Entrepreneurial Destination.
Describing someone who has just started in business as an Entrepreneur, is like calling someone who just started running an Olympian. That’s not to take anything away from those who start a businesses, it’s just to begin this journey with some perspective. You may not have just started yesterday, but you may not have progressed in your skills either. The arc of a business owner is a journey from artist, to manager, to leader and if you fulfill your purpose on that journey you can crown yourself a worthy entrepreneur. Some are fast some are slow, like everything – there are many levels to the game.
Ownership is not just the owner of equity. It certainly begins with the owner of equity or the founder, but as the business grows everyone needs to become an owner. As the founder you must embody and go through this journey before you can expect someone else to. As a founder you cannot expect your business to grow unless you do. You cannot stay the same and expect your team to grow either. As you grow from the Artist, the creator of this seed, you become a manager so that you can leverage many skills at once, then through practice and mastery you become a leader who sets the bar. Your goal is not to be the smartest person in the organisation it’s to set the standard so high that those that join you on your journey will never need you holding their hand. They are not employees they become stakeholders.
It’s the Experience Stupid!
You are in the service business whether you know it or not. Whether you are selling a box of cereal or a ticket to heaven you must understand one thing. A customer is not a customer until they willingly comeback time after time to do business with you. Your product is not just what’s in the box. If you want a successful business you must understand that the product encompass everything from the first time your customer sees your product, through the sale process, through the fulfillment, through the smile they have on their face after dealing with you and finishes when they tell someone else about it. That’s why your product, is in fact a service. You can not compete with a cheaper box. You can always compete on experience. Think of the last thing you bought – it was probably an underwhelming experience – insurance anyone? Businesses tend to copy each other, bad ideas become the norm – remember Press 1 for sales! Taking time to understand your customers journey and changing that into an unforgettable experience is the mission.
A system will get you good results, a good system will get you great results.
You can not grow your business with everyone running around like headless chickens. You can not provide great service by having variables. Spinning plates that come crashing down one after another. You can’t have a complex system either. You can’t build layer upon layer of administration. The health service is an example of what you get when there is no much bureaucracy that the service is undeliverable. So you need some simple systems, systems that enable people to do their work not prevent them. Systems add consistency. There’s a good saying that goes “Slow is steady and steady is fast” throwing lots of energy at something wont work.