How To Build A Business That Works

By Razelle Janice Drescher

A healthy business needs a strong foundation. To get the value you want from your business, you have to know what you want from it in the first place. Building your business vision is how to establish picture of your business that brings clarity to everyone involved, including employees, customers, stakeholders and vendors. It includes the products and/or services you offer, the inspiration that got you started, what sets your business apart from other businesses like yours, your growth plan, the culture you wish to establish for your internal customers (i.e., employees) and your external customers.  Then you have to do what it takes to make that happen in a way that sets you apart from your competition. Why should customers choose your business rather than a business that offers similar products and services? What is your uniqueness? What kind of experience do you want your customers to have? How do you accomplish that with consistency that wows your customers?

It starts with the basic building blocks. Once you have your business vision, you will need an organizational strategy to make that vision a reality. That will show you the functions needed in your business to accomplish your vision. The next step is defining those job functions in the form of Position Agreements so your employees have clarity about who does what, how the work will be done and the standards related to that job function. After that, you will need to build the systems that define the specifics of how the work is done and the more specific standards to be met as the employees do their tasks. This documentation has the potential to create consistency in your business operations. You can use them to train new employees and to keep seasoned employees on track. They set the standard for how the work will be done.

Once you are ready with these basics, you will need some management tools to ensure that your employees are delivering your products and services up to your standards. When all the necessary building blocks are in place, they become the strong foundation for a business that is poised for healthy day-to-day operation and growth. Without them, things often just don’t work as well as they could. And if things do go well, it seems that the people dedicated to making that happen pay a high price in the form of frustration, disappointment or overwhelm. Frustrations take over if there aren’t mechanisms in place like systems to ensure the desired outcomes.

The building blocks establish ways to treat people well and honor their efforts while getting the good results everyone is there to get. That’s a win/win! There is much more to building and running a business than the building blocks, but without them, the strong foundation that is needed for success is lacking and frustrations abound. Firefighting then can take over, promoting reactive solutions instead of proactive solutions.

Earlier in my career, I worked at the EMyth organization for 13 yrs. The owner of that organization, Michael Gerber, wrote a book, The EMyth Revisited, describing how to build a business that serves your life. In it, he describes the dilemma business owners face if they don’t put that foundation in place. It’s a wonderful read and has inspired so many business owners over the years.

Most business owners know they need the building blocks in the form of elements like vision, organizational structure, position agreements, systems, management tools, etc. But not all business owners do what it takes to build and implement them. If you want to ensure that your business has the proper foundation for success, but you don’t want to build these elements yourself, help is available. One of the key services I offer as a business coach is Work Flow Documentation. I work collaboratively with business owners and their teams to build the documentation necessary to establish and maintain smooth-running business operations day-to-day. This puts you, the business owner in the driver’s seat rather than running around trying to put out fires.

Call Janice at 408-884-8861 to find out more. Or sign up for a complimentary session at the bottom of the home page at www.intentionalleaders.com or take advantage of a complimentary GAP Analysis to identify your missing pieces by clicking here https://www.intentionalleaders.com/gap-analysis