Top 10 Tips for Business
When we opened the doors to LTY Engineers nearly 10 years ago, we had two things: determination and dreams. Chi and I had been working together for nearly 20 years. I had been running a successful small business for more than 10 years. We were nervous, excited, and, quite frankly, naïve.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, there are 31.7 million small businesses in America. These companies represent 99.9% of all U.S. businesses and employ 60.6 million people or 47.1% of the private workforce. Despite their tremendous impact on the economy, as a small business owner the odds are not in your favor. In 2022, according to research from Lending Tree, one in five small businesses failed in their first year. And, only 34.9% will survive to their 10th anniversary.
So how has LTY survived when so many others have failed? Mostly by being in the right place at the right time with the right people. But here are the top 10 tips we would share with our younger selves if we were starting out today. Whether you’re in charge of a two-person shop or a 10,000-person conglomerate, I think these are good reminders of what it takes to run a successful business.
Define mission and vision.
In a recent survey published by Harvard Business Review and Glassdoor, fewer than 3% of employees could identify their company’s core purpose. Yet, research from Gallup indicates that a strong, clear purpose can lead to an 8.8% decrease in turnover and a 4.4% increase in profitability. Write a clear purpose. Talk about it. Make it part of what you do every day. Base every decision on this question: Does this help us achieve our purpose? If it does not edge you toward the finish line, drop it and run.
Plan for the future.
“Carpe diem,” they said. “It will be fun,” they said. Living in the moment is not the best strategy for building a business. Having a three-to-five-year plan that gives you a structure with flexibility for unexpected changes is the smart bet. Review the plan, work the plan, live the plan. Have someone on your team who holds you accountable (side note: make sure that person is not your spouse.)
Make hard decisions.
Some of your decisions should scare you. They should make you question your sanity, but they should never make you question your integrity. Have a foundation and a purpose so that you are doing the right things for the right reasons (see #1 and #2).
Clearly define roles.
Employees want to know where they fit. Write good job descriptions. It will help you find the right employees and train them to do great work. At the same time, clients want to know who to call. Be clear and consistent in setting boundaries and expectations. Then deliver, deliver, deliver.
Hire slow. Fire quick.
The fastest way to lose your best employees is to spend all your time on the troublemakers. Take your time finding the right people. Put them in the right seats. It will cost you less (money, heartache, team conflict, damage to your reputation) to have an empty seat than to fill it with the wrong person and keep them there. Trust me.
Outsource.
One of the great benefits of having a clear mission and vision is knowing the purpose of your company…what do you do best? It also helps you decide what to delegate to other people. Small businesses, especially, are not meant to be one-stop shopping. Consider innovative solutions like job-sharing, partial CFOs or other executives, and using contractors for tasks that are not in your wheelhouse.
Be transparent.
This was one of the hardest lessons for me personally. I am not naturally transparent and hold things close to the vest. But today’s employees want…and need…more from their employers. So do our customers. Communicate early and often to your team so they know where they’re marching to and how they will get there.
Happy employees = happy clients.
Take care of your people, and they will take care of your clients. Listen to them. Use their ideas. Give them credit for hard work. Provide opportunities for growth. Get rid of obstacles. Protect their sanity. Treat them the way you want to be treated.
Focus on the positive.
It is easy to become discouraged when you spend all day fighting fires. Don’t focus on the fire; focus on the future. Save what you can and move forward. Learning is winning.
Be resilient and flexible…never give up.
Despite all the planning, things will come up. People will quit. Pandemics will happen. We never see 20/20 into the future. But the things that don’t kill us make us stronger, right?
If you enjoyed this Top 10 list from LTY, look for more in a monthly series as we look forward to our 10th anniversary in October 2024. Next month: Top 10 Misconceptions About Engineers.
Sources
- “2020 Small Business Profile – SBA’s Office of Advocacy.” U.S. Small Business Administration, June 20, 2020.
- Delfino, Devon, “The Percentage of Businesses That Fail.” Edited by Dan Shepard and Xiomara Martinez-White, LendingTree, Lending Tree, 8 May 2023.
- Herway, Jake, “To Get Your People’s Best Performance, Start with Purpose.” Gallup.Com, Gallup, 27 Jan. 2024.
- Rigby, Darrell, et al., What Successful Purpose Statements Do Differently, Mar. 2024. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.
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