Sunday, March 24, 2024

A players or Systems for a scalable business?



We all know that the secret to a business that is scalable and  sellable is all about having systems and processes.


The goal should be to make yourself or your A players the least important people in your business so you can work ON your business – rather than  IN IT.


If you were to step away from your business for 90 days – away from your customers, your tools, and your team, everything – what would happen?


Would you feel confident that your customers are receiving the great service you promise?

The Danger of A-Players 

If your business is reliant on A-Players, it will crumble when they leave, reach capacity,  demand higher pay, or get headhunted. 


An A-Player is not scalable. 


A-Players allow the business to grow extremely quickly and usually haphazardly, with people doing their jobs how they see fit rather than following a production-line process designed for scale.

 

A-Players are great, sure; however, they are not what we need – first, we need control and predictability during growth. 


Therefore, A-Players are not the secret to scaling – SYSTEMS and PROCESSES are.


Documenting every process and just hiring someone to do the work is easier said than done!!


It’s more than checklists, handbooks , wikis, a Google Drive folder, or a screen recording .


It’s about your ordinary people - doing exteaordinary things 


For ordinary people to do extraordinary things, a system is absolutely necessary in order to compensate for the disparity and natural variation between skills that people have, the experiences they've encountered, and the skills your business needs. 


You don’t want your business to  rely on the team’s energy, whims, moods, and memory.


It is literally impossible to produce a consistent result in a business that depends on extraordinary people. 


How can you shift your business to where your results are predictable and systems-dependent rather than people-dependent? 🤔


The secret

When you intentionally design your systems and processes to be operated by anyone—even Grandma—then you have a money-making machine that can generate predictable results for your customers—regardless of who is at the helm that day.


A system should achieve 3 goals.

 Remove room for assumption.

 Remove room for interpretation.

 Solve the problem before the team encounters it.

 

If we meet these 3-line items, the business becomes predictable at every level.


Here’s a simple question to discover if your business systems are up to scratch. 


When a team member goes through a process that you’ve built, do they have a question? If yes, then your process needs improvement. 

 

A process should solve the problem before the team encounters it. A process should result in correct work without any questions, not because we don’t want to answer the question but because everything has been addressed inside the process.

 

How do you achieve this?

With 

💥quality control triggers, 

💥delivery processes, and

💥fail-safe protocols to check the fulfillment. 


If you do NOT have those systems built (or if you don’t know what they are), all you have is blind reliance and chance, and this is not a great foundation for business owners wanting to scale and remove themselves from the day-to-day operations.


A-Players cannot be cloned. 

 

And you, the business owner, cannot be in all places at all times if you hope to actually build a business that thrives without you.


When you have systems like these built, you can use that free time to spend with family and friends, with work that’s done right the first time around, and with customers singing praises for your business and referring everybody in their network to you. 🥰


(Plus, you will feel confident taking on all those referrals because you know your team can handle it.) 

 

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Are you a manager or a leader ?




An organisation needs leaders and managers - both have very diffferent but necessary skills 

Are you a manager or a leader? 

Leaders

Managers

Leads people

Manages people

Set destinations

Navigate the roads to get there

Cultivates change

Cultivates stability

Inspires

Comforts

Appeals to the heart

Appeals to the head

Set direction

Sets plans with details

Works on a system

Works the system

Has vision

Reaches goals

Focus on effectiveness

Focus on efficiency

Has followers

Has subordinates

Take ownership

Take responsibility

Shape culture

Enact culture

Are proactive

Are reactive

Accomplish achievements

Accomplish compliance

Break rules

Make rules

Use conflict

Avoid conflict

Set new direction

Follow existing roads

Go inward

Work outward

Does the right thing 

Does things right 

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

9 strategies to prevent procrastination and save time




Are you a guru at wasting time!! 

Are you a specialist at procrastination?


This personal productivity sheet identifies 9 strategies that will help you just get things done - help you prevent procrastination,efficiently manage your time, energy, and resources to be more focussed on achieving your goals. 


Thanks for the post David Sim Smyth  - with credits going to  Andrew Lokenaugh



Here are some key aspects of personal productivity:


👍 Give this post a thumbs up

💬 what are some of your procrastination tips ? 



#productivity #personelproductivity #maximieyourpotential #potential

Saturday, February 24, 2024

31 classic quotes


I came across my favourite quotes from 13 years ago 
There are a heap of new gems that have been added to the list :)
What are some of your 💎 gems ?
  1. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”– Peter Drucker
  2. “Winners never quit and quitters never win.
  3. “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” 
  4. “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”                                   - Vince Lombardi
  5.  "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. - Steve Jobs
  6. "My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long  University education that I never had - everyday I'm learning something new."- Richard Branson
  7. "Every time you state what you want or believe, you're the first to hear it. It's a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don't put a ceiling on yourself."- Oprah Winfrey
  8. "It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure."
  9. "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." - Bill Gates
  10. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” – Warren Buffett
  11. “One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don’t choose your passions; your passions choose you. – Jeff Bezos
  12. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
  13. ”Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.” – Thomas Edison
  14. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”– Albert Einstein
  15. .“As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.”– Donald Trump
  16. “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
  17. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”– Mark Twain
  18. “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”
    “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”
    – Napoleon Hill
  19. “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
    – Bill Cosby 
  20. “Success is not what you have, but who you are.”
    – Bo Bennett
  21. “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so you can spend the rest of your life like most people cant.”
    – Warren G. Tracy’s student
  22. “To win without risk is to triumph without glory.”
    – Corneille 
  23. “There is only one success- to be able to spend your life in your own way.”
    – Christopher Morley
  24. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”– Albert Schweitzer
  25. .“What is not started will never get finished”
    – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  26. .“When you cease to dream you cease to live.”– Malcolm Forbes
  27. .“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”
    – Jim Rohn
  28. .“The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake- you can’t learn anything from being perfect.”
    – Adam Osborne
  29. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
    – John C. Maxwell
  30. .“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”
    – Ralph Nade
  31. “Choose a job that you like, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
    – Confucius
quotes from 13 years ago 

Monday, January 22, 2024

Secrets to 10X your coaching influence

I have just read a great email fro Christine Michelson  - on the 3 steps for a coach to 10X their influence 
As John Maxwell says - Leadership is about being able to influence - nothing more - nothing less! 
He has written a number of books on leadership - start off by reading the 21 laws of leadership! 

Anyhow - this article reminded me of a pneumonic mt mentor Allen Pathmarajah shared with me 
LEADER 

In order to  accelerate positive change you need to be a good LEADER  


Listen 

Empathy


Connection - being able to authentically connect you need to 

  • listen - listen and silent have the same letters 
  • and have empathy - you need to understand and care how the other people feels - people don’t know how much you know until they know how much you care 


Attitude - your attitude will determine your aptitude and altitude. It’s your attitude that will determine how you feel . Is the jar half full or half empty ? 


Determination  - the power of intention is massive - have a mission , have a vision , have a goal - break these down into strategies and smart tasks - (much like cutting a loaf of bread into slices before eating it - tasks that are 

S - Specific 

M - measurable 

A - achievable

R - realistic

T - timeframe 


And then “eat the frog” - do the hardest task first - the rest will be easy . 


A few years ago I joined a group of amazing humans 3 mornings a week from 6-7am for boxing and fitness - this group is a not for profit called tribal warrior - led by an inspirational Shane Philips with a view to educate, upskill, inspire and enthuse aboriginal kids and help give them a sense of purpose . 


More than 50 aboriginal kids are there and at the end of the session - they go in a circle - and express gratitude for what they have and then say in their mother tongue and English “if this is the hardest thing we do today / it’s gonna be a good day! “


Engage, Enthuse and Inspire to do things that will help you achieve your goal while helping the other person , people achieve theirs . 


And 


Resilience!!! How to cultivate a mindset of  resilience . In business and life - everything goes in cycles - know that if you are focussed and have a clear direction with strong values - at low times - resilience is the spring that will boost you up

Saturday, January 6, 2024

HOW TO ACHIEVE BUSINESS SUCCESS IN 2024

From my friend Eric Tjoeng of BGES


HOW TO ACHIEVE BUSINESS SUCCESS IN 2024: Growth Mindset + Business Growth and Sustainability Strategy + Financial Roadmap + Actions = Business Success

For Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), a growth mindset and practical business growth and sustainability strategies are crucial. SMEs often operate with limited resources compared to larger corporations, but they also have the advantage of being more agile and adaptable.
 
With many years of fruitful management consultancy, we would like to share some practical and proven growth and sustainable strategies for SMEs. We welcome your views and feedback on these strategies:
 
 1. Focus on Core Strengths:
 - Identify what your business does best and concentrate your resources on these areas to gain a competitive edge.
 
 2. Understand and Review Your Market:
 - Keep a close eye on changing market trends and customer preferences.
 - Use customer feedback to improve your products or services.
 
 3. Diversify Offerings:
 - Diversification can help protect your business against market shifts.
 - However, any new venture should align with your company's core competencies and brand.
 
 4. Financial Roadmap and Management:
 - Maintain control of your cash flow, as it is essential for any SME.
 - Create a clear financial roadmap to achieve business profitability, including a savings plan for future investments or unexpected downturns.
 
 5. Streamline Operations:
 - Review your business processes to make them as efficient as possible by leveraging on Information Technology and systems.
 - Eliminate unnecessary processes and automate tasks where applicable to save time and reduce errors.
 
 6. Digital Presence and Marketing:
 - Invest in a good website and use social media to reach a broader audience.
 - Utilize SEO and content marketing to attract organic traffic to your site.
 
 7. Workforce Development:
 - Invest in your staff by providing training and development opportunities.
 - Foster a positive work culture to retain talented employees.
 
 8. Innovation:
 - Stay open to innovation, whether it's in your product/service line, business model, or everyday processes.
 - Allocate resources to research and development whenever possible.
 
 9. Networking and Partnerships:
 - Build strong relationships with suppliers, customers, and other businesses.
 - Consider strategic partnerships that could open up new markets or streamline your supply chain.
 
 10. Monitor Regulatory Changes:
 - Stay informed about regulatory changes that could impact your industry.
 - Ensure compliance to avoid fines and loss of business.
 
Regularly revisiting and adjusting your business and financial strategy will help your business remain resilient in an ever changing business environment. The ultimate success lies in successfully implementing the necessary actions.

#businessgrowth #businesssustainability #businesssuccess #sme #businessstrateg

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Systems or A Grade players?



Jamie Stenhouse talks about that wicked problem that so many small businesses have ….. the reliance on YOU!!!! 


It all starts with you; it’s all about you and unfortunately, you are the bottleneck.


Emails get answered as fast as you can type them. New customers get signed up when you start or end the deal cycle. Corrections only get made when you spot the problems yourself. The quality of your business output depends solely on how much energy you have that day – and your business can only grow as large as your physical and mental capacity is. 😔


Who can relate to this? 


How do you achieve  that elusive goal that one chases endlessly into an exhausted and overworked grave. 


“Making yourself the least important person in your business.”


That elusive goal  of 

working ON your business – rather than being stuck IN IT – always seems to be out of reach.


Scaling your business seems impossible if you are not there!!!


If you were to step away from your business for 90 days – away from your customers, your tools, and your team, everything – what would happen?


Would you feel confident that your customers are receiving the great service you promised without you getting involved for the entire 90 days? 


The business needs us and the team needs us, with a never-ending list of tasks to keep us busy rather than to set us free. We are so wrapped up in the business that we have forgotten that it is a separate entity from us.


Aaaaargh



This what needs to happen if you want to gain control of your business again.


Here’s the secret sauce …… scroll down …….

Da da da da 

…..


Dddddda ddda dddda ddaa 

….

💥💥💥

🤩🤩🤩

🕺🕺🕺🕺

🏆🏆🏆🏆

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

🚗🚗🚗🚗

😜😜😜

😎😎😎

🤠🤠🤠

👏👏👏

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

🥂🥂🥂

🤼🤼🤼

🤸🏿‍♂️🤸🏿‍♂️🤸🏿‍♂️

⛹🏾‍♂️⛹🏾‍♂️⛹🏾‍♂️

🏇🏇🏇

🏌🏼‍♀️🏌🏼‍♀️🏌🏼‍♀️

🏆🏆🏆

🏅🏅🏅

🎹🎹🎹🎼🎼🎼

🛳️🛳️🛳️


Da da da da 

…..

…..

……

It’s as easy as 

ABCD in that order



Systems 


Scaling a business or anything is all about having effective systems and processes 


You should be treating it as a self-sustaining entity powered by an effective set of systems rather than just our sheer determination and energy.


How do we do this???? 


How do we make ourselves the least most important person in our business? How do we replace ourselves and clone the best team members within our business and scale it so it runs and looks after itself? 


Rule -#1 Dont rely on A-Players, 


it will crumble when they leave, or they reach capacity, or they demand higher pay, or they get headhunted. 


An A-Player is not scalable.

 A-Players allow the business to grow extremely quickly and usually haphazardly, target than following the  process designed for scale.


The brightest and the best  are not the secret to scaling – EFFECTIVE SYSTEMS and PROCESSES are.


So what is an effective System and a process 

A system is not just a checklist, a document, or a screen recording is a system.


A system should achieve 3 goals

- Remove room for assumption.

- Remove room for interpretation.

- Solve the problem before the team encounters it.


If you meet these 3 line items, the business becomes predictable at every level.


A litmus test for an effective system or process 


When a team member goes through a process , do they have a question? If yes, then your process needs improvement. 


A process should solve the problem before the team encounters it. 

A process should result in correct work without any questions, not because we don’t want to answer the question but because everything has been addressed inside the process.


How do you achieve these systems ???? 

  • How do you grow your business that is a category-defining company that is no longer dependent on your time or energy.


  • How do you develope systems that helps everyone do what they have to do with minimal misunderstanding.


  • How do you  solve  a business’s problems with processes built inside a system.


Speak to people like Jamie Stenhouse! This is what they do… building systems is building leverage on steroids! 


With quality control triggers, delivery processes, and fail-safe protocols to check the fulfillment. 


If you do NOT have those systems built (or if you don’t know what they are), all you have is blind reliance and chance, and this is not a great foundation for business owners wanting to scale and remove themselves from the day-to-day operations.


A-Players like you cannot be cloned. 


You cannot be everywhere at once  if you hope to actually build a business that thrives without us.


When you have systems like these built, you can use that free time to spend with family and friends, with work that’s done right the first time around, and with customers singing praises for your business and referring everybody in their network to you.🥰


(Plus, you will feel confident taking on all those referrals because you know your team can handle it.)


Do you want a referral to Jamie?