Wednesday, July 2, 2025
  • Login
CEO North America
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
    • Entrepreneur
    • Industry
    • Innovation
    • Management & Leadership
  • CEO Interviews
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • Environment
  • CEO Life
    • Art & Culture
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
    • Entrepreneur
    • Industry
    • Innovation
    • Management & Leadership
  • CEO Interviews
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • Environment
  • CEO Life
    • Art & Culture
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
CEO North America
No Result
View All Result

CEO North America > Opinion > What I’ve learned about building winning businesses

What I’ve learned about building winning businesses

in Opinion
CVCA CEO Kim Furlong to step down
Share on LinkedinShare on WhatsApp

As a Director within HSBC’s SME Business Banking team, Phillip Dominique has worked with hundreds of start-ups and has seen what works. Here, he shares his key tips…

Take advice before raising money

Founders tend to be experts in their fields, rather than experts in raising capital. Dominique has met many who have secured funding, but didn’t do sufficiently deep analysis of trade-offs and implications, or consider alternative options.

If you’re raising equity finance, say, are you happy to relinquish total control of your company? Would a business loan be more appropriate, or might you struggle with the repayments? Is there a government grant you could be eligible for?

“There are lots of options available to entrepreneurs from bank debt to grants to equity,” says Dominique. “Each has its pros and cons; it’s about matching the right funding solution with the stage that the business is at and the founder’s ambitions. Speaking to a bank or other advisors can help entrepreneurs work out what funding option is right for them.”

Hire to complement your own skills, not to mirror them

When Dominique’s team assesses business proposals from across the country, the strength and depth of the management team is one of the key things that they look at. Dominique emphasises that a balanced team is essential for future success, and they particularly prioritise one specific attribute.

“The very best entrepreneurs are those who recognise early that they need to hire others to fill the gaps within their own skills, rather than hire people who have the same abilities and backgrounds as them,” says Dominique. “I take this advice in my own business as well. I don’t hire people in so that I can tell them what to do. I hire them so they can tell me what to do.”

Launch your product before it’s perfect

When developing a new product, fortune favours the flexible. Don’t be too wedded to your initial idea, instead take feedback and refine your vision. A great way to do this is simply to launch it: get it out into the world and see what the market tells you. This can also confer the benefit of first-mover advantage.

The power of this business strategy was brought into focus for Dominique a few years ago by a British backpack maker based in the South of England. The founder was aware that his products were not yet the finished article, but knew he had to stress-test the concept and also beat the competition to the punch. 

“He was talking about getting it to market quickly, testing and learning, then iterating and coming back with a version 1.2 which would be better than version 1.1,” he says. “They’re now one of the largest and best known brands on the market.” Naturally, as part of this process, you need a system to gather feedback. One way is a good customer service department that captures and conveys key insights.

Obsess over cash flow

There’s a common pitfall that can be the undoing of even the healthiest looking business. “A business can have a great idea; they can have fantastic market share; they can be growing. Sales are there. Profits are there. But they can still fail,” says Dominique. “And that reason, really, is cash flow.”

The problem comes when money on the books is confused with money in the bank. You might have chalked up a certain amount of sales, but until your customers pay their invoices, you can’t actually access that money.

“Cash locked up in working capital,” – the amount trapped in unsold stock or ongoing transactions – “can pose difficulties for business owners both when they are starting out and rapidly scaling,” says Dominique. What’s more, smaller businesses generally have less access to credit.

If it’s the end of the month and you can’t make payroll, it’s hard to come back from that. “As the saying goes: turnover is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is reality.”

Get a crystal clear picture of your goals

“Success means different things to different people,” says Dominique, “and ‘what it means to you’ is a question not enough business owners spend enough time thinking about.” 

At one end of the spectrum are founders who want to conquer the world, expand internationally, and disrupt their sector like never before; at the other are those who might have inherited a family business, and simply want to pass it on to their own children in 15 or 20 years’ time.

Typically, a business owner will fall somewhere in between, and many can’t articulate their own goals when asked. Since all your decisions ought to flow from a clear sense of what you want to achieve, ask yourself: what do you want your business to look like in three to five years’ time? Then let that answer determine your business strategy.

Read the full article by HSBC Business Insights

Related Posts

Blackstone’s Jon Gray on Strategic Discipline, AI, and Entrepreneurial Leadership
Opinion

Blackstone’s Jon Gray on Strategic Discipline, AI, and Entrepreneurial Leadership

Canada, India move closer to trade deal
Opinion

Informing Strategic Planning Amid Tariff Uncertainty for Canadian Municipalities

A paradigm shift in supply chain operations: From agent-led to AI-led
Opinion

A paradigm shift in supply chain operations: From agent-led to AI-led

6 steps toward your retirement goals
Opinion

6 steps toward your retirement goals

Dollar continues record rally
Opinion

U.S. Economic Confidence Slightly Improved, Still Negative

How U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs would impact Canada’s economy
Opinion

The impact of US trade policy on jobs and inflation in Canada

Key Takeaways From Treasury’s Foreign Exchange Report
Opinion

Key Takeaways From Treasury’s Foreign Exchange Report

Inspiring vs. Infuriating: The Science Behind Great Leadership
Opinion

Inspiring vs. Infuriating: The Science Behind Great Leadership

Want More Women in Leadership? Tell Them They’re Losing Out
Opinion

Want More Women in Leadership? Tell Them They’re Losing Out

Tariffs: The Costs of Inaction
Opinion

Tariffs: The Costs of Inaction

No Result
View All Result

Recent Posts

  • Nasdaq’s New Survey Reveals: Next-Gen Investors Embrace Advanced Technology ETFs
  • Blackstone’s Jon Gray on Strategic Discipline, AI, and Entrepreneurial Leadership
  • Tesla stock rises as company reports steep sales decline
  • ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Medicaid cuts could leave millions uninsured
  • Del Monte Foods files for bankruptsy

Archives

Categories

  • Art & Culture
  • Business
  • CEO Interviews
  • CEO Life
  • Editor´s Choice
  • Entrepreneur
  • Environment
  • Food
  • Health
  • Highlights
  • Industry
  • Innovation
  • Issues
  • Management & Leadership
  • News
  • Opinion
  • PrimeZone
  • Printed Version
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

  • CONTACT
  • GENERAL ENQUIRIES
  • ADVERTISING
  • MEDIA KIT
  • DIRECTORY
  • TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Advertising –
advertising@ceo-na.com

110 Wall St.,
3rd Floor
New York, NY.
10005
USA
+1 212 432 5800

Avenida Chapultepec 480,
Floor 11
Mexico City
06700
MEXICO

  • News
  • CEO Interviews
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • Environment
  • CEO Life

  • CONTACT
  • GENERAL ENQUIRIES
  • ADVERTISING
  • MEDIA KIT
  • DIRECTORY
  • TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Advertising –
advertising@ceo-na.com

110 Wall St.,
3rd Floor
New York, NY.
10005
USA
+1 212 432 5800

Avenida Chapultepec 480,
Floor 11
Mexico City
06700
MEXICO

CEO North America © 2024 - Sitemap

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
    • Entrepreneur
    • Industry
    • Innovation
    • Management & Leadership
  • CEO Interviews
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • Environment
  • CEO Life
    • Art & Culture
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel

© 2025 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.