At the weekend I was up on my ladder cleaning out the guttering, the kind of job many of us will be doing during the lockdown. One of the downpipes was secured with four screws, three flatheads and one crosshead. After getting the first three out with the correct screwdriver, I proceeded to use the same screwdriver to leverage out the fourth screw. After a few minutes the words ‘the right tools for the job’ rang through my ears. I popped down the ladder, got the correct screwdriver, went back up and out came the screw.
I tell this story because part of my day job, as you might imagine, is mentoring business owners. I have clients from the optical profession, but also marketing agencies, roofing businesses, software businesses and engineering businesses. As well as mentoring them I help them to use the right tools for the job – the job of running their business.
An eye opener
Over the past few weeks, some of my clients have furloughed their staff and have had to step into the breach and answer the phones and process orders for their patients, customers and clients.
Some have been surprised, or even astounded by the amount of information their teams need to properly look after their customers. From retrieving information, processing orders on multiple platforms, taking accurate information, taking payments, setting up direct debits, placing orders and arranging home delivery.
In almost every case, getting stuck into the business processes has been an eye opener as they discover how much their own systems and processes prevent rather than facilitate the efficient completion of everyday tasks.
They are realising that while they may have the right tools to do their job, the same does not apply to their staff and their teams.
Not only is the technology they are using often older or second rate, but the need for investment in time to develop more effective and efficient systems has been, to some extent, ignored. They are finding that the only reason their business functions at all, is down to the innovative ways in which their teams have developed workarounds through their own initiative.
The irony of this is that by experiencing what it is really like at the coalface, they have understood that they need to be looking at their business as a whole. In other words, they need to work on their businesses rather than in their businesses.
Time on your hands
In some cases, the lull in normal activity has allowed the business owner the time they have always craved to sort out those business challenges that they never get around to. Whether it is business planning, marketing planning, implementing a staff appraisal system, changing their branding, setting up a customer feedback system or even giving the place a lick of paint, these business-critical activities are now coming off the back burner.
Under normal conditions, many practice owners are optometrists, busy working at capacity and with only so many hours in the day, there is no time left for helping the business grow.
So the question is, having realised that working on these systems and processes will make them more efficient, how does a business owner make sure they do not go back to their old ways post-Covid-19?
A chance to change
Now is a great opportunity for you to re-evaluate the plans for your business and make permanent changes. Is the idea that you must work hard to be successful really true, or is it a case of doing the right work? What do you need to stop doing in order to be able to properly focus on growing your business?
As the owner of your own practice, you can only see one patient at a time and you would rightly be concerned that you will lose money when you go on holiday. However, grow that practice so that you have two or three practitioners and your role changes completely from a practitioner of optics to a practitioner of management and business development.
That all sounds well and good but how do you do this? I would suggest thinking of the old saying: ‘How do you eat an elephant – one bite at a time.’ Consider marketing, for example. Marketing covers a multitude of topics from website design, social media branding, customer feedback, product selection and pricing. Even this is far too much to do in one area, let alone trying to tackle everything at once.
The other aspect to be aware of is you will always tend towards doing the things within your comfort zone and not necessarily the most important areas. In other words, without proper planning you will end up working on the things you most like doing, meanwhile everything else becomes seen as a problem.
Delegation is essential
Delegating and outsourcing elements of your business management is essential if you do not have the right skillset or motivation for that area. Allowing these roadblocks to stifle progress will frustrate you and your teams as you grow and lead to poorer performance.
Unleash the expertise from within your own teams and do not be afraid of bringing in fresh talent to help you grow. On the upside of this event those businesses who grab this nettle will be the ones who thrive.
When you put your focus onto the area that is holding you back, either by getting stuck in yourself or by hiring someone to do it for you, it is amazing how it accelerates your progress.