Synergy – What does this mean for your business & how can you achieve it?

My theme this month in Synergy.  This has been defined as “the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.”

So what does this have to do with running your business? Put very simply, in order for you to have a business that can ultimately work without you, you need all the elements of your business to be working in harmony.     There are 4 Steps ultimately leading to Synergy itself  which I’ll outline below;

Step 1 – Mastery – The focus here is on getting organised and eliminating the chaos that can be involved with running a business.

  • Focus on ensuring you have covered off all the key basics for your organization, making sure you have a business plan and that you actually use it.  That you’ve set goals both for the business and yourself.
  • Time management – making sure that you are  spending a reasonable number of hours each week working ‘on’ your business, not all of it working ‘in’ it. Organising your tasks into a diary, delegating tasks that should be done by someone else and binning those that aren’t needed (why not try this exercise now),  making sure you’re eating those pesky frogs rather than procrastinating on the tasks that are holding you back.
  • Delivery – the way you delivery your product or service to your customers/client, making sure you have regular contact with them and clearly written processes for doing so.
  • The financials for your business – making sure you have all the things you’ll need to have in place to run a profitable business.  Do you have a cash flow forecast, balance sheet, profit and loss account, know your breakeven point, have a system in place for managing debtors and creditors, and Key Performance Indicators to aim for.

Step 2 – Sales/Marketing – This is often an area where businesses get bogged down.  So the aim here is to break your marketing activity down and focus on five key things.

  • Leads
  • Conversion Rates
  • Number of Transactions (times people buy from you)
  • Average Sale Values
  • Margins

Armed with this information you’ll be able to clearly see which marketing strategies are working and which aren’t.  Marketing can require a great deal of investment and it’s vital that it brings a return on investment, ultimately leading to a healthy profit.  There are multiple strategies that can be used here and you will need to experiment and find the ones that fit your business the best.  You will of course need plans and processes for both your marketing and sales activities.

Step 3 – Systems – or Save Yourself Time Energy and Money.  In order for your business to be able to ultimately operate without you, you need to have systems and processes in place that everyone can follow.  Putting these things in place can seem a daunting task, however once they’re there they provide the structure to your every day business operation.   Examples are:-

  • How to Manuals
  • Automation of routine tasks
  • Staff Appraisals and accountability
  • Productivity checks
  • KPIs that are measured and regularly reviewed

Step 4 – is your Team – If your ultimate goal is to have a business that can operate efficiently and effectively without you then you’re going to need a team of people to run it for you.  Stands to reason really, doesn’t it?!  In order to do that you’re going to need to ensure you have the following in place

The right people recruited and in the right seats on your bus

A positive environment for them to be able to work together and collaborate

To stick everything together a team needs

  • Strong leadership
  • Common goal
  • Rules of the game
  • Action plan
  • Support risk taking
  • 100% involvement & inclusion

After all Together Everyone Achieves More

Step 5 – Synergy – When you get to this step your business is able to run without you.  It’s also at this point that you can expand, grow and develop to have multiple branches or even offices in other countries.  Your business is a well oiled machine, with each part working in harmony to get the job done.

This blog is meant as a guide to some of the areas for you to look at in order to get the best from you and your business, however it is by no means a complete workbook for you to put everything in place.  To learn more book a 121 with me and together we can explore how coaching can help your business.  No strings, no obligation, just a chat over coffee.  To get started simply Click here to send me an email or call me on 07952 112432.