‘Designing Strategies’ eNewsletter

September – October, 2017                                         Volume 14  —  Issue 79

 

Do you find yourself doing the same things in your business that you did last week, last month or even last year?  Not good.  You have reached a plateau where  you are comfortable and decided to stay put?  Really not good.  You know what happens when something sits still in the same place don’t you?  If you’ve ever watched ‘American Pickers’ on the History channel, you’ll understand that when people ‘collect’ things, but leave them sitting around for a long time, they start to deteriorate.  A car or bicycle left outside for years will begin to rust.  The rust will eat holes in the metal, the tires will rot and what was once a great piece of Americana becomes pretty worthless.  Don’t let this happen to your business.  It’s time to get your small business growing!

Have You Adopted The Treadmill Business Philosophy?

business treadmill philosophyDo you feel like your small business is trapped on a treadmill?  Walking, then running, longer and longer, faster and faster, but simply going nowhere?  You’ve worked up a sweat, are huffing and puffing, gasping for air.  As you grab a towel to wipe the sweat from your brow and a bottled water to restore hydration, what has changed?  Nothing.  Something new should have happened, don’t you think?  A little forward progress would have been nice.  That’s not going to happen on a treadmill system unless all you want is to burn off some calories.  Don’t let your business growth get stuck using the Treadmill Philosophy.

All that time and effort spent, and you are in exactly the same spot where you started.  You’re still doing what you were last week, last month or last year.  If you aren’t frustrated yet, wake up!  You should be.   Your revenues are just about where they were last year, maybe less.  Profits haven’t increased at all.  You don’t have any new customers.

You aren’t selling product or services to any new market segments.  Costs have risen but your prices have remained stagnant.  Your staff size is exactly the same.  You couldn’t handle new customers if they walked through your front door with a check in their hands.  You’re not selling more or to customers willing to buy more.  The bigger, more exciting projects you want to take on seem just out of reach.  Why?  You’re wasting  time and energy but staying in the same place.  You’ve been operating using The Treadmill Business Philosophy System.  Not good.

Get Off the Treadmill and Hop on a Conveyor Belt.

Treadmills and conveyors do have a few things in common:  pulleys, belt systems, roller systems, motors and other components.  But once you take away the belt they are very different.  A treadmill keeps you in one place, pushing that small, limited belt around and around, over and over again.  Is there forward motion?  Nope, none at all.  Treadmills are like the hamster wheels we see in pet stores.  The hamster runs as the wheel goes around and around, but he never advances so much as a fraction of an inch.

get your small business growingConveyors do one important thing differently:  they move things forward.  Today, companies like Amazon use conveyor systems to move products out of their warehouses and into the hands of their customers.  They are industry leaders when it comes to shortening the time it takes for an order to arrive and be delivered to it’s customers.  Amazon is even challenging the biggest names in delivery – UPS and FedEX – by adding drone delivery to their arsenal of business tools.

How a Conveyor Can Get Your Small Business Growing.

The alternative option ‘conveys’ something forward.  Things move, and progress is made.  Ideally, a conveyor operates much like your small business.  Using policies, processes and systems, the company moves forward in a smooth manner, getting better everyday.  It allows for time to add new ideas and concepts to help you get growing.

New, improved products and marketing efforts attract new prospects who can be turned into paying customers.  The development of new products and services are offered to a growing base of customers, increasing revenue and profits.  The company grows, rather than staying in the same place.  Because there are set processes and systems in place, the firm is poised to move from where you started to where your goals focused your Vision.

Treadmill or Conveyor – You Choose

Which concept seems the better option for moving your small business forward?  Which sounds like it will take your company toward your vision of success?   Hint:  it’s not the treadmill.  When a business operates in same place for long periods of time, they eventually realize they are in a rut.  Think about it:  a rut is nothing more than a grave with the ends knocked out.  It’s time to put your firm in a position to move forward, don’t you think?

Conveyor Systems Built American Businesses

convey your business to successWhen manufacturing was a bigger industry sector here in the US, it was not uncommon to see stories on the news of companies growing and succeeding through the use of conveyor systems.  In 1913, Henry Ford introduced conveyor belts to build his automobile business. Each individual piece or part of every car began at one end of the conveyor system with a basic ‘frame’.  Then, the conveyor moved the incomplete product ahead to the next area for the addition of other parts.  This process continued until every necessary piece had been attached in place until the product was completed and it rolled off at the end.  Cars are made this way.  So is furniture.  Each finished piece, all shiny and new, was packaged or rolled onto a truck for delivery to distributors to end users.  Henry Ford summed it up nicely:

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”

Convey Your Business to Growth and Success

Client service-based projects work in much the same way.  Each project has a series of steps and processes to get from beginning to end.  Each step moves the project closer to its finish.  That’s the benefit of a Business Conveyor Belt strategy over a Business Treadmill Philosophy.  Everything moves forward all the time.  The plan is that in the end, product or services will be completed and delivered in a timely, organized manner.  It is all based on focus and forward momentum.  Positive growth occurs.  Success is achieved.

Everything is based on planning and thinking things through strategically.  Nothing is left to chance.  Nothing is allowed to stagnate without immediate attention and correction.  If you are tired of a treadmill existence for your small business, let’s talk about how we can remove you from your treadmill to a well planned conveyor system that moves your company forward.  It’s about time you get off the treadmill and get your small business growing.