The Small Business Column: You have to do more than play it safe to grow your business

I recently came to a crossroads in my business. The past six months for us have been very good — better than we expected. However, every now and again I get this voice in my head saying ‘you can do better’.

I’ve been looking to get this piece of new equipment for a while, but its price tag is high. Our business funds show that we are in touching distance of being able to get it, but it means using a huge amount of capital that we’ve built up. That being said, I am in danger of ‘pulling a Coppinger’.

A few years ago Peter Coppinger from Teamwork.com in Cork spent over €500,000 on the domain name ‘teamwork.com’ for his business. As he once put it: “I remember walking into the office and sitting down to tell the guys that all that cash surplus we’d built up after years of boot strapping was going to be blown on a domain name.

“A guy in the States bought the domain and had been holding on to it for years. When I contacted him he wanted millions for it. It was a difficult decision but one we knew could pay off.”

So the question is, do you play it safe or put it all on the line?

Well, in truth, in a business, whether big or small, there will come a point where you will have to put it all on the line. In the current climate, that decision is made even more difficult. When businesses have spent the past few years just holding on and just keeping things alive, it can be difficult to put your chips on the table.

Recently, at the Smart Business Show at Dublin’s RDS, I ran into Adam Coleman from HRLocker.

Adam lives in Lahinch, Co Clare, and works with 11 other people in their offices near the beach- front. A few years ago they made the decision to pivot their business and move in a different direction.

They now have their HR management system in use around the world and the majority of customers reside overseas. Adam told me: “It’s hard, make no mistake about it, but it was the right decision. We are still working hard on getting to new customers but we see real growth.

“We are also working hard on bringing other companies to Lahinch through Siliconvillage.la where they can follow our example and work in a place that brings jobs, but also a great work/ life balance.”

I have spoken in this article before about what makes an entrepreneur. Part of it, in essence, is to be a business whisperer. You need to understand how it works of course, but you also need to know where you are weak. We talk a lot about gut feelings for business people, but in truth there is no such thing as a gut feeling. It’s about knowing your business and what you need to improve.

In our case, I know the investment will be a huge change in what we can offer to customers. I know what we do, but we can do better and it is worth the investment. So, are we betting the business? No, we’re betting on our skills and confidence to carry out what we know we can do well. Playing it safe will keep you in the game, but eventually you’re going to have to do more.