Just who has a stake in your business?

It is anyone who can influence your profit, your cash flow, your reputation, your peace of mind, or even the very existence of your company.

And looking at it from their point of view, if they have a stake in you, you also have a stake in their businesses or in them as individuals - there is a relationship to be managed.

Thinking about who they are and how you are going to build and manage the relationships - the real benefit from doing that is you are less likely to be faced with unpleasant surprises - more peace of mind.

Stakeholders

Just who are they, then?

• Employees
• Revenue and Customs
• Banks and other lenders
• Suppliers
• Customers
• Investors
• Professional services - IT, accountancy, legal etc.
• Local Authority
• Professional organizations / accreditation bodies
• Training providers
• Police - obvious if you supply security staff or services
• Local media
• Family

And there may be more. 

Also, there is a certain logic to this list - once you have staff your obligations to them have to be at, or near the top of your list. And in respect of claims on your cash, Revenue and Customs come next.

Why are they on the list?

Let's illustrate this with a some examples:

• Suppliers: they want you to pay them as quickly as possible, whereas you may wish to delay payment for cash flow reasons - there has to be a balance so both sides are reasonably happy;
• Local Authority: if your growth plan includes a significant new building or change of use, you will need them on your side early on to avoid spending time and money going down blind alleys;
• Training providers: poor training will lead to poor performance and may compromise accreditation; and 
• Family: in return for giving you space to concentrate on your business, they rely on you to contribute to their standard of living, for holidays, for your support for what they wish to do, and in part for their happiness and peace of mind..

Is it worth writing it down?

This is one of those areas that has recently crept into the ISO world, and you may in fact have to write a formal Stakeholder Management Plan for your ISO certification. 

But even if you don't have to, it can be a real help to do a plan - it doesn't take long and is one of those rare easy wins of the modern business environment.

In most cases, all that is needed is the headings and bullet points setting out strategies and plans for building the relationships you need with each stakeholder or stakeholder group - 2 to 3 pages at the most.

And we are there to support you if you need help. We offer a free initial consultation of up to 2 hours - please contact us on enquiries@sussexbusinessadvisors.com if you are interested.

Business consultancy from experienced business people.