information as quickly as possible.