“I don’t own a business, so why should I be concerned about building one?”
Sounds logical, right? However, everyone who works for a company is in fact building his or her own business. It may be tasks, projects or leadership within your department, region or district. You may not own the business, but you own a piece of that business with your personal performance and contribution.
Solid business acumen broadens your awareness of business changes in your industry, in your customers and among your competitors. It gives you the edge to make decisions quickly and with confidence.
What are the elements of building a thriving business? First and foremost, you have to have a vision. The vision could be an excellent product or service. At certain executive levels, that vision drives a strategy for either developing or improving a product or service. But don’t count yourself out. You are an important element of that business decision – if you have the knowledge and mindset of the owner.
Unless you’re a business owner, you might not think of how to finance the product or service. In reality, business owner or not, finance is a critical step. Ask yourself these questions: Can we afford to produce the product or service we’re considering? Do we have the cash flow? At what point can we break even with our product or service? What are our fixed and variable costs? Are there capital expenses? Do we need a line of credit? Do we need investors? What are the financial risks? You see, great ideas are just that – great ideas – when you haven’t considered how to pay for them.
Think about a time when you had a great idea but didn’t have the funding and research needed to bring it from bench to market. But what if you did have the financial and/or business acumen to give you the answers to just some of the questions above? Once again, you may not own your business, but your thoughts, preparation and execution in your work area have a direct effect on your company’s outcomes.
In today’s business world, the people making ultimate decisions need data and facts. They prefer to see a business plan or business strategy that helps them make a decision. If you can paint a picture of what the final business outcome can provide, your chances of success are greater. According to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), solid business acumen broadens your awareness of business changes in your industry, in your customers and among your competitors. It gives you the edge to make decisions quickly and with confidence.
The business acumen courses at Blueline Simulations can provide you with the foundational knowledge you need to collect and process data, formulate a data-driven strategy to build your business case and effectively deliver your plan. The items covered above will become clear, and your ability to run your area just like a business will support your continued success.
I invite you to contact us to learn more about any of our business acumen options, custom classroom simulations, Blueline Blueprint™ learning visuals or other innovative delivery methods that have been generating notable business results in leading organizations worldwide for more than 13 years.