There are endless possibilities for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs to develop their business into a sustainable business, that can sustain itself. The greatest challenge entrepreneurs and Leaders is TIME There is simply too little time, it’s the only finite resource and we want to do so much with it. It’s never ideas, not money because we can always make a plan around that, but time. It leads us to make making choices and prioritizing usually urgent matters over long-term strategic important work that needs to be done. Also known as ‘Working in your business, but not on your business’
Before we get into the how of how the Right Business Consultant will help us manage the operational and strategic work we need to do, let’s consider the following.
What do Blockbusters, Kodak and Nokia. have in common?
These three businesses were once industry giants, with the majority market share in their respective industries. When these businesses are mentioned in conversation today, they are no longer relevant. All these businesses were industry leaders but have fallen due to a lack of innovation and the reluctance to adapt to change. Can you say comfort zone?
Many small businesses and entrepreneurs who have reached a certain level of success tend to ignore the aspect of developing and growing their businesses due to the feeling of achieving what they wanted. Don’t be the next Blockbusters, Kodak or Nokia, rather aspire to be the next Netflix or Amazon.
Let’s take a look at how Netflix and Amazon evolved.
Netflix started out as a small DVD rental store, where DVDs were posted to the clients and the clients posted the DVDs back. They have evolved, adapted, and changed over the years, through ample heated discussions, late nights, and self-doubts, now they are the leading video streaming service in the world.
Amazon started out as a small online bookstore in 1995. Now they are the largest online store for anything and everything you can think of buying all over the world! But they did not stop there. Now Amazon has its own video streaming service as well. The contribution to the success of Amazon is the meeting structure that Jeff Bezos implemented. He banned PowerPoint and instructed that the meeting briefs are distributed prior to the meeting. All employees relevant to the meeting need to read through the meeting brief, come prepared to the meeting, discuss and resolve any issues that arise then and there to ensure that the maximum potential is reached. Of course, there was reluctance and resentment from employees during this transition phase, after adoption and acceptance of the new meeting structure led to creative thinking and this evolved the way of doing things.
How to choose a business growth consultant to partner with your business
As a Business Owner or Senior Leader, when you need to:
- Look for someone that is educated – either more so or differently than yourself
- Multi-skilled Business Consultant works best for Small Business Owners, as they can provide value to you and your business
- Consider diversity in your choice – you want someone different to you so that you can expand your perspectives, and at the same time complimentary to you, so ensure that you aligned in terms of your values and vision.
- Experience – don’t be shy to ask for references or about their experience. It’s important that they can hold their own
- Good communication skills
- Experience implementing changes in businesses
- Be ready to collaborate – a business consultant is not a yes man, and if they are – be very worried.
- Be open to keeping developing your growth mindset
A good Business Consultant is going to help you realize your vision, but also tell you the truth. They are also, very importantly, going to help you think through decisions, be your sounding board, and help you keep you balanced between what is urgent and needs to be done now. Versus what we need to sit down and work on for long-term goals and objectives. And now you have to decide…
At Success by Design we offer all of this, we have over 15 years of experience and are multiskilled in service design, process optimization, project & change management. If results are what you want, we got you covered. We all have degrees, and our CEO, Terrill Christians has an MBA. Values, ethics, and education are key factors at Success By Design. Why you may ask, well, we act as a strategic partner to CEOs, Senior Management, and Business Owners and we need to ensure that we are well equipped and prepared.
Success by Design has a customized business growth consulting method, the 6D approach to Business optimization
Just like Netflix, Amazon, and Nike, at Success by Design, we combine traditional business strategies with design thinking to create a custom solution.
We support and guide upon implementations so that we can assist employees, refine solutions further to ensure we reach the business objectives. We manage the change with your team and share our knowledge in the process. We want to work ourselves out of a job. Evolving your business is our goal. The next time we engage, we want to work on the next level of growth.
Our solutions are feasible, viable, and desirable to key stakeholders, and our implementation of the solutions is also customized to your ecosystem.
What our customer's say
Written by: Lauren Bester
‘To be the right fit as a Business Consultant to an Organisation, you not only need to be able to see and understand the current state of the business and the future state of what it could be. Most importantly, you need to know how to get your client there’ Terrill Christians, CEO, Success By Design
At Success By Design we help businesses increase sales, productivity and improve customer experience through consulting training, and software services. Feel free to contact us to talk about your needs info@successbydesign.co.za