BUSINESS TALK

Taking Time Out

Any business owner or manager needs to occasionally take a step back and have a critical look at their business operation from the outside-in, sensibly assessing the internal and external dynamics that influence the businesses performance at various levels.

How do we make such a "time out" assessment and make it truly worth the effort? Taking "time out" means to properly reflect and consider all the essential elements of the business - whatever those factors are that makes the business competitive or just merely sustainable.

There are a number of approaches that one can follow, but whatever method you use, make absolutely sure that all the right questions are asked and that there is a sincere effort to find the appropriate answers.

There are 7 key questions that you can ask in a process of reflection:

  1. Apart from the need to make a decent profit, what are the other common goals of the business?
  2. What makes the 'economic engine' tick*, i.e. what are the main drivers that actually makes money for the business? (*One of the key concepts in Jim Collin's From Good to Great study)
  3. What is the business really good at doing?
  4. What are the most valuable success factors?
  5. What makes the business different?
  6. What is the business doing wrong?
  7. What could make the business grow significantly?

Direct answers to these key questions may well prove confrontational, but by the same token also be the reason for the business actually reaping a number of positive benefits as a result of honest reflection.

It's a culture of management worth exploring.

Reinier Matthee
Marathon Group