Webster’s Dictionary definition of system includes: “a method or plan of classification or arrangement; an established way of doing something; method; procedure etc. There are four systems capabilities that are integral if you want to build your business:
- Strategy – To build a profitable enterprise and run your organization as a business.
- Structure – To change the game from a finite game, where you are a business of one, to an infinite game whare you are able to harness all the resources available to you.
- Systems & Processes – The systems and processes you establish for your business work to align your marketing, sales, and service initiatives to build a strong brand that creates value for clients and differentiates your business through the interactions that form the client experience you create.
- Financial Management – To understand the five financial levers in your business and drive the results you are looking to achieve.
The starting point is Strategy and the cornerstone of Strategy is your Business Definition. Too often, entrepreneurs are so busy working IN the business that they do not take the time to work ON the business. As a result, we find that 95% of entrepreneurs do not have a written and clearly articulated Business Definition before we start working with them. Typically, the daily grind of activities required to run the business keeps them from working on the business. While working in the business is necessary to keep revenues flowing, working on the business leads to breakthrough performance and transformation, both personally and professionally. You cannot build your business without a plan.
Each of these systems has at its foundation a plan. The plans for Marketing, Sales, Relationship Management and Resource Management are the subsets of the systems or Structure and Systems and Processes.
The reason people start a business is that they want to do something they consider important. Strategy describes what that is and how you are going to do it. The four systems address each aspect of what is required to build your business and a sustainable enterprise.