GIVE YOUR BUSINESS ACUMEN A BOOST!

Certainly! Business acumen and commercial acumen are related but they are distinct and separate skills. Here are ten steps to specifically improve your business acumen, focusing on a broader understanding of organisational dynamics.

1. Study Organisational Structure

Familiarise yourself with the organisation's structure of both your company and that of your clients, including departments, reporting lines, and decision-making hierarchies. Understanding how the company is organized is essential for effective business acumen.

2. Industry Analysis

Go beyond the commercial aspects and delve into broader industry analysis. Learn about industry trends, market dynamics, regulatory frameworks, and competitive forces that affect an organisation.

3. Strategic Planning

Engage with the strategic planning process. This includes understanding how strategic decisions are made, evaluating long-term goals, and identifying key performance indicators.

4. Financial Management

Deepen your knowledge of financial management by exploring areas like budgeting, cost control, and financial forecasting. Understand how financial decisions impact the overall business strategy.

5. SWOT Analysis

Regularly conduct SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analyses to assess an organisation's position in the market. This practice can help you identify areas of opportunity and improvement.

6. Market Research

Expand your market research skills beyond customer preferences. Study factors like market size, growth potential, and emerging trends that affect your industry.

7. Cross-Functional Discussion

Actively engage with team members from different departments to gain insights into their functions. This cross-functional exposure broadens your understanding of how various parts of the business contribute to success.

8. Leadership Development

Seek out leadership training or mentorship to understand the qualities and skills required to lead effectively within an organisation, and how to manage stakeholders needs. Leadership is a fundamental aspect of business acumen.

9. Risk Assessment

Develop your ability to assess and manage risks at an organisational level. Understand the potential impact of risks on a business and explore strategies to mitigate them.

10. Ethical Considerations

Consider the ethical implications of business decisions. Business acumen involves making sound, ethical choices that align with the organisation's values and long-term objectives.

Bonus item:

11. Study Successful Businesses

Analyse case studies of successful businesses in your industry or related sectors. Examine their strategies, challenges and key decisions that led to their success. We recommend the book Good to Great by Jim Collins which will give you a good head start.

By focusing on these steps, you can give your business acumen skills a huge boost, which goes beyond the commercial aspects of sales and involves a deeper understanding of how organisation’s function strategically and operationally.