Q:I'm having success with my new business, but how can I make sure it grows sustainably?
A:Benjamin Franklin's great advice still applies today:"One ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Let's look at five hallmarks of a healthy business.
Related: 4 tips to grow your business
1. Trajectory
Is your business declining, neutral or growing? If your business isn't growing, you obviously need to make changes right away.
2. Culture
By leveraging the strength of the teamwork of your employees, you benefit from collective intelligence and expertise; you expand your leadership bench; you support cross-training, where people learn from each other; you promote team engagement and fun; you improve execution and get better results.
3. Clarity
When you and your team share and understand the vision, it pulls you out of your situation and into better results.
4. Cash flow
Cash flow can be hard money, invested money or generated money. You must have positive cash flow and reserves. You need to make sure there is enough money coming in so you don't have to make bad decisions.
5. Risk mitigation
This is a principle on which I have bet a lot recently with my clients. You need to seriously think about what things could cause you to have a hiccup in your business. You'll have a healthier business if you're not on the cutting edge in these areas.
Related: 5 tips for running a successful business
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2018 issue of LadiesBelle I/O magazine.
