C21 Consulting Ltd

Business is more often than not spelt with a 'Y' in the middle. Busyness however, is no guarantee of success.  We can all be busy fools without too much difficulty.

It's important then to take a step back from the front line of order processing, problem solving, fire fighting, people management and cash flow and think about the business in a different way.

There's a story of the man who worked hard for years climbing the ladder of success only to find that when he got to the top, the view was not as he had imagined it.  He had of course been climbing the wrong ladder.

It's like that in business if we don't take regular time to ask ourselves certain key questions:

1. How are we going?
2. What is working and what is not working?
3. Are we succeeding (whatever this means to us)?
4. Are we delivering the right product or service?
5. What's happening around us that might affect us in the future?
6. How can we ensure that we aren't caught off-guard?

Getting the future out of your mind

When talking to small business leaders they say 'I'm doing this all of the time'.  Of course, we understand that as business people our minds are constantly occupied with questions, but often we are not asking ourselves the right questions to get the answers that will grow our business in the future.

In addition to this, just because the Managing Director is thinking about these things is no guarantee that everyone else in the business is on the same page. 

What about the management team?  Are they thinking the same as you?  Chances are that your Operations Manager is focused more on operations.  More than likely, your Sales Manager will be into sales.  Your Finance Manager is probably embroiled in the detail of the business finances.

In other words their actions are being shaped by what's in their mind, what's in front of them and what they see as their job.

What about your staff?  Do they know what you are thinking?  Are they aware of how you see the future for the business?  Do they feel confident that everything is okay or not?

Are your staff and team aligned to your thinking or are they just doing what they know to do to the best of their ability?

Working on the business

In his book 'The E-Myth', Michael Gerber referred to the fact that most of our time is spent working IN the business rather than working ON the business.

Why not take some time dealing with the IMPORTANT but not URGENT before it becomes URGENT and IMPORTANT?