The Strategy Circle

Category: Business Strategy

  • How to grow your business with innovative CEO thinking

    How to grow your business with innovative CEO thinking

    I have worked with over 600 businesses in the last 18 years and one of the refrains I hear the most from businesses of between 5 and 50 employees is, “I’m stuck! I’m so busy and overwhelmed, I can’t see the wood for the trees and I’m just surviving, I don’t know how much longer I can do this!”

    I hear this from passionate people who are dedicated to their business and their staff. People who have been in business for 10 years and more (which makes them business superheroes) but are not where they thought they would be, questioning whether this business has been a good choice for them.

    It always makes me sad to hear this. I know how hard it is to get past year two, never mind get to year ten with staff! Nobody really understands how hard it is, except others who are also in it.

    Most small business owners (in my mind that means 5 to 50 employees) are so involved in the daily operations of their business that they do not have the time or energy to work ON the business – doing strategy, business development and thinking about the money beyond sending out invoices and chasing payments.

    A small business owner has an astounding number of things to think about, do and organise. This is not for sissies. Only the toughest and most determined people are able to get to this point in a business and it is massively challenging.

    In my experience, small businesses only grow sustainably when the owner has extracted themselves from the day-to-day operations and made time for the CEO role. CEO in a small business? Yes, absolutely.

    People confuse the role with the person. Just because the business does not have a full-time CEO, does not mean that the ROLE is not important. I would like to suggest that if business owners made the time to look at the role of a CEO and to allocate even 20% of their time to those activities, that the business would grow and flourish in a whole new way.

    What does this actually look like?

    The ROLE of CEO in a small business

    For obvious reasons the role of a CEO in a corporate is quite distinct from the role of a CEO in a small company, but the importance of the role is the same.

    The CEO is responsible for leading the overall success of the organisation. They have to develop business strategy and plans that articulate strategic goals that are measurable and implementable, outlining the ways in which the business will grow and become more sustainable over time. The CEO ensures that the business is profitable, not just busy and that the business is properly managed in all the key areas. The focus here is growth.

    • Marketing and business development – ensuring that they understand the market, opportunities and industry developments.
    • Finance – making high-level investment decisions and managing the fiscal well-being of the company.
    • Human resources – understanding what the business needs from its employees and ensuring that the right people are in the right job.
    • Systems and processes – ensuring that the business takes the time to create the systems and processes that create efficiencies and keep the business relevant, especially regarding technology.
      Managing key stakeholder / client relationships to ensure that communication is appropriate and strategic alliances are maintained.
    • Creating and managing the culture of the organisation in order to retain good people and create an environment that promotes performance.

    This role is different to an operations manager and this distinction is CRITICAL to the overall success of the business. Most people get trapped in the Operations Manager role. Many entrepreneurs will argue that this is their most valuable role. Yes and no.

    Yes, an Operations Manager role is essential to the business. This role is important because it delivers on the sales promise of the business. This is about delivery and the focus here is efficiencies. Even in this role, too many entrepreneurs are doing too much and not managing enough.

    • Management of tasks and efficiencies – ensures that proper management activities are taking place across the areas of delivery. Operational meetings, reporting and performance tracking.
    • Planning – ensuring that the work of the business is going according to plan and that schedules, logistics and calendars are working in an aligned way.
    • Resource planning – ensuring that everyone has what they need to do their work properly, that the team knows what is expected of them and what their standard of delivery is.
    • Delivery of the service or product – ensuring that the client gets what they expect, when they expect it.
    • Budgeting – managing expenses and ensuring that money is well tracked and allocated.
    • Systems and administration – ensuring that all administrative tasks that support the successful delivery of product or service to the client takes place.

    What happens in many businesses is that neither of these roles is properly understood or implemented. This results in lost opportunities, sluggish growth and lots of stress.

    To give an example:

    Angela’s story

    Angela* runs a successful Food Delivery business and was feeling stuck. She felt that her ability to get to the activity that allows the business to grow was constantly being overwhelmed by her natural default to operations. She had previously been a very capable operations manager when she took over the business from her husband (who is a serial entrepreneur and already on to the next venture). She was running the business from her comfort zone – operations. She did not even realise that the distinction between the two roles was important. When we brought this to her attention she felt that she did not know how to be a CEO, the label frightened her as she assumed that it meant behaving like Steve Jobs or Richard Branson. These are not useful comparisons for a small company.

    With encouragement from us she did some research into what CEOs do and looked to see if she could transfer any of her significant operational abilities to doing the tasks of a CEO. She reported back that understanding the role made a huge difference to how she prioritised what needed to be done for the business to grow. Within two weeks she had reorganised her team and set up a competent Operations Manager, whom she would manage to deal with most of the day-to-day that she had previously spent too much time on. This freed her up to become much more focused on marketing and sales and building a really good team. She is not completely out of the operations; the business is not big enough for that. But she has someone making sure that it’s moving along most of the time so that she can focus on growing the business by working ON the business and not IN the business.

    Can a small business afford to have both a CEO and an Operations Manager? Mostly they can’t; but they can organise themselves to ensure that all the key activities of each role are happening. This is the secret, to ensure that time gets made for Growth (CEO) and Efficiencies (Ops Manager) and the entrepreneur can hold these two roles until the business is able to afford another person to hold either role depending on the natural inclination of the business owner. Often business owners love what they do and would much rather hold the operations role than that of CEO, BUT they have to understand the importance of the CEO role for growth and sustainability.

    What to do?

    1. Make time to understand what CEOs do and what operations managers do.
    2. Make time, ANY time, to think with a CEO hat on…..even two hours a week will make a huge difference over time. It’s important to carve out time for each role. It’s important to understand the success strategies for each role and to implement them. This process can be slow, but if it is steady and you keep ensuring that the right activities are taking place, your business will be more successful in the long run. As the CEO you will have to think about things that may not be easy or comfortable for you (which explains the default to operations where you know what you are doing). Find out about strategy and how to do it. Learn about business finances and improving them step by step. Develop your business mindset, read, understand your industry better and adapt what you do to stay relevant. Image result for CEO hat
    3. Reorganise the people/resources in your business to give you more time to work ON the business. Examples: get an au pair to fetch your kids and spend that time on marketing and opportunities. Outsource your invoicing/bookkeeping and use that time to create a growth strategy for your business. Take a long hard look at the resources in your business and see who could possibly take some of the operations load off you. If there is no one to do that, you need to reconsider your team. Without this process you are unlikely to grow your business. Even having a decent PA or admin person will free up enough time to put your CEO hat on. You don’t have to pay for a hugely expensive “Operations Manager” you have to buy yourself time to do the two roles properly. It is often helpful to spend an hour or two with an HR consultant who works with small businesses (your HR friend at a big corporate is not going to be any use to you). Let them help you map out a number of scenarios depending on what the business needs. We often get stuck thinking about the people we have instead of the roles we need. Just this small shift in thinking can change your life.
    4. Talk to other business owners and find out how they are doing it – it’s always useful to talk to people who are also doing it or have done it. Don’t take business advice from people who are not running their own business – you don’t take parenting advice from people who don’t have kids, do you?
    5. Set up simple management structures that will support you to run the business more efficiently and with greater clarity. This may sound daunting, but simple clear processes could really make a difference in your business. It’s important to distinguish between management processes (ON the business) and operational processes (IN the business).

    Below is a list of critical ON the business priorities

    • Understand that what the BUSINESS needs is most important, this is Strategy 101.
    • Define clear roles and responsibilities (mapped out and agreed with staff).
    • Ensure processes and procedures are clear and understood (mapped out and agreed with staff).
    • Prioritise that management activity takes place – in regular meetings with set agendas, working on clearly defined goals that inform everyone’s work.
    • Develop a clear plan that is systematically implemented over time.

    In conclusion, I would like to emphasise that if you want your business to grow and run smoothly without you being in a constant state of overwhelm, you have to make a distinction between these two important roles and make sure they are understood and implemented thoughtfully. The results will make it worthwhile, I promise.

  • Can business peer groups make you more successful?

    Can business peer groups make you more successful?

    [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.24.1″ custom_padding=”||0px|||”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” width_tablet=”” width_phone=”100%” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” max_width=”100%” custom_margin=”|auto||1px||” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”|||-20px” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”||0px|0px||” locked=”off”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9mZWF0dXJlZF9pbWFnZSIsInNldHRpbmdzIjp7fX0=@” show_bottom_space=”off” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Featured Image” _builder_version=”4.4.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”src” width=”100%” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”|||” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”|0px||||” z_index_tablet=”500″ box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_post_title meta=”off” featured_image=”off” admin_label=”Post Title” _builder_version=”4.4.3″ title_font=”Raleway||||||||” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”|||” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” z_index_tablet=”500″ title_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” title_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” title_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” meta_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” meta_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” meta_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px”][/et_pb_post_title][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.25.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”100%” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”|||-20px” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”|0px||||” z_index_tablet=”500″ box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”PUT YOUR BLOG POST HERE” module_class=”blog-content” _builder_version=”4.9.0″ text_font=”Arimo||||||||” text_text_color=”#333333″ text_font_size=”15px” header_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_3_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_3_text_color=”#333333″ header_4_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#333333″ header_5_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_5_text_color=”#333333″ header_6_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_6_text_color=”#333333″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”||-3px|||” custom_margin_tablet=”|||-25px” custom_margin_phone=”|||-5px||” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” hover_enabled=”0″ z_index_tablet=”500″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” sticky_enabled=”0″]

    As a growing entrepreneur you will know how hard it is to run a business. There is so much to do and not enough hours in the day or people in the team.

    Being a successful entrepreneur means understanding that you don’t have all the answers. Working with other entrepreneurs in a business peer group to ask and answer the real questions sets you up to win.

    Business peer groups are a very valuable resource to a growing entrepreneur. They provide a soundboard, help in making important decisions and a problem solving forum.

    Here are some key areas that a business peer group can assist with.

    Taking time out for strategic input

    Strategy is an essential ingredient to ongoing success as a business and yet not enough entrepreneurs make time for it. We all know that it is important to take time out to think and figure out your next steps. It’s important to get strategic input, but how to make the time and who to consult? Tricky questions, there are so many options at the moment, everyone and their aunty is currently advising entrepreneurs and it can be difficult to figure out what the best use of your time and money are.

    “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Theodore Roosevelt.

    I have found that this is at the heart of good strategy and entrepreneurship.

    It’s all about resources: time, money, people.

    Most entrepreneurs are really busy. More often than not, they are the manager, leader and head implementer all rolled into one. It helps to take time out to separate the roles and think about what you are doing. Most of us get stuck in the how thinking, which can be incredibly narrow as a focus. Then there is why as Simon Sinek explains in this great clip.

    Taking the time out of the operations of your business to think more about what needs to be done is incredibly valuable. Steven Covey has a lovely analogy “Imagine a crew clearing a path through the jungle. The workers are hacking away with their machetes, while the managers are making schedules and encouraging the machete wielders. The leader climbs the tallest tree, looks around and hollers down to the crew below, “Wrong jungle!” This article illustrates it further.

    The problem with doing strategy on your own or just with your partners is that you often get stuck in your own world view, missing possible opportunities and blind spots. Having other smart, capable people to bounce your ideas off is a much more successful way of looking at your business.

    Only other entrepreneurs really understand

    Most people with jobs do not understand the stress and difficulty of running your own business. A question I often ask is “If you are a parent, do you take parenting advice from people who don’t have kids?” No, I thought not. Although there are a great deal of amazing advisors and coaches and well-meaning business accelerators out there, many of the advisors have desk jobs or are only responsible for themselves or some associates, they don’t know what it’s like to worry about getting all your people paid at the end of the month.

    Other entrepreneurs GET IT! They know, because they have walked that mile and have solved problems that may still be in your future. This is why business peer groups are such valuable resources. You have uninterrupted face to face time, in a safe confidential environment to share what is REALLY going on in your business with people who understand, care and will help you work it out. This is valuable.

    Time, one of your most valuable resources has to be leveraged

    As a business owner there are so many demands on your time. Your clients take a lot of your bandwidth, then, you still need to deal with your team and ensure that everyone is on track, and we have not yet considered planning, financial management, marketing and sales. Oh, and don’t forget eating healthy, getting some exercise and being an awesome parent/partner…

    I know, right?

    This is where business peer groups really give you bang for your buck. In a short period of time you have access to other likeminded business people who are able to advise you, ask great questions, help you make decisions and you are developing deep, trust based relationships that encourage referrals.

    One of the most important things to do is to prioritize your time. This means that you have to be really clear on what results you are trying to achieve so that you can focus on those activities. Staying focused can be hard when you are the leader.

    It helps to have a group of people who know what you are trying to achieve and can focus you when you get too operational. It’s like having a board of directors, but less scary.

    Why a business peer group can help you succeed

    1. Make better decisions regarding those important issues that are difficult to think through all on your own – this results in a more successful business over time as others question your assumptions, point our your blind spots and share resources when you need them most. This is where the real return on investment occurs.
    2. Get great advice from people who will ask questions you never dreamed of and have your best interests at heart, you are not paying them so they will give it to you straight. Many of them will have real experience of what you are going through. They will share their knowledge, resources and time if needed.
    3. Save money and time – you have dedicated time in a month with other entrepreneurs who are all experts in their field, all in one place and for less than the cost of a coaching session you solve problems, get trust based contacts and opportunities.
    4. Save yourself expensive mistakes by learning from others with real life situations and solutions. There is nothing quite like observing someone else deal with something and supporting them to deal with it to learn.
    5. Grow your business mindset and understanding of business as you work ON your business and not in your business with people from diverse industries and world views. This means that you have an incredibly rich lens focused on your business once a month. You are also involved in solving business problems you may not have faced yet; this raises your awareness and develops your map of the territory.
    6. Build trust based business relationships that over time result in more business and support that keeps you motivated and on track. As the group get to know each other the trust that naturally occurs as people face difficult things together creates strong bonds and referrals and references are a natural consequence. People like to do business with people they like and trust as Stephen Covey explains. This more than anything else will contribute to your success.

    It’s important to understand that this is not networking. When you are networking you have to have your game face on. You are out in the world looking good and convincing people you are solid. A business peer group is real, real problems, real solutions, real connection, and real trust.

    In conclusion, it has been my experience that having a business peer group that supports your development as an entrepreneur can be a game changer. Entrepreneurs who are supported are far more likely to succeed than those that are not.

    If you are interested finding out more about such a group contact us on www.thestrategycircle.co.za

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|on” admin_label=”Post Tags” module_class=”blog-tags” _builder_version=”4.4.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” z_index_tablet=”500″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” disabled=”on”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6InBvc3RfdGFnIn19@[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

  • Why peer groups are a valuable use of precious time

    Why peer groups are a valuable use of precious time

    [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.24.1″ custom_padding=”||0px|||”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” width_tablet=”” width_phone=”100%” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” max_width=”100%” custom_margin=”|auto||1px||” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”|||-20px” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”||0px|0px||” locked=”off”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9mZWF0dXJlZF9pbWFnZSIsInNldHRpbmdzIjp7fX0=@” show_bottom_space=”off” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Featured Image” _builder_version=”4.4.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”src” width=”100%” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”|||” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”|0px||||” z_index_tablet=”500″ box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_post_title meta=”off” featured_image=”off” admin_label=”Post Title” _builder_version=”4.4.3″ title_font=”Raleway||||||||” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”|||” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” z_index_tablet=”500″ title_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” title_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” title_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” meta_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” meta_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” meta_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px”][/et_pb_post_title][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.25.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”100%” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”|||-20px” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”|0px||||” z_index_tablet=”500″ box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”PUT YOUR BLOG POST HERE” module_class=”blog-content” _builder_version=”4.4.3″ text_font=”Arimo||||||||” text_text_color=”#333333″ text_font_size=”15px” header_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_3_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_3_text_color=”#333333″ header_4_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#333333″ header_5_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_5_text_color=”#333333″ header_6_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_6_text_color=”#333333″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”||-3px|||” custom_margin_tablet=”|||-25px” custom_margin_phone=”|||-5px||” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” z_index_tablet=”500″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”]

    I work with entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs as a strategic facilitator and organizational development coach. Over the years I have been involved with over 500 entrepreneurs solving business problems and finding ways to thrive and be successful.

    I have had plenty of time and opportunity to observe what they need and what they struggle with. There are a number of issues that often emerge across the board.

    1. Being an entrepreneur is a lonely path. Mostly entrepreneurs are blazing their own trail and finding new ways of doing things in the world, disrupting and innovating. As amazing as this is – it means that nobody can give you a fool proof formula for success, because by its very nature its emerging.
    2. The skills that got you started are not the skills that will help you grow and scale. The agile, disruptive quick thinking that got you going will frustrate and damage a growing team that needs clarity, process and support.
    3. The transition from the person who gets it all done to the person who needs to delegate properly and manage resources, is really really HARD. I have seen this trip up too many entrepreneurs to mention. The only ones that go on to thrive, are the ones who are able to manage this transition well.
    4. Taking good enough care of yourself so that you don’t end up selling the business or quitting for the lack of a decent holiday.

    Having said all this, most people with jobs do not understand the stress and difficulty of running your own business. Most people romanticize it and think ‘If I ran my own business I would take time off with my kids” (insert your version of that – surf more, make more art etc.) Nobody, except other entrepreneurs really understand what you are dealing with. Definitely not someone with a job (bank managers, consultants – pretty much most of the people that put themselves out there as advisors to entrepreneurs).

    But other entrepreneurs GET IT! They know, because they have walked that mile and have solved problems that may still be in your future. This is why business peer groups are such valuable resources. You have uninterrupted face to face time, in a safe confidential environment to share what is REALLY going on in your business with people who understand, care and will help you work it out. This is PRECIOUS beyond words.

    Its important to understand that this is not networking .When you are networking you have to have your game face on. This is real, real problems, real solutions, not a sophisticated sales pitch.

    What would you get from your peers?

    1. Save money and time – you spend 2 hours a month with 8 experts all in one place and for less than the cost of a coaching session you get advice, trust based contacts and opportunities.
    2. Save yourself expensive mistakes by learning from others with real life situations and solutions.
    3. Grow your business mindset and understanding of business as you work ON your business and not in your business for 2 hours a month
    4. Get great advice from people who see the world differently, and have your best interests at heart, but you are not paying them so they will give it to you straight.
    5. Build trust based business relationships that over time result in more business and support that keeps you motivated and on track.
    6. Make better decisions regarding those important issues that are difficult to think through all on your own – this results in a more successful business over time.

    Being a successful entrepreneur means understanding that you don’t have all the answers. Working with other entrepreneurs to ask and answer the real questions sets you up to win.

    www.thestrategycircle.co.za

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|on” admin_label=”Post Tags” module_class=”blog-tags” _builder_version=”4.4.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” z_index_tablet=”500″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” disabled=”on”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6InBvc3RfdGFnIn19@[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

  • Witnessing the grief of our greatest value creators

    Witnessing the grief of our greatest value creators

    Witness grief of greatest value creators

    Over the last seven weeks I have been witnessing my clients and peers going through an impossible process. Most of the business owners I work with have taken years to develop teams and to grow their business with incredibly hard work. Building value in the world is not for sissies and it takes a great deal of courage. It is only for the lion hearted.

    I have been watching these brave, committed people struggling with the incredible responsibility of being employers in the current situation. They have had to pay people not knowing if or when the money from TERS or UIF would come. They have had sleepless nights and panic attacks worrying about their staff and how they were going to make it all work.

    Many of these businesses survived the 2008 crash, built themselves and their teams up again, only to deal with the reality of having their businesses taken from them at this time. I have listened to people who in the past have been the first to talk about opportunity and how South Africa is the place to be. People who were loyal and committed to being here, creating jobs and making a life for themselves and others.

    In the last two weeks I have watched a number of these brave people break down under the financial pressure of having to pay staff that are not working and retrench people they were committed to because they can no longer hold out. The runway is gone. I have seen their desperate attempts to hold it together fail in the face of decisions made that they have no control over. I have been witnessing this and I am sad beyond words for them, for the staff they had to let go and for the lives that get shattered in this way.

    Acknowledge the grief and distress

    I would like to acknowledge publicly how much we owe these people. How much of our economy is created and generated by people who want to make things, do things and build businesses. I have always been in awe of the possibility-thinking and creative production that these small business owners represent for me. They are my favourite people and I have dedicated myself to serving them. I am ashes. I am ashes witnessing what they are having to do. Having to decide who they can continue to pay and who they can’t, knowing that those people that they are putting on short time, or retrenching are unlikely to find jobs anytime soon. Sitting and crying with employees who understand and are broken anyway, sitting through the abuse of those who don’t understand and are angry with them, like it’s their fault. Sitting in the middle of the night trying to figure out how to change, pivot and re arrange the business so that it will survive and all the livelihoods with it.

    These traumatised people are our economic engine room. These people who make things happen are demoralised in ways I have never seen before in twenty years of working with entrepreneurs. Some are questioning their commitment to a government that is throwing them under the bus. I have heard people say that they would never have thought that they would get to place of not wanting to build their businesses here, where there seems to be so little respect at the decision making level regarding what it takes to build value, products, incomes streams and jobs.

    People are giving up

    “…for this first time ever, I am seriously considering packing it all in and going to Canada/Spain/ anywhere else to build all over again. I want to take what is left after this train smash and put it somewhere safe, where it can’t be broken by other people’s dithering.”

    Something else I am hearing a lot is “I don’t ever want to be responsible for employing people again. I don’t ever want to have the stress and responsibility again. I’m done. I’m closing my business and I’m going to freelance.” This from people who have worked and hustled and been astoundingly resourceful to keep their business going, do what it takes and keep trucking. They don’t want to anymore. Where does that leave our economy?

    Those of us who are in the business of supporting entrepreneurs have been incredibly busy in the last 8 weeks helping people strategize, pivot, think through how they can best use their assets and abilities to survive this time, find a new market, re-organise their processes to be leaner etc. This has all happened and many of these businesses in many ways had time to reset, sort out legacy issues and find smarter ways of doing things. But going into the third month of lock down, with unclear reasoning and a government that seems to have stalled at a crucial juncture, and who possibly are not understanding that the patient may die from the medicine, many are unraveling, their last chances disappearing into the confusion. Loss, and the grief of that loss is what I am witnessing.

    One client raged, saying “…how can a business with over a million rand in business on its books close down and I have to tell my 18 staff members that I cannot hold it together anymore, in spite of having work – which we are not allowed to do.”

    The fabric of small business in South Africa is tearing, possibly irreparably and I think that this is a disaster for our country, when the most innovative, energetic and productive elements of our society are being dismembered. Our best problem solvers and value creators are too traumatised and angry to care.

    Saving lives AND the economy

    I know there are reasons, I know there are realities. I know that the government is also dealing with impossible choices.  I just thought you should know how hard this is for business owners, who may not only lose their own livelihoods, but those of people they care for and feel responsible for – that is a double trauma that I don’t think is properly appreciated.

    It is simple to hit the brakes, but vastly more complex to move forward in a way which balances or acknowledges lives and the economy that supports those lives. Over the last decade, in amongst all the corruption and lack of capability, it has been entrepreneurs and business that have made huge contributions to keep the country afloat – creating value and then being taxed on that value.

    What I fear is that they will give up and leave. Give up and stop creating value beyond themselves.  That will be a terrible outcome for the people of this country. Please can those in decision making places take a moment to think about how this is going to be avoided, please.

  • 4 Easy and Powerful Business Strategy Tips for Load Shedding

    4 Easy and Powerful Business Strategy Tips for Load Shedding

    It’s South Africa’s darkest hour – literally. I’m not the first writer to have opened with that one since South Africa’s national power producer Eskom entered load shedding again, and I won’t be the last.

    For readers who don’t know, load shedding is when parts of South Africa’s power grids are switched off due to the national energy producer’s inability to fulfil its most basic functions, for reasons we won’t go into here.

    A quote that was removed from this Fin24 article said that more scheduled outages are “dooming South Africa to recession”, but I’d like to put forward that the night needn’t be quite so dark and full of terrors for South African business owners if they use this time to further their business strategy with these tips.

    1. Working on and not in the business

    I participate actively in several business networks, and I’ve noticed that time to work on the business instead of just in it seems to be the holy grail many of my entrepreneur peers are trying to find time to seek.

    Look at the Eisenhower Decision Matrix.

    Savvy business people know that finding the time to work in that “Important but not urgent” quadrant, what my team refers to as “Quadrant II time”, is essential if you don’t want to be stuck on that hamster wheel, repeating problems and going nowhere.

    Quadrant II is where we take time to zoom in and focus on careful in-depth analysis, or zoom out and take time to look at the big picture. It is where we take the time to plan, develop or improve systems, and build business relationships.

    However, the dog that barks the loudest tends to get the most attention, and so the “Urgent and important” tasks in Quadrant I tend to draw us away from that valuable Quadrant II time. The reason Quadrant I can be so seductive is that the work is exactly what it says on the label – urgent and important. If something is on fire, it must be put out.

    The problem is if you don’t spend time planning and building systems that prevent fire, those fires will just keep on happening, leaving you blackened and singed and choking for air on a regular basis.

    Also, it is possible to fall into the trap of overestimating the importance of certain tasks and pushing them into the “do” category, when in fact they should be in the “delegate” category.

    For businesses that use technology, it can’t be denied that power blackouts disrupt our normal workday, often making it impossible to carry out our Quadrant I tasks.

    Many Quadrant II tasks can be done on paper. If lack of electricity makes in impossible for you to finish that urgent report, or finish that email to client Shouty McShouterson, pull out that notebook and apply yourself to some planning.

    Business bible The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber talks about, in a nutshell, how the majority of small businesses fail. They do so because Business Owner Bob fails to realise that – as the founder of new company Bob’s Widgets – his new job is not making widgets anymore, but to run a company that makes widgets.

    The Advanced E-Myth by the same author breaks down the disciplines of running a business into “The 7 centers of management attention”:

    If you are at a loss as to what planning to do when the power is out, pick whichever of those you feel is your weakest area and start with that.

    Here is a handy worksheet from e-myth.com you can print out and refer to if you need it.

    2. Make your staff part of the business strategy process

    “That’s all fine for me,” you might be saying to yourself, “But what do I do with all those staff out there laughing raucously or spinning in their chairs?”

    I say take them with you into Quadrant II.

    A lack of employee engagement can drain the life out of a company, harming your ability to retain talent, and poisoning the well for those that stay, killing motivation and productivity.

    More than free snacks and even more than high pay, studies show that modern employees want to feel appreciated and included. They want to know where the company is going and to know that their and the company’s values align.

    Including your staff in strategic planning sessions means that they will feel respected and invested in the outcomes, and more likely to cooperate with implementing the changes uncovered during the process.

    Ever heard the saying “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” by Peter Drucker? It doesn’t mean what I originally thought it did; that culture is more powerful than strategy. It means that any attempt to carry out a strategy that isn’t accepted by the culture will be dead in its tracks.

    Make sure innovation and openness to new ideas is part of your culture by including staff in strategy workshops. Plan these for when you’re expecting load shedding.

    No names mentioned but I have heard other employers say things to the tune of, “There is no point including these idiots in strategy workshops – they have nothing to add.”

    Before we continue, I’d like to say the assumption is likely wrong. The key thing about diversity – and we are all diverse from each other in some way – is that it means a wider variety of experiences to draw from. Everyone in your team has something to add, and the onus is on business owners to create an environment in which staff are encouraged and empowered to put forward their ideas.

    You might even choose to go further and create a culture where it is more uncomfortable to be seen to have nothing to add in strategy and ideation sessions than it is to step up, although this needs to be done with consideration so that you don’t terrify the introverts into leaving, and with enough structure that the extroverts don’t hog the microphone.

    3. Staff training staff

    When the lights go out, have a system for choosing someone to lead the training session.

    This takes some of the burden of training off management and will also make the employees feel appreciated for their knowledge.

    You want to set people up to succeed though, so consider providing guidelines and recommendations to assist those who might not be natural presenters.

    If you don’t want to do it this way and feel there are some knowledge gaps you or other directors or managers can fill in, use the time as official training slots hosted by yourself or management.

    4. Talk to each other

    I majored in both English Literature and Computer Science in university. On the one hand, you had individuals who enjoyed engaging in thoughtful and sometimes heated debate, and on the other you had those who would use instant messaging to talk to the person directly next to them. No prizes for guessing which were the English and which were the Comp Sci majors.

    My guess is that most workplaces will have a mix of members who behave like either group, and communication between them might not always go as smoothly as it could.

    My guess is also that you either currently have or will have cliques in your office, which can be very harmful. In two of the bigger companies I’ve worked in, I’ve observed what might even be described by the dramatically inclined as clique-vs-clique, and sometimes clique-vs-company warfare.

    If effort isn’t made to integrate those that don’t usually talk, at the very least you’re in for some chilly vibes. Consider addressing or pre-empting this by using load shedding times for some relationship building exercises.

    You might create a roster of discussion pairs with some recommended “getting to know you” questions just to get the ball rolling.

    If you work in a bigger company, it might well be possible that there are staff members who aren’t clear on what everyone actually does, so simply getting people to share information on what they do on a daily basis could help build relationships and educate staff on how the business actually works, which is something you shouldn’t assume they already know.

    On the external relationships front, you might see if you can schedule any face to face or phone catchups with clients or suppliers when power outages limit your options.

    To conclude, I can’t deny that load shedding might throw a spanner in the works and cause you to fall behind on work production.  Follow these tips, however, and you’ll have some methods to brighten the future of your business while the lights are out.