Success in business today is about being flexible and having good planning and organisational skills. We all know that making money in a business is much more difficult than many of us thought. You can be successful in your business ventures by taking your time and planning out all the necessary steps you need to achieve success.
As a Business Advisory & Consulting Company, we regularly see business owners that are great technicians, but don’t always have a full understanding of all components of running a successful business.
Success in the 21st Century is a 3-phase process requiring that the following components have to be in place in all businesses:
The first phase requires the development of a comprehensive business strategy. This is critical and if not done already, should be undertaken as soon as conveniently possible. It involves three basic steps:
Step 1: Conduct a high-level goal review, including business, personal and exit planning goals. There will be some high-level strategic goals such as launching products or penetrating new markets that need to be documented to drive these goals. You’ll also need to consider and define what sets your business apart from your competitors.
Step 2 starts with the Customer in mind: What determines whether a customer is happy with your goods or services?
These are called “success factors”. If we then focus on each success factor, we develop the strategies, goals, action plans and milestones that become the structural core of an implementation plan.
Phase 2 is the Execution of the Strategy:
To do this the business will need to review performance levels each month and fine tune the strategy and execution plans where needed. An essential requirement is that the business becomes systemised and automated to deliver the expected high-performance results.
The more systemised the business becomes; the less amount of time is required firefighting and time wasting. Blocks of more effective time can then be spent on strategy implementation.
The employees that are responsible for executing the strategies need to be motivated and engaged in the business. The more motivated these employees, the higher the focus and productivity levels and hence the more successful the business. With everyone on the one-page driving towards a common goal.
Phase 3 is then the continuation, encouragement and reinforcement of both culture and systems.