February 2013: Business Building

February 2013

Business Building

The Buck Stops Here

By George Hedley

Business owners and managers fail to realize that squeezing out the last drop of productivity, cutting their overhead and costs to the bone, working harder, and continuing to do business the same way with the same old customers and project types won’t cut it today. It’s usually the leader who has gotten stuck and not willing to try new ideas or change.

Start at the top Company owners are 100% responsible for everything in their companies: sales, profits, growth, quality, customer service, organizational systems, people, productivity, cash flow, and management. In other words, the buck stops at the top. Weak leaders blame poor results on circumstances beyond their control. Weak leaders sit and wait for something to happen, customers to call, the economy to turn around, or some other miraculous event; while they don’t do anything different or decisive. Leaders have to make it happen.

Change me first Getting great results in this economy is an indicator of the leader’s vision and innovation. Real leaders make quick, decisive decisions to adjust and stay ahead of changing business climates. Poor leaders wait for something to happen and complain about everything except their own performances. Business owners rarely come into the office and say, “I’ve made a decision: I need to change how I manage, how I lead, and the direction of the company.” Poor leaders walk into the office and say, “My employees aren’t making it happen. My customers aren’t paying us fast enough. My competitors are too cheap. I can’t make enough profit. Everyone will have to work harder, and we’ll have to cut costs.”

Effective leaders realize they must have the courage to change themselves, first, before anyone will follow their leads. They must have a vision of where they’re going, be willing to try new markets, gain different customers and additional project types, and go against the grain. More than 90 percent of employees rate their companies’ leadership as below excellent. Employees don’t see business owners taking charge and going for the winner’s circle in these times.

What are you doing? I speak at lots of conventions to entrepreneurs, business owners and managers. The common business challenge is regarding how to make a profit and grow. This starts with a business owner having a dynamic, focused vision that employees can get excited about. People want to follow a leader on a mission. They won’t follow someone who is negative and complains about problems. True leaders stand up and say, “Here’s where we’re going, the changes we need to make, and how we’ll make it happen,” instead of, “Work hard and we’ll see how it works out; and if we do well, maybe we’ll be able to stay in business and survive.” This attitude doesn’t make people excited about coming to work and improving the bottom-line.

What’s your innovative vision? Effective leaders start with a new innovative vision and connect it to specific measurable results. Some companies have visions to be the best, offer the best service, or provide the best quality. While that’s an O.K. vision, it’s not exciting. Examples of exciting visions: Be the leader in cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions, providing our customers a unique finished project. Be the leader in completing projects 25 percent faster than competitors. Be the “go-to” company for building difficult complex projects.

What’s your target? After defining your exciting vision, specific results must be targeted to quantify your goals. For example, if your vision is to be the fastest service provider, determine what specific measurable results enhance your bottom line. Some specific targets can include: a referral from every customer, reduced installation errors, or 98 percent on-time completion. What specific targets and numbers can you shoot for to realize your vision and get the results you want?

Stop the buck Leading and getting the results starts with you. Change, innovate and try new ways of doing business, new project types, new customers, and new markets. Communicate your clear exciting vision. Define specific targets with expected results. And make it happen! Only you can decide if you will start the bucks rolling your way.