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Stuck for inspiration or ideas, read on

5 ideas for small business

In this week’s sports news Australian cricket captain stated that “By the end of the day I didn’t have too many ideas left, I think I tried everything, I think I tried guys in extremely unorthodox positions to try and make something happen, but unfortunately we didn’t get as many wickets as we would have liked.” as his team struggled to compete with Pakistan in a test match series being held in Abu Dhabi. Now you might just think I’m using this blog as an excuse to read and write about cricket (and you may be partly correct!) but it started a thought process on the idea of leadership, decision-making and what it takes to manage and lead a successful team.

When all is sailing along well managing a successful and talented team can seem like a breeze, everyone knows their role in the team and goes above and beyond the call of duty to complete their job with a minimum of fuss. At this point most managers or leaders can become complacent and let the side just flow along basking in the sunshine with a minimum amount of hands on management required. This is the ideal all managers strive for but few rarely achieve. In business you are likely to have a wide variety of personalities, skill subsets and egos within your team and keeping them all pulling in the same direction all of the time can seem like impossibility.

So when you think you’ve run out of ideas what can you do as a small business owner to ensure the team is on track.

1. Always have a backup within your team, Michael Clarke has a vice captain on the field and a coach in the stands. Who do you have that you can turn to? Someone that is 100% on your side, knows your team well enough and can be brutally honest with you knowing you will take the advice on board and apply it well.

2. Clarke was criticised for using fielding positions that are not generally accepted in cricket, but I have to think if one of those fielders had taken a catch would he have been hailed as a genius? When things aren’t going your way, trying something out of the norm might pay off or it may not. Unless your new tactic or idea is going to create a much higher risk of failure then what have you got to lose?

3. One idea is to always think about your opposition and what they would least like to be doing and then formulate a plan to make it happen. In business this could be interpreted as looking for weaknesses in your competitors and then seizing the opportunity.

4. Of course, the point above is fine unless it draws you away from your strengths. Success in business comes down to a combination of playing to your strengths and taking advantage of others weaknesses. Within your team, that also means building up your weaker team members with training and confidence building as well as empowering your stronger team members to speak up about ideas and issues they see on a day to day basis, that an overseeing manager may not pick up on. That’s why the TV show “Undercover Boss” works so well, managers fall into the trap of just attending to meetings and forget that there is a business with employees servicing customers in the real world.

5. If all else fails, as the leader or business owner, you may just need to get the ball in your own hands and set the example for the team to follow. An inspirational act or demonstration of leadership can often inspire a team to rise above their own normal level of performance.

For more information on running a small business, mas accountants the original accountants for small business are always hear to help in any way we can to see you succeed in small business. Or if you just want to call up and have a chat about the cricket we can do that too.

 
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