Growing Your Small Business: The Checklist

Want to take your business to the next stage of growth? Make sure you’re prepared by working through this 20-point checklist.

Lifehacker’s Supporting Small Business series, brought to you by Bankwest, provides expert tips and helpful advice on how to effectively manage day-to-day tasks and grow your business. For more free online tips, tools and calculators for business owners, visit Bankwest’s dedicated Small Business website.

Note: this isn’t an exhaustive guide, and every business will have specific needs. However, these questions will help guide you to areas where you can sensibly work on growing your business?

• Do you have a formalised business plan?
• Have you analysed your existing business data to identify current growth trends?
• Are you confident you understand what is driving that growth?
• Have you identified new potential areas or products to expand into?
• Do you have market research that backs up your gut feel about those products?
• Do you need to change or update your business structure?
• Are there any regulatory issues that would block your expansion?
• Are your existing premises suitable for your plans?
• Have you identified sources of finance to help you expand?
• Could you expand your business by franchising?
• Who are your three biggest competitors?
• Do you have a succession plan if you become unable to run the business yourself?
• Do you have a disaster recovery plan to deal with outages and other emergencies?
• Are all your business procedures documented?
• Do you have regular training procedures for staff?
• Do you have a mentor or business coach?
• Do you have a detailed marketing and promotional plan?
• Are you making full use of online platforms to promote your business, products and services?
• Are your IT systems an effective support to your business?
• Do you have an exit strategy for the business?

Picture: Dan Goodwin

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