Belk on Business

Building a connection with clients What issues are they facing? With whom to they associate?  Get in those rooms What do they need?  Sometimes our customer doesn’t know what they need or what they think they need isn’t what they need.   Who are their thought leaders/influencers?  Listen to who they are listening to and read what they are reading What technology are they using?...

Seven conversations when starting a business: 1) Identify your why, purpose, mission, vision 2) What is your legacy? Financial freedom, retirement, what is your end game? 3) Cabinet of advisors  4) What problem am I solving?  Build solutions not just deliver a product or service 5) Entity structure 6) Plan for success (business plan, marketing plan, etc).  How am I getting customers...

There are three ways to grow a business 1)  Increase volume 2)  Increase top line revenue 3)  Decrease expenses At a more granular level, some ideas to consider before taking the next step of growth: 1)  Define rules and processes before adding people.  Develop efficiency by simplifying processes.  Automate processes that can be automated and outsource those that shou...

As the business owner and working with your team in your daily or weekly huddles, a few questions should be asked and analytics reviewed at least weekly: How was our pace last week and what does our pace need to be this week? Was our pace too slow or too fast?   Any areas we need to change?  Bad assumptions, bad decisions, bad measurements or bad inputs. Any areas slowing us down?  ...

What should I be looking for in an accountant to add as a trusted advisor in my business: 1) Knowledge of industry 2) Responsiveness (timeline as to responding to questions/issues … phone, text, meeting needs) 3) Proactive (understands coming timelines as it affects your business such as lending issues, deliverables, etc.) 4) Strategic (tax planning, investing in the business, cash flow management...

 Many people have successful businesses and have achieved defined goals but don’t feel like they have achieved success.  There is a difference between success as defined by others or sometimes even ourselves and have the feeling of being fulfilled in life and business.   To achieve not just success but a fulfillment in that success, a few matters we must consider: 1) Are we using th...

Simon Sinek’s talk regarding starting with our way changed the dialog in many ways for entrepreneurs and business owners.  He said the following: Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause or belief - WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?    We need to not...