We must have learned from our experience by now that all the simplest of business principles that have been used by the best companies around the world can and should be used by us all to some degree in our own businesses regardless of our size and market.
The best companies use a down to earth and pragmatic program to commit to a standard of excellence founded around three elements:
- Disciplined People – getting the right people into the business and then keeping them focused on excellence.
Remember as a foundation and benchmark you have to adopt a “First Who then What” campaign and concentrate on getting the right people on board, the more people with initiative and skills that join the team the better the future will be.
- Disciplined Thought – being brutally honest about the facts facing your business and avoiding the temptation to get side tracked on non-core ideas.
Openly face the competitive realties of the markets in which you operate without losing faith. Recognise the need for change but avoid getting distracted into new fields of business that are away from your core competencies.
- Disciplined Action – Realising what is important to achieve for your company to succeed.
It is enormously important to have a realistic but compelling vision for your business, it is crucial to paint a picture of the business in 3/5 years and then build a roadmap to mobilise everyone in that direction and to communicate relentlessly within the business on this journey and throughout its progress.
Having a customer centric focus, delighting customers and putting the customer centre stage are of enormous importance - Fergal Quinn wrote the book ‘crowning the customer’ all those years ago and how right he was. The best way of winning new customers is by satisfying/delighting existing customers by delivering the service or product at the correct price and on time - “success breeds success”. It is critical that a trusting relationship exists or is established with customers as reputation is what counts most of all in business.
The time has come to get match fit, the time has come to shake off the feelings of recession and get ready to move forward.
Look for a strong DNA in the business - a set of values that reflect on how the business is to be conducted. Successful businesses spend a lot of time on business values or on what is acceptable and unacceptable in the business and typically they would include honesty & integrity, responsibility, teamwork, innovation, consumer centric approach and a winning mentality.
Be brave, hire the best, face the facts and stick to what you know best!
