I sometimes describe what we do in helping business owners to take their business to the next level is a bit like changing the engine on a 747 – while it’s in the air.

Because while they are reconstructing for business growth and strength, they still have clients to service, products to deliver and the everyday activities of a business to continue.

Often, many of these businesses have been going for a long time – years, sometimes five, ten and even more and I regard them as still being in Start-up mode.  The reason for this is that they are still dependent on the owner to work because the owner is pretty much doing everything and has a finger in every pie. They want to take the business to the next level but don’t know how they can make that happen.

So while the existing business is still going, we begin work on the foundation stones that need to be in place to build the business it is going to become.

And it’s those foundation stones I thought I would talk about today.

The very first is to get clear about the picture of the business you want it to be.  This includes what it does, who it does it for and how it sets itself apart from its competition.  It also includes the way it does what it does profitably.  How it attracts customers, how it keeps long term customers or repeat customers; the values it stands for and the timing and milestones it needs to hit along the way.

When that is really, really clear, we look at the present situation.  We look at the strengths, the weaknesses, the opportunities and the threats.  This is going to show us where we are and what strategies we need to put in place to either capitalise on or address the strengths and challenges.

The next thing we do is build an organisation chart for the business as it will be when it reaches its destination.  And we build that chart by function – not individuals.

Once we have that in place, we look at every position on the chart and work out exactly what results each one is responsible for; what tasks each position will be assigned.  What we are doing here is building a Job Agreement for each position.  And hear me here – these are not your common or garden Job Descriptions – but that’s the topic for another post.

When we are clear on that, we work out the instructions and standards that each position will need to know and understand to be able to deliver the predetermined results efficiently, effectively and consistently in a way that is profitable for the business.  We call these instructions systems.

So to recap – the Foundation stones of your ‘747’ (for business growth) are:

–The big picture – which we call your Strategic Intent

–Your SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) which leads to a set of strategies and specific actions.

–Your future business organisation structure.

–Job agreements to define exactly what each position is responsible for

–and the glue that holds it all together – your Systems

Simple really!!

Until next time….

P.S. Learn more about working ON your business–talk to the coach! Click here to connect with me!