Page 8 - Chamber Voice Magazine Autumn 2024
P. 8
B U S I N E S S F O C U S A T T H E C H A M B E R
GOOD GOVERNANCE IS THE COMPASS YOUR
BUSINESS NEEDS
Good Governance is an investment in your
business.
The term ‘governance’ often feels scary and
unattainable, especially for small business. It
conjures up a picture of a group of formally dressed
professionals sitting around a board table talking
strategy and is often thought (wrongly) to only apply
to big business.
As a business owner you’ve probably been
practicing governance activities from day one. Think
of governance as ‘oversight’ or ‘making sure the train Good governance help businesses succeed,
stays on the track’. It’s about running your business especially in times of adversity by focusing on:
in the best possible way to make it succeed.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing first
It is often said governance is about working ‘on’ your Assessing the impacts on operations. Running
business and management is about working ‘in’ it. best and worst case scenarios, and developing
Governance includes planning to set realistic targets contingency plans for each
and putting in place checks and balances so your Staffing – retention is generally better than
business runs smoothly. Governance also involves recruitment
getting expert advice on matters you aren’t expert Outreach – engaging with clients/customers,
in yet, to help you make the right big decisions. partners, suppliers, investors and stakeholders
before problems arise
So what does governance look like? Being adaptable. Your previously solid business
plan may no longer be fit-for-purpose because of
For some it is a board of directors - a group bringing external factors you can’t control
a range of oversight skills and experience to help a Evaluation of your finances. Business Continuity
business grow and prosper. For others it might be Planning should account for financial risk and
the business owners taking time out of the day to impacts, have adequate reserves and be aware of
day running of the business to consider how things financial assistance programmes
are going now and what needs to be done to grow Stay on top of the fast-changing compliance
into the future. landscape
Foresight – be prepared for the light at the end of
The middle ground can be a mix of business owner the tunnel
and an independent chair or a couple of
independent directors who compliment the skillset Governance should be a part of any business, no
of the owners. No matter what the make-up of matter how small. It’s perfectly acceptable to start
these boards, the principles are the same. Good with the basics, then move on to a more structured
governance develops a strategic direction to drive board. You can start by yourself, or find advisors to
the business forward, grow and avoid and manage help. Then when your business is ready you can get
risks. Independent directors can help provide more people involved to create a board of directors
genuine diversity of thought to achieve these aims. to provide the compass for sustainability and
growth. You can read about TorquePoint’s full
governance experiential learning programme –
“Governance means thinking about BoardTorque
strategic issues, rather than the
operational day-to-day running of the Check out the Chamber’s Events Calendar
business.” — Institute of Directors for the two Governance courses we are running on
May 29th and May 30th. A great opportunity to
invest in your business!
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