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There is lots written in various styles about different aspects of business. For example, if you haven't yet digested Gerber's “The E Myth Revisited” then you might like to start there. But the trouble is most people are so caught up in their business they don't have time to sort through and find the stuff that's relevant to them. (Working IN the business rather than ON the business.) Or business owners can get so into fads and never implement (FTI disease – Failure To Implement).

I've sadly concluded that most people are not in business to make money. Now I'm not talking about taking a salary for their effort in the business. I'm not talking about being paid extra for the risks they take. Nor for their effort in managing the business. Nor for a reasonable return on their investment. Few businesses actually return all of those. Even fewer go beyond that and earn a real profit.

The tragedy is that very few, even when given opportunities, take them. Money is not the only or even the primary goal in business. It's certainly not the primary motivator in my own business. But time and again I have seen people let incredible business opportunities go by – for a variety of reasons. Of course not everyone has those exceptional sort of opportunities in their businesses. But how does your business compare even with the norm in your industry? If it's only average or below, that suggests there's room for improvement.

The “secret”.

Now some might expect that we're talking about a marketing tip that will double sales. I'm sorry to disappoint you. My suggested approach is in fact pretty boring. A 100% overall improvement is dramatic but rare. However 100 x 1% improvements are much much more acheivable. (Or 50 x 2%, etc.) Most people could make a 1% improvement without too much effort. So the challenge is to introduce an attitude of continuous improvement. The real skill is in sustaining it, while developing the next area – and the next. If you don't embed a new approach properly, it will slip away, so your next effort will replace it rather than build on it.

Take one small example. Most business people know the joys of getting people to pay on time. No matter how many articles you read on this the advice is pretty much the same. So you follow that advice – and achieve some good results – for a month or six. As you get busy with other things, the new system tends to slide – and debtors pay later again. Now you may put more effort in – but then that effort isn't going new areas. It may be that you need to employ someone (either staff or contractor) to take that load off you – which has new challenges. Sorry – but that's business. That's the sort of growth issue you should face from time to time.

Getting started

Business isn't a static thing.Where on earth do you start? The ideal answer is with a SWOT analysis. That would identify key areas most in need of improvement. But it could be that you have a pressing issue that needs dealing with now. Or you may have an idea or two that should produce quick results. So you might already have a good place to start. To be honest, unless you're business is about to die, it doesn't really matter – please just don't get bogged down.