Unpalatable Truth
Take a vacation to see how well your business is managed. Your cell phone should be turned off. Your laptop must be turned off. No one in the office should know where you are going. Do not make yourself available to anyone within your company. Your business will run smoothly if you are absent. If it doesn’t, there’s work to be done.
1. Clarify Your Business Focus
What does your business stand for to prospects and customers? What does the name of your business mean to prospects and customers? What does your business name mean to prospects and customers?
2. Try to Specialize
It is impossible to be everything to everyone. Some business owners find the idea of a “one-stop shop” appealing. This is less appealing for clients and consumers. You will have more specialists competitors if you offer a wider range of services and products. Are you sure that is what you desire?
3. Define your target market precisely
What is your ideal customer? How can you make sure your marketing is professional if you aren’t certain? If you don’t know who you want to be your customers, how can you help your staff decide where to focus their best efforts? Are you able to identify who your customers are buying from? Don’t listen to everyone. Keep the statistics. Analyze the actual records. Guesswork can cost you a lot.
4. Find out What Customers Can Expect
Traditionally, customers and prospects are presented with features and benefits. That’s fine. But what should they expect? Describe what your customers can expect from you when they use your product. Customers must understand the expectations. You can determine the best way to achieve them by expressing them.
5. All routine work should be systematically organized
There aren’t many people who are completely incompetent. There are many really bad systems. The term system is simply a way to describe the “way we do things around here”. A poor system will always beat a great performer. Routine is the majority of our work. It can be standardized. You’re doomed to live a life of firefighting and constant supervision of your employees.
6. Training Staff to Operate the Systems
Training staff is essential. This is a fact. However, no matter how skilled they may be as specialists, they should also be trained to use your systems in order to get the results you desire. Include your staff in every step of the process. Establish clear performance standards in all areas of your operation.
7. Trust Your People
You’ve completed steps 1 through 6, there is one more thing. Your people can run your business without you. You won’t reap all the rewards of all your hard work if you don’t.
Conclusion
Take a break. Give up on your business. Relax and enjoy a time of no stress. You can be proud that Professor Drucker would admire your efforts.
Leon Noone assists managers in small-medium businesses to increase on-the-job performance without having to take training courses. His ideas are very unconventional. Leon challenges the conventional wisdom on people management and management training. He is also effective in job performance in small-medium businesses.
