About two years ago I met the owners of ActionCoachMN. They are a business coaching company. My accountant had sponsored a breakfast called the “Six Pillars of Success” breakfast. And at that breakfast the ActionCoach people made their presentation. They convinced me that they had some good knowledge and business understanding which would help my company to do well.
Here are the Six Pillars of Business Success, along with a quick summary of each:
1. Finances
Obviously it all hinges on the finances within your company. These need to be managed well. But you also need the sort of good financial reporting which will let you know where you are at, so that you can take appropriate action as needed.
2. Business Management Systems
Some call this “operations”. I like the term “Business Systems”. As we learned in the E-Myth books, it is really all about systems. Successful businesses have systems for everything; unsuccessful businesses do not. A franchise is a great example of a business which has been so systematized that they can ‘take it on the road’, or ‘put it in a box’ and sell it to others who can then replicate their system and also succeed.
3. Production
This is the goods or services which you well. You are either building a product, or providing a service. Either way you need to do this well, and keep your customers happy with what you are providing. This is the heart of the business. When someone asks you what you ‘do’, this is what you typically focus on as your answer.
4. Marketing
The world will never know how great is your product or service, until they become your customer. And they won’t do that without marketing. So this is how you get the word out. Marketing needs to have a system and a process and a plan. Does your company have a marketing plan? Do you know what is your marketing focus for each month of the year? Do you know how much your marketing costs you, and how many customers or dollars it typically bring in?
5. Sales
If marketing is everything that happens before you interact with the prospect, then Sales is everything that happens after that first contact. Whether they call you or email, at that point the sales process begins. Good companies have a clear and consistent sales process.
6. Team
It is all about the team. It is your employees who make it happen for your business. So the process of recruiting, training, supporting them is what will make your company strong.
These are the six pillars of business success. And they work. These six pillars give me a focusing point, and as I have worked through these items with ActionCoach, we have circled around the various topics and addressed items as needed.
Best to you as you focus on the six pillars of success in your business.