“I hope more customers will come into my business this week.”
“I hope the Townsville economy will turn around.”
“I hope that roll of fat around my waist will just go away.”
“I hope my business opposition will do lousy marketing this year just like last year.”
It is great to have “hope”, but if “hope” is your business strategy – you are heading towards a lot of pain. Your strategy does not need to be complicated. Your strategy will generally be aimed toward delivering MORE VALUE.
But most importantly, your strategies will need to have a snowball’s chance in hell of working. And need to be monitored so we can know if they are working or not.
Welcome to your business hospital
One analogy is a business hospital. There is outpatients, the ward, and intensive care. Each area has a specific purpose [or goal]. Outpatients will give some patching up, or some mild drugs, some ‘exercises’ to do – and you are sent back home.
The ward is for when you are a little more ill or there is a great risk of your ‘condition’ becoming ‘serious’. The purpose here is guide you to recovery and ‘observe’ you to ensure that you are going in the right direction.
Now, Intensive Care is there to keep you alive – to stop you from dying. Because currently – when you are dead – nothing further can be done to help you.
What is the difference between business outpatients and business critical care?
Here is is your question. What is the main strategic action that is purposely layered for each part of the hospital? What is the thing that happens a little in outpatients, more in the ward, and is constant in intensive care?
One answer is that your medical bill goes up! It costs a lot more in intensive care with all those machines that go ‘beep’, and the people that interpret their data. That is your clue.
The answer is that with each level there is increased MEASUREMENT. In intensive care it is constant. Almost every indicator is measured by the second. It is recorded and compared to expected. If there is a variance – expert people take action. If there is a huge variance – ALARMS sound – and more people rush around in a (hopefully) purposeful way. Terms like “CRITICAL” are used – which means all possible monitoring resources are used. There is “STABLE” – which is lower level, but not too far from CRITICAL.
Once all the measurements have be in the ‘expected’ levels for a while, you may be moved down to ‘the recovery ward’, and hopefully then ‘released’. This means dropping back to visiting outpatients or your doctors daily or weekly. Then monthly, then just for “check-ups”.
So where does your business fit in this model? Do you know the measurements for your business that indicate its ‘health? Is your business in a ‘stable’ but ‘critical’ condition, and you are ‘hoping’ something will change for the better soon? Or do you know the ‘drivers’ for your business, and go to a business personal trainer who strengthens them, as part of your goal of being a successful business person?
Just like our bodies, our businesses are interlinked systems. We can measure the health of both by using standard measurements. We can know when we are getting weaker or stronger. We can know the ability of both handle a ‘crisis’. We can predict accurately how long each is going to last depending on the trending of our measurements.
For example, if you have been putting on 3kg of fat each year for the last 5 years, or your blood pressure is trending up fast, it is not a big call to predict some crises ahead. Similarly if your market share of the product line that actually makes most of your profit is dropping consistently – you are headed for crises. If you have stopped having holidays, and are considering having more children to “breed up” some “decent staff you can trust” – you are also headed for a crises.
The analogy between your health and your business health
It is one thing to know your measurements are not in the healthy range. It is another to take appropriate action to fix them. Let’s pretend you are carrying some extra fat on your body. So you know you are ‘storing some body fat for the cold Townsville winter ahead’ or whatever your denial statement is. What will it take for you to change – and get your health measurements heading in the right direction again? Will it be a severe health crisis? A minor heart attack, or being told you are now a diabetic? Or will you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror as you leave the ice cream shop? Or maybe you meet someone your age who looks fabulous – and they inspire you.
At some point we all change – and it is usually by crisis. But it does not need to be. Once you decide – what then?
We can charge off like a loon, and diet and exercise like crazy. Or we can STOP, think, consider strategies that are worth testing, and plan the actions and goals that will test the strategies. ie we want it to be SUSTAINABLE.
Your business health..
It might be your bank manager, or your accountant, or the ATO. Or you might suddenly have your own flash of insight and recognize that what your business is doing is not going to give you what you want from it. You might jump up from being ‘in your business’ to the level above where you can see better – realize your business is just a ‘tool’ that you can use differently – and start to wonder…
Just 4,680 weeks…
If on average humans are going to live about 90 years – this is 4,680 weeks. If your business is the tool that is going to provide for an important role in your life – then becoming an expert user of this ‘tool’ seems prudent. Would you pick up a powerful welding machine and just start using it? Or would you learn more about it. Get some training, do a course, find out what the [measurement] dials are for? If your welding machine was going to be an important part of your life – would you want to become ‘professional’ or ‘expert’ at it? Or are you going to stay an “AMATEUR”?
Would you be happy to stay at AMATEUR level with your business? And maybe ‘hope’ things will change…
The biggest barrier to learning is EGO
Don’t want to be an AMATEUR business owner? Then just let go of the need to be right. It is not your fault that the training you were given (if any) before going into business left some important bits out. Cutting hair is not great training for owning salons. Being an accountant is not always a great training for owning an accounting business.
We take the information available and convert it into our business model. All we have to do is let go of that model and choose a model that others are using to get the outcomes they want. This is the same for business as it is for health.
You want to be lean and fabulous? Learn what the lean people do. and do that.
You want to be great musician? Learn what the other great muso’s do – and do that.
You want a great business? Learn what people with successful businesses do – and….
Cheers
James Hooper,
Business Builder and Coach, Townsville
Ps remember – unless you have a plan, you are most likely part of (or victim to) someone else’s plan.