Uncovering problems in your business
We have two dogs, a yard and a fly problem (especially in the warmer months). That combination requires us to clean the yard daily, if not multiple times a day.
I usually head out to the yard in the morning, bag in hand and the sun inching its way upward. Because of the direction our house faces, the sun’s deliberate ascent results in a shadow covering nearly half of the yard.
As I make my exit to the yard, I do a quick scan to identify targets. I pretty easily get them in my sights.
The moment I step into the grass to perform the grand removal, my shadow skews my perspective. I am forced to bob ever so slightly back and forth to ensure I am capturing my prey. And not stepping in it or any of its associated debris.
This dance continues as I make my way around and across the yard. Once satisfied I have cleared the yard of its smelly land mines, I find my way back to safety. I tie the bag and celebrate my own quiet victory.
And without fail, as I look askance at the yard, I see it. One evaded my careful search. Marching with purpose to capture the scoundrel, the inevitable happens…there was yet another hiding in the grass just waiting for its chance.
The same thing happens in business. The light shines on part of the business, and we cast shadows over the rest of it. Sometimes, it’s because things we said are important are functioning well enough. Other times, we avoid those little “gifts” because we “don’t have the time or energy to deal with it.” And there are still other times when people are deliberately hiding things because they don’t want to look bad.
Regardless of the reasons, these issues exist, they are real, and they need to be dealt with. When we ignore them, we experience a whole host of other problems that could have been avoided. When it goes on for too long, we see decreases in:
- Customer satisfaction
- Job satisfaction
- Efficiency
- Product quality
- Service quality
- And, ultimately, profitability
It doesn’t have to be that way. Can every business run perfectly error-free? No. It’s not going to happen. But you can be deliberate in the things you want to ignore versus the things that you want fixed. These are basic trade-off decisions. And as long as you are deliberate in making them, you can have a high-functioning business with very few surprises.
There are a few ways to approach this.
First, start to build it into your culture. Celebrate finding current or potential problems, issues, concerns, roadblocks. Be honest about them. Use them as opportunities to learn and teach. Be aware of how people respond when these issues are raised. If someone is bringing something to leadership, blowing up at them doesn’t do anyone any good. And they won’t mention things in the future. When you make it part of your culture, you innovate, you lead, you create value, and you enjoy new and greater success.
One company I worked closely with was having recurring issues with product consistency. These issues spanned various products, sourced from multiple suppliers. The company had a reputation for honesty and integrity, so it should come as no surprise that we handled the issues head-on. Was there frustration? Sure. But that wasn’t going to solve the problem. Instead, we pulled people together, figured out what was happening in the products and set about fixing them. In the end, we ended up with better products, better packaging, regained trust with our customers and increased revenue and profit.
Next, view your business through the eyes of a competitor. When preparing for a game, coaches look for weaknesses in their opponents that they can exploit. It happens in pretty much every sport. Great competitors in business do the same thing. The look for where you are vulnerable to see what they can attack. Perhaps it is something about your product or service, your pricing, the breadth and depth of your offerings, or your efficiency. If you look at your business through their eyes, you can see where they can take advantage and take steps to mitigate that. And for the record, every business has a weakness. Don’t get trapped into thinking yours doesn’t. It does, and someone will expose it for their gain.
For example, when we were creating the Buffalo Trace Bourbon brand, we spent considerable time evaluating our competitors. We wanted to strike the right balance between price and prestige. Specifically, we wanted to bring a super-premium product to market that was priced for more frequent purchasing. We opted for unique (at the time) packaging, high quality components and a product that was competitive with the best whiskeys on the planet. That meant significantly higher costs. But we found a gap in the market when it came to pricing and attacked it. That decision met with resounding success.
Third, imagine you are starting from scratch. Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently? How would you “blow up” this business and start over? If you could wave a magic wand, what would you change about your product or service? Your production? Your pricing, your marketing, your back office? Where is it worth spending time energy and resources and where is it a waste? What are your competitors doing (or not doing) that you can turn in your favor?
The summer of 2008 was devastating. The economy was cratering and many businesses started to grind to a halt. At PCA Skin, we also felt the effects. After a few months of decline, the CEO and I sat down and looked at the entire business. We needed to make up for lost revenue and become more effective in the process. After a few hours of throwing around ideas, none of which felt right, we took a step back. Our sales cycle was what was holding us back. It had been running the same way for years. And it had been good enough. It no longer was. So we ripped it up and started over. The new cycle was going to require us separating the team and hiring a bunch of new people to manage it. That is exactly what we did and had unprecedented growth for each of the next several years.
Be thoughtful and deliberate in evaluating your business. Make specific choices and know why you are making them. Be certain about the things you will ignore or set aside. Identify the opportunities you want to take advantage of and why they would be good for the business.
Once you have done these exercises and documented your decisions, you are ready to execute. So, get after it.