Money, markets, management and me

Three years of static growth led Neil O’Connor to ask whether he’s capable of growing a business much beyond its £1m turnover. He turned to executive education in a bid to find out. This is his second instalment describing his experiences.

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We have now nearly completed the Better Business Programme. We have worked through four two-day sessions and had coaching sessions to develop our strategy and business plan for growth. Yet to come are a half-day panel session to critique our business plans and further coaching, and a catch-up session in June next year to find out how we have done.

So what have I got out of the programme? I would have to admit that some aspects of it have been more useful than others – although the vast majority has at least been interesting and often entertaining. The opportunity to work with fellow entrepreneurs discussing both the problems and the opportunities that we have has been worthwhile in itself.

One of the great aspects of the programme is that it is structured so that you take ideas back to your business and work on them with your team. This is something that we have taken to heart, having workshops and discussions back at the office so that the whole company has been involved in developing our strategy and business plan.

The programme considers your business and strategy using the “four Ms”: Money, Markets, Management and Me – the “Me” theme is particularly emphasised as an aspect of the underlying philosophy for the programme is that owner-managers have a profound influence on their business – not just in terms of setting direction, but in their behaviour and the way in which it impacts on the day-to-day running of the business.

I have certainly realised while on the programme that how my team perceive me makes a difference (I have heard “What sort of mood is he in today?” in the office!). More importantly, however, having a clear view of what the owners want from the business and aligning the company strategy with that is very motivating. I’m sure that seems obvious to most people reading this, but I have been guilty in the past of being more concerned about growing the business than actually focussing on getting the business to deliver what I and the other owners want out of it.

The owners of the business now have a clear agreement as to what they want to get out of the business, in terms of their roles in the business, salaries and dividends, amount of time spent working etc. To deliver this we have a clear strategy based on an analysis of our markets, customers and competition and a five year plan to deliver against that strategy. This plan covers all of the “four Ms” discussed previously and encompasses significant changes to our marketing and the roles that different members of the team fulfil within the company as well as improved sales, delivery and people management based on what we have learnt from the programme.

The programme does not contain any significant new information or management techniques – there’s nothing on the programme that you will not have heard before, and not already know that you should be applying it to your business. It gives you the time and space to consider what you should be doing to improve your business with plenty of expertise and experience on hand to discuss how to apply what is being discussed.

The next step is the panel session where we present our business plans and receive a critique back – a bit like Dragons’ Den without the prospect of any investment! I’ll let you know how that goes – wish me luck!