BBB #12: How Business Reviews Set You Up For Success (Part 1)

I’m doing a different newsletter issue today.

Sometimes, I wished I started this newsletter earlier so I could have written about lessons and experiences in doing business and a business review will be much easier.

As we’re closer to ending the year 2023 now, I have this urge to do a business review and be proactive in ending the year strong.

So, here is my attempt to do a business review with all of you.

As a context first, I incorporated my practice as a business and finance consultant last July 2022. Coming from a solo freelancer two years before that, incorporating Thrive Global CFO and inviting some partners was a big step for me.

Close to almost 18 months of operations, I want to reflect on the year that has been. I hope you also learn a thing or two in our experiences.

Jul to Dec 2022

If I’ll describe these 6 months, I’d say that it felt like 5 years compressed in just six months. And I’m saying this with a sigh of relief a year after.

We started with a very shaky start. After moving into our tiny office space and co-working space, I was faced with a lot of personnel issues. Coming from my freelancing practice, I realized that hiring freelancers is not a long game strategy for us.

Since a lot of our services need a human touch in consulting, we needed a more stable base of people who can grow with us as we build and scale. A key piece of our success will be contributed by people.

I let go of almost all my old team members.

We had to rethink our strategy in attracting talent, screening them and onboarding new hires.

And it was a hard work worth doing.

As for me, I realized that so much inner work also had to happen to me personally so I can attract the kind of business and the kind of people who will be working with me.

So, before going into the year 2023, I wrote our manifesto. Let me share some bits and pieces of it here.

Knowing what you want

On Dec 2022, I spent an entire weekend really thinking about things that I haven’t really thought of when I started.

And let me share with you a discovery I had.

One of the hardest things about being an entrepreneur is actually knowing what you want.

As for me, I spent an entire for this. What do I really want? Why am I working so much? What for?

You can also do this yourself by simply answering these questions:

• Where do I want to be spending my time?

• How much vacation do I want to take annually?

• How much do I want to earn annually?

• How many hours per week do I want to work?

The sad reality is that many entrepreneurs started businesses for their families and to have time freedom. But they became slaves to their own businesses. Their lives revolve around the business alone.

So in a few sentences, I described what my dream life looks like. This part is so important as it set the way I think about how I design the business to be able to fulfill my dream life.

Leaning closer to the business

Now that I’ve uncovered what I want my life to look like, I moved on to lean closer to designing my business to operate in a way that will maximize its potential without losing myself in the process.

To start, define a “WHY”.

When the why is clear, the how becomes easier.

Why does your business exist? What is its reason for existence?

Then, I listed down the things I believed in. These things will be our core values, the filter that I will use in hiring people, getting partners, acquiring clients, fulfilling our services and growing the business.

After knowing this, I then documented who our ideal clients are. Describe them in detail.

• What industries do they belong to?

• How big are their revenues?

• How big is their team size?

• Who do we normally deal with and what is their role?

• Where are they geographically located?

• What keeps them up at night?

• What problems / challenges do they have?

• What do they usually need help with?

• What ideal results are they looking for?

My life became a breeze when I finally documented our ideal client profile. It became client acquisition, retention and business development so much easier.

Knowing now the reason why we exist, the things we believed in and our ideal client profile, it’s time to wrap things up with our value proposition. As for me, it’s so aligned with our why statement.

Going further, I listed down our desired services to offer that is aligned with our unique value proposition.

It does not make sense to cram so many services when it does not align with your unique value proposition.

(Part 2 which will cover setting targets will be published next week!)

You may be interested to check out these materials:

1. Money System Masterclass + Tools

2. Building a Profitable OPC in the PH