Driven business owners, keen to get to the next level in their business, keen to achieve the next goal, very often come unstuck because they neglect one of the critical parts of their business build – MASTERY.
If we compare building a business to building a house, MASTERY is all about the planning and the foundations. Without these 2 core concepts in place, no building would stand the test of time and therefore no business could realistically be expected to survive either.
If we look at the 4 parts of MASTERY in more detail.
- DESTINATION MASTERY – again, like the planning stage of building a house. No builder will start to build, no council will allow you to build, and no tradesman will commence work without a plan. Yet – very often businesses are started without a plan. I do not mean the plan you give to the bank manager; I mean the actual blueprint for the business. Destination mastery also includes the following: Vision – What is the real purpose of the business – what are the underlying drivers, how will you encourage any decent employee to join the team. Mission – what are the steps that you will take to achieve the vision – what are the milestones. Who will you hire, what will be the focus of the business on a day-to-day basis? This needs to be written and communicated – can this be changed – yes it can and then it must be re-communicated. Culture – how would you describe your business – what is your code of conduct, what is acceptable in your business and what is not acceptable. Rules of the Game – What do we always do and what do we never do in the business – People and customers always like to know where they stand. Personal Goals – why are YOU in this business in the first place – what does it mean for you.
- MONEY MASTERY – without trying to over-simplify, business, at its core involves money, and profit. A business must make more money than it costs to run, and it must reward the owner with profits and with an income – otherwise – it really serves no purpose. Not every business owner is good with money, nor are most even comfortable with money. There are a few key elements to money master as follows: Budgeting – again, a business owner must have a good idea in terms of what the business will cost to run and what they need to sell to cover the costs and deliver a profit, even if over an extended period. A budget allows us to compare against expectation and triggers corrective action or even a change of direction. Reporting – so many business owners do not keep score in the business. The do not know on a daily and weekly basis whether they are making money, invoicing, collecting, quoting, spending too much or too little.
Keeping score and measuring progress are critical to any business.
- TIME MASTERY – everyone’s favourite subject. Many business owners are addicted to being busy and they measure their success by how busy they are. This is a recipe for disaster. Creating the discipline as to where you spend your time and how you spend it daily will result in a more successful business. It is linked to Money and Destination – take the time to plan, take the time to learn, take the time to reflect on progress.
- DELIVERY Mastery – the underpinning element of delivery mastery is systems. There are 4 areas to delivery mastery as follows: Supply Mastery – do you have systems in place to deliver your product or service consistently. Are you identifying bottlenecks, people who need training etc? Quality Mastery – How good is your product or service – will it stand up to scrutiny, is it worth the price people pay. Will they buy again from you? Easy to Buy – who easy is it for people to do business with you Have you mapped out the entire customer experience properly. Do you understand where potential customers may become fearful of your product or service? Service Mastery – again – customers love a consistent high-quality service. They dislike inconsistency and will leave.
No every business owner is disciplined to look at their master project and build their business so that it has the capacity to continue to grow and develop. Most owners are so focused on sales and instant success that they allow a business to burgeon with no foundation. There is only one direction this can take and unfortunately it is downwards coupled with business owner burnout.
As business coaches, we help our clients to focus on the mastery and help to speed up the development of processes and systems so that the business has a much better long-term future, with the business owner working less not more. Contact us today to discuss your business building plans and strategies.
