Making Sense of Business

Get your basics straight, and the rest will follow... this is one of the major take-aways from my b-school learning. And this statement applies to anything thats about business and business acumen.

For most enterprises, the prime business question is not about where to get the money from, or the day to day running of business. The question is, how do the entrepreneurs want to see their business grow; in what direction?

This question is crucial because it defines a lot of things, and clears a lot of clutter from one's head.

What is it that you really want your business to be? Volume driven or Value Driven? What is the precise definition of the customer you want to cater to? Simple, basic questions pertaining to who, why, and how. Thats it.

But more often than not, the entrepreneurs don't get the answers to these questions straight in their heads. From the very start, their ideas are not clear about what they really want to create.

And I dont blame them. The world is full of opportunities. And an enthusiastic entrepreneur would always want to make use of every opportunity even if it remotely helps his business. The opportunity might be a new concept/product/pricing/market... anything...

And in this flight of enthisiasm and excitement, they take up these opportunities which might not necessarily be helpful in achieving their final goal.. And few years down the line, you might find that the business has grown, but its scattered across all directions.

However, there's one reason why basics go a little haywire in the process of growing a business for which the entrepreneur needs to be given the benefit of the doubt.

When a business starts, the entrepreneur looks desperately for revenue. There's no better satisfaction than money coming into the business. How it comes, whether its "in-line-with-the-strategic-objectives-of-business" is immaterial. Better toplines are the start of making a business profitable. And in this gamut of achieving financial sustainability, certain objectives go haywire.

Although this cannot serve as an alibi for any entrepreneur for long. Once financial stability is increased, I believe one should always look back, and think of what one really wanted to build, and to what extent has that been achievable.

Numbers towards the end of the day speak a true picture of business. And as long as an entrepreneur is looking at the numbers closely, I doubt he would face troubles in the future. Re-visiting the basics every once in a while is the key to keeping oneself grounded, and in line with reality.

In the end, all I know is that looking back and reflecting on one's actions and looking at numbers are the 2 best ways of keeping one in harmony with one's own business.