For years, I have tried to answer this one question: What do small businesses that achieve sustained growth do differently from those that do not grow?

As a senior consultant for Inc. magazine, I speak to thousands of business owners each year. I’ve learned that there are no silver bullets or 17-point checklists that will lead to guaranteed growth. There are, however, seven specific areas in which growth companies concentrate their efforts.

1. Strong sense of purpose. Most leaders of companies that have achieved growth discover that it takes more than the promise of increasing financial reward to fuel their aspirations and ambitions. They find a higher calling than simply the pursuit of “more money.”

2. Outstanding market intelligence. This is an organization’s ability to first recognize, then adapt, to fundamental changes in the marketplace. Many times, small-business owners become too myopic, seeing only a limited view of the markets in which they compete. Growth leaders see the bigger picture.

3. Effective growth planning. This is the best predictor of whether or not a business will grow. To be effective, a plan for growth does not need to be overly formal or complicated. However, it does need to be written, well-communicated and regularly updated.

4. Customer-driven processes. These days, every company I talk to believes it is customer-driven, when actually very few really are. Take a look at all of the business processes from a customer’s perspective. Are they in place to make it easier for the company, or to help deliver on the promise of faster, cheaper and better for the customer?

5. The power of technology. Successful leaders don’t let the boom and bust of technology cycles give them the excuse to ignore that we live in an information age. If a company is in business, it is in the technology business.

6. The best and brightest people. Growth leaders recognize that they are only as good as the people with whom they work. The ability to hire, train and retain the best and the brightest people is often the difference between success and failure.

7. Seeing the future. Few organizations take the time to regularly consider the future. Growth leaders learn how to diligently monitor and interpret the macro forces of change affecting the world in which they live.

Should you be in the early stages of a business start-up then there are elements to your personal business banking service which you should be looking for and if you havent yet set up an account now is the time to take a deep breath and go shopping!

Its a competitive market, and its often hard to be sure which services you should be looking for to provide the best service for your small business. Certainly the basics such as a business current account, savings account, and loan facilities should be there, but nowadays the upcoming business manager should be looking for more from their financial provider.

Often you are looking for support from your financial services outside of traditional office hours and its for this reason that todays small business owners should look for online access as a vital service for the building of their company. Not only does this provide true 24 hour banking support, but it enables complete transparency and allows you to pull up your small businesss financial details whenever you need them.

Having the information to hand is one thing, of course, but its also useful to have a dedicated team at the end of a phone line to run through the figure with you. Shopping around shows there are a few businesses who offer this service, Barclays (http:www.business.barclays.co.ukBRC1jspbrccontrol?site=bbb&task=channelFWvi2&value=5793&target=_self ) being one of them. Typically you are looking for most of the services also available online, such as account checking and money transfer services, allied with the opportunity to chat with a living, breathing, business manager who is local to your branch.

Interestingly, some companies also offer specialised software designed to integrate with their services and make your time management more efficient. This is surely a good sign, and indicative of the pro-active approach many banks now take to integrate online services with more traditional hands-on approaches.

Of course yours might not be a start-up waiting to happen, but instead a small business with a good track record and the ambition to grow your business within your market. Maybe you are unhappy with your current financial provider perhaps the service is good but limited, or you feel you could get a better financial package more suited to your small business. In either case you should be seriously thinking of switching your business account to a provider who can cover all your needs as a unique, small business. Additionally, and this might seem a minor point but it is surprisingly important, you should be looking for a banking service that will handle the transfer of your business account details with the minimum of fuss.

So there is plenty to consider when shopping for your financial provider but, assuming you are looking for a long term financial partner, perhaps the most important element is scalability: after all, you are looking for a financial provider that can grow with your business. Arent you?

Disclaimer

All information contained in this article is for general information purpose only and should not be construed as advice under the financial Services act 1986. You are strongly advised to take appropriate professional and legal advice before entering into any binding contracts.

Additional Information
http:www.business.barclays.co.ukBRC1jspbrccontrol?site=bbb&task=channelFWvi2&value=5793&target=_self

Disclaimer

All information contained in this article is for general information purpose only and should not be construed as advice under the financial Services act 1986. You are strongly advised to take appropriate professional and legal advice before entering into any binding contracts.