Tweaking one part of your business always affects other parts of your business, sometimes for the worse! In my previous blog, I wrote about technology being the last component to tweak when resolving business issues. I mentioned that People and Process have to be addressed first before even considering technology.  For you to increase the value of your business, you have to look at it as a system!

I have a client that was struggling with his business and thought it was up to him to generate new sales. So he focused his staff on improving their internal processes so they can be streamlined in their operations. When the projects come, his team would operate efficiently, thus increasing the bottom line . . . so he thought. However, sales was still dependent on him and the economy was not helping any. Sales continued to dip while his team focused on process improvement, further decreasing his margins. Through coaching and advice from his peer board, he realized that sales doesn’t have to depend solely on him. His team can help generate leads which could result in sales. He set the expectations with his team to help. Not only was he surprised that they were willing to do it (given the slow performance of the company), they were actually good at it! That following year with his team fully engaged, they experienced record revenues and profits!

Ask Yourself:

1) Are you tweaking the wrong part of your business? 2) How do you know if you’re making changes that will increase the value of your business? 3) How should you think about a problem before implementing a solution?

As a business owner, your employees are looking to you for the answers and solutions that will protect their way to earn a living for the security of their families. You are responsible for their livelihood. You can’t simply assume a solution will work. There are risks involved in being the owner of the company. Those risks come with a high price, including your own livelihood and your family’s wellbeing. You can’t afford to implement a model that doesn’t work!

So What Do You Do?

What if you had a way to look at your business that would make sense for any situation you encounter . . . for any problems or issues that arise? What if implementing this approach would give you the solution that provides the long-lasting results you want, instead of band aids or undesired results?

You can have that when you look at your business as a system, not just a combination of various departments and people.  A system operates as a closed-loop structure and tweaks in its various components may not result in lasting results.

Have you ever gone on a diet program to lose the weight, eventually gaining all the weight or more back? Diet programs are programs that don’t address the systemic issue or cause for the weight gain. Diets are typically one-size fits all programs. They work temporarily but they are not sustainable. On the other hand, if you addressed your systematic, day-to-day behaviors, such as what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, you have a better chance of keeping the weight off. When you implement these behaviors as part of your lifestyle, a healthy weight is sustainable. This approach is a change in the system, not merely a program. Only when you address the root cause of the system breakdown, will you achieve sustainable change (loss of weight).

Programs Don’t Work!

Stop adding programs to your business that don’t address the systemic issues! You’re just adding band aids on a deeper issue. It may work for a short period of time, but in the long run it’s more costly (additional patches, lost energy, lost time, lost opportunities) and the issue is not resolved.

Your business is a system that is composed of People, Process & Infrastructure.  People deals with the human element. Process deals with the action or behavior element.  Infrastructure deals with the resources or tools element.  Since your business is a closed-loop system, a tweak in one of these components affects the other. In my client example above, he tweaked the Process component (flow of his operations) but didn’t tweak the People component (focus and mindset of his team and himself), which was really the root cause.

Imagine your business as a system made up of People, Process & Infrastructure. Now imagine that your business has a perfect balance in equilibrium in all three areas. That’s what it looks like when you’re operating at peak performance. When something disrupts that peak performance, whether it’s a new competitor, loss of a major client, loss of a key employee, etc; then its equilibrium is off balance. Your business system will strive to come back into its equilibrium state, if the right tweaks are made. However, if you implement a solution that goes against that perfect balance that your business system needs, then your business will continue to be off balance and producing below peak performance.

The Ultimate Business Machine

Visualize your company that’s continually performing at its peak. You have figured out the right formula to balance People, Process & Infrastructure whenever faced with a challenge or disruption in its equilibrium. You have the answers and solutions because you truly know your business body and drive down to the root cause of issues. You’re addressing the systemic issues instead of implementing programs that are just short-term solutions. You have the ultimate business machine!

What would that do for your company, your employees, and most importantly for your family? You would be home at reasonable hours with your full attention towards your family. You’re at peace knowing that your business is humming. And if another challenge comes along that disrupts the balance, you have confidence you have the right model that will nip it in the bud!

It could happen! And it does happen for many companies. Are those companies perfect and never experience downturns. No! But when they do, they’re poised to withstand the blows and come back quicker and stronger. They have found a way to always come back to their equilibrium of People, Process & Infrastructure.

So next time you’re faced with a challenge in your business, are you going to implement a patch for short-term gain? Or will you address the systemic issue in your business system that will get you back to peak performance?

For more information on a successful business operating system, read about the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).

To Your Business Health!