Strategies to help an entrepreneur achieve their business bucket list
Many people, in their personal lives, have a “bucket list” of things they would love to do before time runs out. It could be as grand as vacationing in Australia to see the Great Barrier Reef or as simple as seeing a band they always wanted to see but didn’t have the chance to.
This concept of a “bucket list” could be transferred to running a business as well. For a startup this list could include: getting the first sale (if the startup is brand new), hitting sales milestones, expanding the business, etc.
How to start your business bucket list
When preparing a bucket list, Entrepreneur suggests three questions from Teona Chapman of First Horizon Bank:
1) “What did we do well in the past and why did it work?”
2) “How do we retain and expand our current competitive advantage?”
3) “What are the future strategic priorities for our business?”1
Bucket lists can be guides for the goals of both business and customer to align. While having a bucket list might be an idea worth exploring, if one is thinking about creating one, it is also an opportunity to make sure that your business is protected and ready to grow.
How to protect your business so the bucket list can happen
Entrepreneur also suggests ways to help you get those business bucket list items checked off:
1) Prepare for the unexpected.
2) Protect the business from fraud.
3) Keep an eye on business depository rates.
4) Earn cash back on business purchases.
5) Develop an exit/succession plan.2
Although most — if not all — of these 5 suggestions should be obvious, it is a good reminder to entrepreneurs of ways they should protect their businesses.
Your business plans aren’t promises. So much can happen that you never could have imagined.
There are always going to be events that happen which are unexpected. Take the events that have happened since the end of the 20th century: First, there were the events of 9/11, then the financial crisis that started in 2008, and then the Covid-19 pandemic. These were totally unpredictable but happened and created havoc.
And those are ones from major news events. There could be ones closer to the entrepreneur – both good and bad. Opportunity comes for your company to expand by purchasing your competitor, creating new synergies, and increasing profits. You might the funding or the credit ready to make the purchase. You would hate to miss the opportunity, if at all possible to capitalize on it.
But it is possible to prepare for the unknown and optimize even small opportunities
On the bad side of what can happen, no business is too small to have fraud committed against it. The pandemic lockdown – being forced to pivot to remote and hybrid working conditions — made it somewhat easier for scammers to commit fraud. You could proactively spend some money now to protect your intellectual property and sensitive customer data from cyber threats. Secure your bank/investment accounts. Finally, make sure that your employees are trained in how to spot scams and whom to tell immediately if they suspect one.
When running a business, you always look to grow and increase profits. It might not mean you need to expand your product reach or business. Look at all possibilities. Your business bank account may avoid service charges with a minimum balance but pay you no or very little interest. Reduce balances closer to required minimums and seek out money market or other funds with much higher rates of return.
You might have the opportunity to invest in other businesses. Knowing your industry may inform you of business segments in it – not your competitors – where you see value worth investing in. The famed Fidelity Magellan Fund manager Peter Lynch always encouraged looking at your daily life to see products or companies that you knew were simply doing it right. Invested dollars could realize that value through a strong rate of return after a few market ups and downs. That works for business familiarity, too.
Also, you have to pay your bills, in your personal life and your business. How you pay these bills is where you have options. If you need to or can use a credit card, find one that will allow you to get money back so you can use that to pay down balances. Sometimes even higher rewards can be earned for travel. If you travel for business, paying other bills might help to pay some of the travel costs.
Plan how to get out of it before you get into it
An entrepreneur must have an exit strategy/succession plan in place. Most everyone doing business with outside investment has heard about an exit strategy – like an IPO or being bought out. There is, however, another exit strategy that needs to be discussed.
This exit is the one where the founder must leave the company unexpectedly like for a medical or family emergency. A similar, though less surprising situation applies to retirement. The plan is necessary for the continuation of the firm. It is a difficult but necessary discussion with everyone in the company.
Having this business bucket list should be seen as a good way to make sure the startup survives. Plus, it allows an entrepreneur to think about what needs to be done for this to happen.
1 5 Strategies to Achieving Your Business Bucket List (Follow these tips to make sure your business reaches its biggest milestones.), Entrepreneur, February 27, 2023, https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/5-strategies-to-achieving-your-business-bucket-list/446553
2 Ibid.
