Since I started consulting in 1996 I have been constantly amazed both by the differences and the similarities in businesses in terms of size, challenges faced, industry type, product line etc. The differences make for a varied set of experiences on my part and nurture an ability to look at situations from a different perspective. There is, let’s face it, a different perspective gleaned from creating a strategy for a client’s slaughterhouse to one where you are developing a strategy for an international waterpark manufacturer. Both take a strong stomach if you decide to test the product as part of the research, both leave you feeling satisfied having completed the project but let’s just say there are certain pieces of research that are a little more enjoyable than others…

The similarities that I’ve found though, are what I’d like to discuss here…

Entrepreneurs, by our nature are creatures who are required to juggle a number of hats in our businesses. Some we do very well because they come naturally to us. Others not so well… because like everyone else we tend to focus on what we are good at and spend longer working on things in our comfort zone than maybe is healthiest for our businesses. We may appoint others to take care of those areas of the business where we are weaker but do we truly manage that appointment?

We all know what the hats are. We know the various functions of any organisation but often the entrepreneur can feel as if they are not large enough to consider each one of them with the same degree of importance. My own experience is that this cannot be ignored. But it can be made simpler… Those hats can be broken down into three key areas; areas, which if the entrepreneur understands their interdependence can reach that Big Hairy Audacious Goal that bit quicker…

Vision is first and defines what the business wants for itself, which ultimately dictates what kind of company it’s going to be… much like what we want for ourselves influences who we are as people… Thereafter the entrepreneur and indeed the managing director needs to look at

1. The Resource Strategy…

• What approach will you take to manage your resources?
• How many products can you make or hours do you have to sell?
• How much sales… How much profit do you want?
• What information do you need to help you manage this?
• Build the systems that allow this to happen.
• Make the systems work for the business and not the other way around.
• Now keep control of all this.

2. The People Strategy
 

• What kind of culture will you create?
• What kind of place will this be to work in?
• What does the organisation look like?
• What kinds of roles need to be in the organisation to make it work effectively?
• Build the Roles before you recruit for them.
• Now unleash the talent in the people you’ve recruited to meet the vision.
• Facilitate your people in delivering on the promises you make to the customer.

3. The Marketing Strategy

 

• What kind of brand expresses the vision for the customer?
• Who is the customer and what do they want?
• Build the product that the customer wants.
• Make it unique to you. Make that uniqueness a competitive advantage.Own that space.
• Now make sure you communicate that in everything you do; from brand to package to price…
• Now Sell It!
   

The interesting thing is that if you follow each of the steps for each individual strategy round the circle you will be able to see how interdependent everything is… How approach, culture and brand are intertwined… How building the systems, the roles in the business and the product are intertwined… and so on and so forth…

My experience is that the entrepreneur who remains conscious and aware of the business as an organism, an organism which acts and interacts with each function will become the managing director of the successful company that they envisaged when they first started this rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship.

To conclude; three hats are often easier to wear than six… and a consciousness around each of these three areas in the business and their interconnectedness breeds success and a vision that doesn’t always remain in the future, which so many often do... This vision gets accomplished and replaced by an even bigger one… and so the cycle continues!

Finola Howard
The Marketing Table
inspiration for growth...