We start up in business in all good faith, initially in ourselves and then in others. We are unconscious to the larger network of people and organisations that surround us as and impact upon businesses.

Our first level of stakeholders surrounding is is our family and friends. have you stopped to think what kind of a stake they have in us, what their expectations are of us and what they expect from us in return. Our family and friends are an important link to our success or failure, yet how are we managing their true value, true worth and how their stake in us can be built as resource and not a depleter of our energy.

Standing still means going backwards, so we constantly need to be driving forward, looking out of front, rear view and side mirrors.

A really useful tool to help us to do this might initially look and sound theoretical, but in reality can be the very tool you might be looking for right now, offering you the business leverage you might have been looking for.

It’s called a ‘Stakeholder Analysis’.

 

Wikipedia defines it as “Stakeholder analysis is the process of identifying the individuals or groups that are likely to affect or be affected by a proposed action, and sorting them according to their impact on the action and the impact the action will have on them. 

In a business context who surrounds and links to you and your business?

When you are contemplating growth, change, a new direction, obtaining support, marketing a new product, struggling etc who is in your team who you could be:

• needing to influennce
• be working in partnership with
• obtaining support from
• obtaining funding from
• need to be on board
• need to inform
• need to work with or through
• on-side
• working within their parameters, rules or polices
• in conflict with
• competing with

Carrying out a stakeholder analysis when you start-up in business or when you are growing a business can offer you one heck of a step up the ladder. But you can carryout a stakeholder analysis at any time and perhaps you might consider this as part of your ongoing business review process.

If you feel you just might be missing a beat in your business and feeling you need to reconnect with our wider audience again this can be used to just feel plugged into the mains again with your wider business audience.

I do hope you find this very practical tool for business useful. I just love working with it with businesses of any size and nature.

If you feel you would benefit from being facilitated through this process then do get in touch. I’d love to help.

Cheryl Bass
T: 07581 210 004
E: info@iamwoman.biz