{"id":4689,"date":"2019-07-04T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/?p=4689"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:23:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:23:47","slug":"is-your-business-running-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/is-your-business-running-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Is your business running you? A guide to managing operational challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/category\/technology-innovation\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Technology &amp; Innovation<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIs your business running you? A guide to managing operational challenges\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2019-07-04T11:00:02+01:00\">4 July, 2019<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Is your business running you? A guide to managing operational challenges\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/is-your-business-running-you\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/author\/keirthomasbryant\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/06\/keir-short-hair-350x350.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/06\/keir-short-hair-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/06\/keir-short-hair.jpg 760w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 40px) 100vw, 40px\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Keir Thomas-Bryant<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As businesses grow, they become more complex \u2013 making everyday tasks more difficult and more time consuming than the day before. You can start to feel as if you\u2019re not as in-control as you\u2019d like. And instead of focusing on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/growing-and-running\/\">growing your business<\/a>, you spend most of your day, lurching from one crisis to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is your business running you? identifies the faults that develop within growing a business, such as the creation of business silos based around departments (or even individuals).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It discusses the lack of visibility that the complexity of a growing business can bring about, and leverages data recently carried out by data and marketing services company IDG that examines how business executives worldwide see challenges \u2013 and how they\u2019d like to fix things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn how to fix typical problems that every growing business faces by making better use of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/glossary\/what-is-automation\/\">automation<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/big-data-predictive-analytics\/\">data analytics<\/a> to get superb insight. This allows you to transform your role from being reactive to becoming proactive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suddenly you\u2019re able to drive the business forward and problems are turned into opportunities you can use to drive growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is your business running you? offers advice on:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Identifying the problems that stall growth in an ambitious business<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recognising the reasons behind these problems and addressing the negative impacts they can have<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leveraging technology to provide the true instant insight required for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/strategies-grow-your-business\/\">smart business growth<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"#gate-5b3a2024-974d-423d-9b9d-a2944466a848\">Download your free copy of Is your business running you?<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-excerpt-from-is-your-business-running-you\"><strong>Excerpt from Is Your Business Running You?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For more insights into what you can learn from Is Your Business Running You?, here\u2019s an excerpt from the white paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Picture this: You end your day thinking about what you\u2019d like to do. You may have a project or business case you\u2019d finally like to dust off and begin focusing on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or you may have a financial target you know you could achieve if you could just move a business case from concept to execution. You think: \u201cI\u2019ll do this tomorrow.\u201d You may even attempt to block-off time in your calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then you wake up to an email telling you that your top consultant was poached by a competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then you find out that a key account is upset their current project missed a milestone. To make it worse, you have a vendor who says you have outstanding bills. You check and the reason why the customer\u2019s project is delayed is because the same vendor hasn\u2019t shipped the products you ordered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finance tells you your working capital ratio is moving below 1%. Oh, and the bank says you\u2019ll be delayed in closing on your business loan because of an issue with underwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Day in, day out, well-made, productive plans dissolve because of operational pitfalls that you can\u2019t help but think you could have avoided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even worse, you know the company\u2019s performance is not as good as it could be. And perhaps you and your staff feel stifled by rarely being able to work on the projects they know will drive the business forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sound familiar?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If so then your business may be running you. It may be time to finally address these operational challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider the rewards. Your role can be transformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll have the freedom to plan for the future and deal with any contingency. Business problems transform into business challenges, and solving them becomes the way you grow the company and progress your career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can regain the control you need and be proactive rather than reactive. You can put yourself in a position to make informed decisions, rather than being forced to compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This paper examines the symptoms that indicate your business may be running you, and the negative impacts they have on your business, from limiting future growth to demotivating employees. It then examines how technology can help solve the issues, giving you more control to run your business the way you choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Is your business running you?<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>As your growing business gets more complex, are you seeing signs of stalling growth? Download this white paper to discover how automation and analytics can help you keep things moving.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-5b3a2024-974d-423d-9b9d-a2944466a848\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Get your free white paper<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/07\/Fracino_2019_200cloud_00278-1080x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/07\/Fracino_2019_200cloud_00278-1080x810.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to the Sage Advice newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Join more than 500,000 UK readers and get the best business admin strategies and tactics, as well as actionable advice to help your company thrive, in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-b1a63862-3fa0-4a5e-bb67-c76b88bbc6b8\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe now<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As businesses grow, they become more complex \u2013 making everyday tasks more difficult and more time consuming than the day before. You can start to feel as if you\u2019re not as in-control as you\u2019d like. And instead of focusing on growing your business, you spend most of your day, lurching from one crisis to another. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":280,"featured_media":4348,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,11],"tags":[159],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[68,71],"imagine_tag":[91,96],"coauthors":[369],"class_list":["post-4689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-free-guides-templates","category-technology-innovation","tag-midsized-business","business_type-medium-sized-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-gb","author_name":"Keir Thomas-Bryant","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/05\/Sage_Cantelowes1444_All-Uses.jpg","imagine_tags":{"91":"Growing business","96":"Medium businesses"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice UK","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/280"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/4348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4689"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=4689"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=4689"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=4689"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=4689"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=4689"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=4689"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}