Can any owner fully see what their business needs to survive and thrive? Matt Purser – Director of the Firebird Partnership – reflects on the power of fresh perspectives.
“It can be challenging to take an objective view of your own company”
In today’s fast-paced world, all businesses must keep up with the ever-changing market and consumer needs. This is especially true for the travel industry.
One of the most important ways to stay relevant and competitive is by regularly reviewing and analysing your business. However, as an owner, founder or manager, it can be challenging to take an objective view of your own company. This is where a fresh pair of eyes can be invaluable.
This fresh look could come through a non-executive director, a business analyst, even a friend or family member who has experience of the industry. What you need, ideally, is someone with an unbiased view who can give an outside perspective, making constructive observations and suggestions you may not have considered alone.
“A new perspective may help you streamline processes, reduce your costs, and boost productivity”
With the right pair of fresh eyes, you can:
1. Identify blind spots
When owners or founders are entrenched in day-to-day operations, they may miss critical areas that need improvement. A fresh pair of eyes can see the blind spots, enabling them to consider what needs their attention.
2. Objectively evaluate
Any sort of personal attachment to a business can make it difficult to be objective about its unique strengths and weaknesses. Are you doing as well as you could be? Could new ideas or solutions take you even further?
3. Gain industry expertise
If your fresh pair of eyes comes in the form of someone with industry expertise, you could gain valuable insight into current trends, emerging technologies, and best practices. This will help you stay ahead of the competition.
4. Improve efficiency
With the right kind of insight you can identify inefficiencies in your business operations and find ways to improve them. Done well, this will streamline processes, reduce your costs, and boost productivity.
5. Increase profitability
Better efficiency, better ideas, better knowledge of the market: with these efforts combined, your business is likely to become increasingly profitable. With best performance in the bottom line, you’ll stand the best chance of ensuring long-term success.
Matt Purser is a Director of the Firebird Partnership, and has worked in travel since 1989, beginning with ATOL at the Civil Aviation Authority. There he was instrumental in scoping out regulatory changes to protect consumers. In 2005, he set up the Travel Trade Consultancy (TTC) and helped grow it from a start-up to a million-pound-turnover business. Matt is an expert for the Finance & MI and Regulatory modules of Firebird’s Foundations for Growth programme.
Learn all about the programme, and get in touch with Firebird, at www.firebirdpartnership.com
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