Review your structure & processes to improve your business

Many businesses perform at a fraction of their capacity across at least two of the four fundamental pillars – people, processes & data, marketing & sales and capital.  At the same time, they suffer from a lack of co-ordination and synchronisation across the pillars that leads to poor communication.

In the past, the underlying issues have been accepted despite holding the business back.  In essence, the business has got away with it.  Going forward, in a more competitive, technology driven market the consequences of under-performing are likely to be more severe including the loss of key talent and customers.

There are many reasons for SMEs under-performing:

• we are all busy and few businesses take the time to review and modernise their structure, instead preferring a series of short-term fixes
• without the right processes, it is difficult to objectively identify and tackle the real source of issues holding the business back
• leadership teams become too involved managing the business and distracted from understanding changes in their marketplace and developing the business
• new recruits bring their own learnings and values and, without the right structure, these are allowed to slowly dilute the focus, effectiveness and spirit within the business
• the effectiveness of the marketing activities are neither measured properly nor effectively reviewed
• very few businesses measure the performance of their people properly
• as the business grows, meetings become ineffective and a source of negativity
• the right people are increasingly difficult to find and too many compromises are made in recruitment
• there are time consuming, energy sapping conflicts between the leadership team and the principal shareholders.