How interesting to see a lady who was not seen to be active in business making such a statement. Rose Kennedy was, of course, the mother of JFK, Bobby and Ted Kennedy (among her 9 children), but showed a clear understanding of business when stating that more is lost through neglect than anything else.
How is this possible?
Quite simply, in a number of ways:
Neglect of customers – probably the way that most people would think about. If you neglect your customers, they will simply vote with their feet. Remember Sam Walton’s famous quote, “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”
Neglect of staff – another way that might seem obvious to some but, unfortunately, not all. It’s imperative to treat your employees well – apart from the damage high levels of staff churn can do to your business, it’s extremely costly, too, as I’ve written about before. And if they don’t leave, but just have low productivity, your business suffers, too. As Sir Richard Branson said, “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t have to.”
Neglect of suppliers – often forgotten, as some business leaders like to think that there will always be other suppliers waiting in the proverbial wings. In fact, if you develop a close relationship with your suppliers and operate on a win-win basis, it can really make a big difference to your business. They will try to help with better pricing or extended terms if you’re in a tight spot, will do joint promotions with you when appropriate and generally work with you to make your business as successful as they can. After all, the more successful you are, the more successful they can be.
Neglect of systems and processes – this is probably the area most often neglected, simply because so many companies adopt the approach of, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In fact, systems and processes should be under constant evaluation. Have your managers question whether there ways in which things can be streamlined, decision-making improved, or something introduced that can give you a competitive advantage? Offer rewards for suggestions from those working on the front-line, and so on. Remember, as the business grows, the old ways of doing things will need to change: don’t just add more steps and complexity but look for ways to re-engineer them completely.
Make a resolution for 2022 to treat these four areas as the legs of your chair – if one is weakened you could fall; at the very least, the chair will become wobbly or uncomfortable. Don’t neglect any of the legs but nourish them to keep them strong and your business will thrive.
#BusinessFitness #2022 #Attitude #Business #GoalSetting #Risk #Strategy #Teams #Winners #QOTW
Some of my other posts related to this that you might find interesting:
- “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” – Sam Walton
- “Businesses often forget about their current customers [audience] – the people who are already listening, buying, and engaging.” – Paul Jarvis
- “Happy employees lead to happy customers, which leads to more profits.” — Vaughn Aust
- “Company culture matters. How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything for better or for worse.” – Simon Sinek
- “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn
- “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t have to.” – Sir Richard Branson
- Are Staff Leaving Because of Bad Management?
- “Never change things by fighting the existing reality…to change something build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – R. Buckminster Fuller
- Is Your Business Ready for Growth This Year?
- “Don’t should all over yourself” – Tony Robbins