The prestigious spring racing carnival is well under way and whether horses are your thing or not, this time of the year brings much frivolity, socializing, networking, and the occasional flutter.

It is also a great time to reflect on what it takes to build a successful advice business, which requires more than having favorable odds and an ‘each way’ bet.

For most business owners, your business is the vehicle to provide you with the life you want.

This may be to control your destiny, earn bucket loads of money, choose how to spend your time, leave a legacy, build an asset for retirement or be free to do what you want, when you want.

Sadly, for many, turning this into a reality will never happen.

One of the main reasons is business owners do not treat their business the way it deserves in order to facilitate these kind of results.

Here’s an ‘insiders’ tip to hedge your bets and get the business you want.

Step back and think about your business as a million dollar racehorse.

If you were the owner of such a magnificent creature you would do everything in your power to ensure it performs at it’s peak, all the time.

You would feed it a diet full of nutrition, rest it regularly, provide a comfortable clean stable, schedule regular health check ups with the vet, encourage it to frolic with ideal partners, devote time to it’s ongoing training and development, have a clear plan for it’s retirement and you would invest in the best coaches and trainers that get results.

You would diligently plan for it’s future and you would capture (and document) all the upcoming race meets, training schedules, check-ups, down time etc. that need to take place over the next 12 months.

Basically you would do whatever it takes to improve and protect its ability to function and perform at it’s best every day.

You would monitor it closely and would know when it showed any signs of weakness, fatigue, illness, or under performance, and you would attend to it with the highest priority.

This analogy makes it clear why some businesses ‘ gallop to victory whilst some never make it out of the stables.

The best ones:

• Have a clear strategic direction and a plan in place to make it real
• Prioritise the short term operational and tactical moves
• Track and measure the health and performance on a regular basis
• Invest time and money into the training and development of their people
• Have an exit plan for when they want out
• Relentlessly execute and take action on their commitments
• Employ coaches and/or mentors to help them get results they can’t get on their own.

If you want your business to provide you with the time, money, legacy and freedom you want, then start thinking it’s a million dollar race horse and make your success a ‘sure thing’.

Ps. If you want some more ideas around what it takes to build a super successful advice business, check out some of the pearls of wisdom from an interview I did with the Legendary Malcolm Payne.