Authorpreneur Dashboard – Kenneth Bator
The Formula for Business Success = B + C + S
Business & Investing
How do you create that unique experience for your business that keeps customers coming back? Isn’t there some step-by-step guide that will just lead you through the process? Companies that have created, and continually offer, exceptional experiences for their customers understand that it takes the complete alignment of the Brand, Culture, and Strategy. Some apply these success principles consciously while others do it instinctually. Through business success stories, some clever analogies, and a few tales about situations that didn’t go that well, The Formula for Business Success = B + C + S provides the framework to build a great organization. Create your unique B + C + S alignment by building the proper image for your current and prospective customers, developing an experience for and through your employees, and implementing tactics that drive more of the right business to your business.
Book Bubbles from The Formula for Business Success = B + C + S
How do You Adapt?
It's a different world today. Stephen Covey talked about it in The 8th Habit when he spoke of the Knowledge Worker Age. Jim Collins and Morten Hansen stated that we will most likely live the rest of lives in world of chaos and uncertainty. Simply put, as I state in my book, it's a new ballgame...pun intended given the start of baseball season. But the big question is how do you and will you continually adapt to the new ballgame in business today?
Don't Fall in Love with Your Own Press
"Nothing fails like success." This quote from the late Dr. Stephen Covey sticks in my head like one of my favorite magnets on my fridge. It reminds me that what worked yesterday won't necessarily work today. As I wrote this book I often thought about organizations that seemed to have a great B C S Formula but eventually went bankrupt. Just when we think we have everything figured out it's clearly time to re-evaluate the B C S Formula for our operation.
What's Driving Your Organization?
How well is the When, Why, Where, Who, and How aligned in your business? This may seem like high-level strategic planning but it's actually pretty straightforward. Answering the When, Why, Where, Who, and How questions creates focus, lowers chaos, and helps with decision making.
Strategy: More than a Napkin
After nearly 20 years of being involved in strategic planning, the 200-page three-to-five-year written strategic plan is going by the wayside. There is simply too much change, too much chaos, and too much uncertainty in this economy today...and probably for the rest of our lives. Many of my clients have wisely stated that their strategies could easily change in three or six months. That may lead some to simply create a strategy on the back of a napkin. While that is a long-accepted practice, a better idea maybe to use a Strategic Map. The Strategic Map is a tool simply printed on two-sides of one sheet of paper. One side lists key Organization Drivers. The other lists goals and key objectives. Learn more about the Strategic Map in the book and in this article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140730181145-21241857-a-new-napkin-the-strtegic-map?published=u
How will you adapt?
I absolutely love the work of Jim Collins. I am a raving fan of his books in particular Good to Great and Great by Choice. The latter discusses how we need to get used to the idea that the remainder of our business lives will be unpredictable and chaotic. This makes the ability to adapt imperative today. This doesn't mean changing just for the sake of changing but thoroughly analyzing the landscape and acting accordingly to take advantage of the situation. How does your business adapt to constant change?
"Used to be" is a Killer
Today it's imperative to be adaptive. There are so many businesses I know of that fall into the category of "used to be" good. Continually evaluating your B C S Formula is critical. Or, in other words, periodically asking the questions of "What is the image we want to promote?" (Brand) "What is the experience we need to create both for and through our employees?" (Culture) "How can we drive more of the right business to our business?" (Strategy)
How do you Brand the Experience?
I tend to work with a number of service companies...businesses where the experience is just as or more important than the product. Diners can go anywhere to eat. Clients can go anywhere to get their hair done. Members can go anywhere to get a checking account. Customers can go anywhere to shop. Why do they frequent a particular business? Because they enjoy the overall experience. Case in point, I will go back to a restaurant that has average food but awesome service. It is rare I will go back to a venue that offers exceptional food but a terrible experience. How do you Brand the Experience for your business?
The "Employees-First" Approach
One of the primary and critical tenets of the B C S Formula is the simple concept of Happy Employees = Happy Customers. This is very difficult for some business owners and executives to understand. I hear "But the customer is #1!" "We have no business without customers!" Yes, that's true but you also have no business if you have no one to serve your customers. If you want to offer an exceeds-expectations experience for your clients, customers, or members you need to focus on your employees first.
Learning Should be Fun
We don't laugh enough as adults. Everything is so hectic. Everything is so serious. A couple of years ago I decided that I would shift my paradigm in my writing and my speaking. I used to aim to educate first and then have a little fun with my audience. Now I aim to entertain first and then educate. I find that I actually have an audience that learns more from that formula, no pun intended given the title of the book. So whether it's with my book or another medium from a fellow author or speaker, make sure you laugh as much as you can today.
What's the Image You Want to Create?
Many times entrepreneurs go into business because they are great at something. They have a real skill. They make the best tasting muffins, they can fix any car, they can style hair better than anyone, etc. Because of they are an expert at a skill and not necessarily at business or marketing they start with the "How we do business" rather than the "How we get business." The "How we get business" is about building a brand. Building an image that connects with people. Being able to communicate to a specific group why your business can solve their specific problem better than any other.
