Having recently returned from a safari in Kenya I was struck by the similarities of the life of animals in the Masai Mara and successful businesses. Survival of the fittest, working as a team, stalking your prey, adapting strategies and sharing in the spoils are traits of many of the animals and most especially lions, and this philosophy can be applied to businesses of all sizes.

As a business you should know your competition, understand what makes the business unique, identify your target market and how to leverage your current and potential new customers. Having a clear mission statement and objectives and working as a team, from the Board and cross functionally throughout the organisation, will bring rewards. Increased sales, optimised costs, improved cash flow and potentially rewarding shareholders and staff, that can be further enhanced by developing a corporate culture and incentivising where appropriate.

In the slowly recovering UK and global economy is your business ready to survive?