What the biggest challenges you face?

Hi all, I was wondering what's the biggest business challenge you face, have faced or likely to face in the future and why? Either on a day to day, week to week, year on year? Has anyone conquered their challenges? If so, how?

thanks

Building a sustainable sales pipe line in 2012. We're having a planning session about this challenge on Monday

We always do an annual business plan (with the rationale/assumptions about how we will achieve it). It provides us with a month by month way of measuring how well we are doing against the plan and when to make adjustments if the rationale/assumptions do not work out (or the external environment changes, requiring a change to our rationale/assumptions and a change in direction).

We differentiate between the things we can control directly (i.e. are internal to my business), the things we can influence and the things that we need to react to (but are completely out of our control).

What we set up the business to do in 2005 is very different to what the business is today.

Building a sustainable sales pipe line in 2012. We're having a planning session about this challenge on Monday

 

We always do an annual business plan (with the rationale/assumptions about how we will achieve it). It provides us with a month by month way of measuring how well we are doing against the plan and when to make adjustments if the rationale/assumptions do not work out (or the external environment changes, requiring a change to our rationale/assumptions and a change in direction).

 

We differentiate between the things we can control directly (i.e. are internal to my business), the things we can influence and the things that we need to react to (but are completely out of our control).

 

What we set up the business to do in 2005 is very different to what the business is today.

Hi Steve,

great info thank you. When you said building a sustainable sales pipe line in 2012... would there be any chance you could be more specific? I'll understand it's that too much of a personal question

Also, in your business what's different now compared to 2005?

Thanks

John

John,

A long story short. I set up Fripp Design and Research with a fantastic industrial designer Tom Fripp. Tom was doing his Masters at Sheffield Hallam and wanted to set up a design business to design his own widgets and then licence them to third parties. I wanted a business that would do the same thing too; so off we went.

In 2009 we had a lucky break (you need them...more importantly, you need to recognise when you have a lucky break and act on it). We met a bunch of academics that came to us with a research problem in 3D Printing that they could not solve; and we did, it completely transformed the fortunes of the business.

In 2012 our business is transforming. From setting up as an Industrial Design business looking to license our product ideas, we're going to become a manufacturer of custom medical devices...quite a change from where we started! The sustainable revenues will come from the mass manufacture of these custom medical devices (I know this sounds like an oxymoron "mass manufacture of custom..." but this is feasible in the world of additive manufacture/3D Printing).

As with any business, you need a vision and our vision was to design stuff to gain a sustainable on going revenue from that design. Although we envisioned this to be a license model, you have to adapt to the prevailing conditions (for us, we found getting licensees on board was too time/resource consuming; so we've decided to take control of the entire supply chain).

In year 1 we turned over £30K and worked from my conservatory. Today we turnover £100ks and have offices on the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Catcliffe. We want to turn a six figure turnover to 7 figures in 2012/2013.

Our challenge in 2012 is maintaining positive cash flow as the business transforms (which is the purpose of the planning session I referred to).

Hope this explains things?

Steve

John,

 

A long story short. I set up Fripp Design and Research with a fantastic industrial designer Tom Fripp. Tom was doing his Masters at Sheffield Hallam and wanted to set up a design business to design his own widgets and then licence them to third parties. I wanted a business that would do the same thing too; so off we went.

 

In 2009 we had a lucky break (you need them...more importantly, you need to recognise when you have a lucky break and act on it). We met a bunch of academics that came to us with a research problem in 3D Printing that they could not solve; and we did, it completely transformed the fortunes of the business.

 

In 2012 our business is transforming. From setting up as an Industrial Design business looking to license our product ideas, we're going to become a manufacturer of custom medical devices...quite a change from where we started! The sustainable revenues will come from the mass manufacture of these custom medical devices (I know this sounds like an oxymoron "mass manufacture of custom..." but this is feasible in the world of additive manufacture/3D Printing).

 

As with any business, you need a vision and our vision was to design stuff to gain a sustainable on going revenue from that design. Although we envisioned this to be a license model, you have to adapt to the prevailing conditions (for us, we found getting licensees on board was too time/resource consuming; so we've decided to take control of the entire supply chain).

 

In year 1 we turned over £30K and worked from my conservatory. Today we turnover £100ks and have offices on the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Catcliffe. We want to turn a six figure turnover to 7 figures in 2012/2013.

 

Our challenge in 2012 is maintaining positive cash flow as the business transforms (which is the purpose of the planning session I referred to).

 

Hope this explains things?

 

Steve

Fantastic story Steve