Business 300

We are responsible to make things happen. To find a way, and get it done. We are to approach it with Competent Care - getting good at what we do because we care enough about it. We are to have Strategic Shrewdness - getting creative and finding a strategic path forward. We are to assume Reasoned Risk - assuming the risk and committing the resources. And we are to employ Draining Diligence - exhaus...

Some people keep collecting data, asking questions, and not acting because they're never sure. Here's the secret. There's no way to be sure. Risk is always there. If we're after results, at some point, we're going to have to make decisions and commit resources, without being fully sure if our decision is right. Results have more to do with committing to a decision and seeing it through to completi...

God cares about details. Look at God's work. Psalm 8 says that God crafted the moon and stars with his fingers. He cares about the intricacy of his work. No one is more detail-oriented than God. We see this not only in his creation, but also in his Sovereign decree in history. God never rushes to the conclusion. He builds the plot, develops the characters, has a multitude of side-narratives all le...

We're responsible for the results our work produces, or the lack thereof. We don't get to wash our hands at the point of intention or effort. Wanting to do great things is not enough. Trying to do great things is not sufficient. Results matter. Yes, God is sovereign. Yes, we are responsible. In order to be deemed faithful, we must go beyond desire, effort, and "our best." This "going beyond" is wh...

Making promises should be based on how you intend to deliver on them, not just hopeful ambition. We want to gain the investor's confidence. Just like with a Customer, the confidence in gained through your execution. You're held accountable to promises you made. A plan that doesn't include execution isn't a plan. It's just an aspiration. To be able to keep your promises, it's necessary to know how...

A business needs to have somebody at the ownership level thinking like an investor and somebody at the ownership level thinking like an operator. That could be 2 or more partners owning a business together. Or, it could be one Owner-Operator, who knows how to think like an investor.  If, as an operator, you're putting in alot of effort and not getting very much of a return at all, consider if...

As a business owner - whether you're a passive partner or an owner operator - you need to be able to think like an investor. This means that you evae objectively, without having your emotions and ego tied into your decisions. So, as a business owner, you need to be able to think like an investor. And, as a business owner, you need to be able to think an an operator.

Whether you're a passive investor or an owner-operator, you're responsible for the results of your business. Which means, you need to be able to assess its condition with a sober mind, apart from emotional entanglement. You need to think like an investor.

The wonder of business and free enterprise enables this vision and is a necessity without which human flourishing is impossible. The recipient of value is a customer. And the giver of value is a business, or more personally, a business owner. It's a feedback loop of value upon value, or blessing upon blessing, and it all starts with the business owner's agency. Owning a business is good. That can...

There are fundamentally 3 things that set the owner apart: Risk, Responsibility, and Reward.  The owner takes a risk to initiate and operate the business, takes responsibility for everything in the business, and is rewarded in return for his risk and responsibility. Risk, Responsibility, and Reward are what distinguishes the business owner from other stakeholders. Risk, Responsibility, and Re...

When the Finance function's job of keeping score turns inward, it forgets about customer value, causing the entire business to neglect it. But, in remembering that it's purpose is to give the business incite into value-delivery, the Finance department aligns the business effort for the customer. Many business problems arise when finance doesn't serve the customer.

If the purpose of a business - of any business - is to deliver value to a customer, each function revolves around that purpose. Strategy is to create the value, Sales is to promote it, Operations is to deliver it. And Administration is to manage it. Administration should be serving to help the overall customer experience, not bog it down. Order and control are good, and very much needed, as long a...

In delivering value, Operations must hold the customer as the definer of what is right - right quantity, right quality, right timing - and then structure the systems accordingly. The customer, the business, and the operations function itself loses when Operations doesn't serve the customer.

In episode 161, I talked about what a self-serving strategy looks like. This time we're going to talk about sales. What does self-serving sales look like?  When the customer believes that your value-offering is relevant and reliable, revenue growth follows. But when you chase revenue-growth, you win neither the customer nor the sale.

In order for a Business to create wins all around, the Strategy function has to understand the difference between the horse and the cart, between the white ball and the triangle rack of balls in the middle of the pool table, between the lead actions and lag measures. I'm not talking about Customer instead of profit. I'm saying you can focus on profit in a way that puts your focus on serving the cu...

If you want to own and operate a business, don’t start with finding your passion. Figure out what others are struggling with and how you can help them. Solve other people’s problems. Start by focusing on potential customers, then continue your focus on existing customers, and then focus on future customers. Customers, not passions, are what make a business. If you want to be in busines...

These are larger projects that have a lot of steps and milestones before the result can be actualized. But the return on them is big. These are your annual or quarterly goals that you have to work on for weeks or month to make progress on. In order to get where you want to get to, you need to devote most of your time on these items, and make sure you're keeping yourself on task. The payoff is big....

Business owners are visionaries. They're dreamers. They're goal setters. They focus on the future, with aspirations then and there.  Vague notions of ambition and aspiration that sound like, "It'd be great if..." aren't strong enough to get you anywhere, and definitely not strong enough to lead others with. Any leader must have clarity in his vision for the future and must be able to communic...

The typical amount of things that the average person gets done on a week by week basis isn't very much. There usually isn't too much actual progress made by most people. But in business, you have a natural motivator to keep you going; a personal incentive to whip you into action. Profit. Business requires that we move fast. But won't going too fast hurt you? If you can't keep up with the pace, won...

This is Part 3 in our little series on Working With Suppliers. The goal is to focus on providing them with value, before asking them for value.  If you want your suppliers to come through for you, you need to first come through for them. Before expecting value, give value. You want them to trust you, so be trustworthy. It's good to consider what sort of value you're providing when working wit...

Your goal is to gain your supplier's trust and become a valuable customer for them. You want them to care about their relationship with you. The question is, what makes a valuable customer in a business-to-business relationship? It's good to consider what sort of value you're providing when working with suppliers.

You need your vendors and suppliers in order to serve your customers. If your care about your customers, you must care about your suppliers. They are there to help you deliver the value you've promised. And you need to approach them with that mindset. They're not your employees. They are other business owners. Which means you are their customer. You can help them understand what is valuable for yo...

In anything we do, we're tempted to get distracted and derailed off the tracks we're on. I keep talking about serving customers as being the main idea - the entire point - in business. Serving the customer is the point of everything else you're trying to do. Everything else depends on it. You want your employees, vendors, and yourself to win. But that happens in connection with your customers winn...

Owning and managing a business has it's moments of euphoria. But a big part of business development is the gruesome, daily grind of simply doing the same thing every day. Results are what's exciting. Actions are boring.   A business owner does not spend his time in the realm of results. Results are the outcome of work. The work itself is what the business owner does.  Results are an outc...

What should you do when you're under continual pressure to fold? Consider the consequence. If you're tempted to fold, consider the consequence. Consider the consequence of 2 things. First, consider the consequence of folding. And second, consider the consequence of not folding. When tempted to fold, consider the consequence. Consider the consequence of folding. Consider the consequence of holding....