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There’s always a better way
Here
are some of the key lessons I have learnt over decades of being in business and
continue to draw on in my strategic planning.
1. If you’ve done it
this way before – there
must be a better way of doing it
This
is true of business presentations, sales pitches, marketing and sales
campaigns, production and administration processes.
When
looking to enhance your delivery, it’s important to maximise new technology and
persevere – because even though it may not work perfectly first time, it can
open up vibrant new opportunities.
Innovate
at all times and you will reap the benefits.
2. Hire people
brighter and smarter than you
Are
you constantly talent spotting and seeking out the top talent with greater
technical knowledge and expertise than you who are not necessarily in your
industry?
These
are people who ask smart questions and live in the future as opposed to
misguidedly thinking their past glories will carry them through.
How
great would it be to be greeted by a flood of fresh business improvement ideas
from your top team first thing every Monday morning instead of worrying every
Sunday evening how you will fire up the business for the week ahead.
Smart
business owners hire smart people to do the heavy lifting for them – building
the ideas and innovations.
3. The future is not where you think it is – go seek it out
Did
you discover when starting out that your key customers were not people from
your previous life who promised you orders – but those you never previously
knew.
The
same applies to the future – the team who will make your future are out there –
you just don’t know them yet.
Your
suppliers and customers comprise a rich source of new ideas and introductions –
as do conferences, seminars and exhibitions. Widen your horizons and look
outside your industry.
A
What If Forum member asked a university business school to help find
alternative uses for his old textile mill.
Their
ideas took him onto low cost self-storage which he has developed a thriving
pick and pack operation meeting the needs of growing online businesses.
4. Discover your real
friends and invest in their emotional bank account – it will pay dividends
later
The
past four years have been tough for everyone – however, there have been people
who have helped you through the bad patches – some more than once.
These
are your true friends, the ones that believe in you and support you. They are
one of your most valuable assets so spend time with them, listen to them and
reciprocate that helping hand whenever and however you can.
Your
true friends are not who you expect. For me, at different times, it’s been an
office landlord, major customers, and a complete stranger who was referred to
me.
Each
in their own way and at specific times gave me support and encouragement asking
nothing in return, the trick has been finding ways to repay them and I have
often done this by giving them my time, company and questions.
5. Know what size of
business you’re comfortable with
In
the knowledge that business, sales and profits do not grow in a straight line
but can be ‘lumpy’ – as a business strategist and coach I have discovered what
I call the Rule of Six.
You
start the business and things go really well then, you add more people,
turnover goes up as do costs and problems, then you take on the sixth person –
and bingo you’re back in the money.
The
cycle repeats itself until you get to twelve people, then eighteen and then
twenty four – at which stage you are employing managers / supervisors who
require a written business plan to follow.
The
plan is something you’ve never had to do before – because it’s all been up in
your head or made up as you go along.
Now
you’re into coaching and managing people which is alien to ‘Activity Junky’
business owners and leaders. Having progressed past this challenging stage you
are beset by more challenges – namely the fiftieth employee who constitutes
your first non-revenue generator.
This
is invariably a HR role which brings with it a mountain of paperwork and
burgeoning bureaucracy.
Compounded
with this are the endless management meetings adjudicating the ‘name and blame
game’ and keeping the warring factions and fiefdoms in check.
For
some business owners and leaders these growth stages are great learning
opportunities which they thrive on, for others they are a complete nightmare.
The
secret is to know when enough is enough. Growth for growth’s sake is not
everyone’s goal and some bosses prefer to stay as small giants as described in
the book of that name by Bo Buckingham.
6. Listen to your gut
We
all develop our own decision making processes, some extremely objective and
highly analytical, while others are very intuitive and spontaneous.
Each
has its place – however, from my experience, nothing beats listening to your
gut – that little voice inside you that tells you the next question to ask, the
next step to take or the way to move ahead.
I
have two little voices I’ve trained myself to listen to, the first often comes
into play when discussions have stalled prompting me to ask the next question –
often the difficult one which busts the whole issue open and moves things
forward.
The
other is an early morning voice speaking to me in the shower suggesting the
best way to proceed with an issue that may have been troubling me or an idea I
need to progress. I ignore these voices at my own peril.
7. Harness the
experience and know-how of your peers
There’s
nothing new under the sun and someone, somewhere has been where you are before
and learned from it. The most important things is to track down these people,
question, listen and learn from them.
Reading,
attending conferences and seminars and talking to fellow members of your trade
association are useful sources of ideas and inspiration.
Yet,
from my experience, the most powerful is the peer group forum where a diverse
group of business owners and leaders question each other’s answers, challenge
their thinking and hold each other accountable.
What
If Forum members will tell you that growing their businesses has been more
effective since joining the group. They have become better leaders, built and
developed effective management teams and operations – and enjoyed more free
time in the process.
In
the spirit of lifelong learning and learning from the past – these are just
some of the business lessons borne of experience that continue to enable me to
be almost always more successful than my competitors.
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