The Synergy Post

What went wrong?

What went wrong? Whether it is about a failed relationship, a missed career opportunity or a rocky business venture, each one of us has asked ourselves that question at least once.

Diving in without a plan

A few years ago I was given the opportunity to take over a well-known, but failing local deli. Being a young, but aspiring business man I welcomed the request with open arms. Imagine my devastation when we had to close the deli’s doors after only six months. My dreams and that of my employees were shattered and with that, my life-long passion for the industry.

Years later, I plucked up the courage to investigate what exactly went wrong and what I could have done differently. Within five minutes down memory lane the answer hit me right between the eyes. I never did an in-depth business process audit before taking over the business.

Essential missed steps

We all know what a business process audit is, but here is a Wikipedia type definition anyway: “Business process audits (BPA) are the controlled and carefully executed study on all the critical processes within a business to establish their functionality in correlation to their importance within the business structure.” Blah Blah Blah. No wonder that as a young man, this was the furthest thing from my mind. This also is not only a reflection on me, but I have found that a lot of business owners, divisional managers etcetera usually just dive in without a plan and hope that they will be able to swim forever.

Sure, having a vision and some goals for your business is great, but goals without a good business process audit are unrealistic compared to what is usually needed for the business. In the deli, I did not asses what my strategy would be or what my brand identity would consist of. But most of all, If I looked carefully at my business’ past performance, I would have seen a lot of clues on how to turn it all around.

Of course, this is not only pertinent in the food industry, but across the board in all industries. Even an initial BPA can help you go in with a better strategy. Or at least with a strategy. Consistent auditing is important to ensure that you are on the right track and if you are not, you can see it and change the track for the better.

A good starting point

These are the three questions I should have asked initially

·         What worked yesterday? What didn’t work?

You need to know in all aspects of the business what was profitable yesterday and what wasn’t. Gather all your employees, especially the ones with a long history with the company and brainstorm and discuss like there is no tomorrow.

You’ll be surprised at the inherent wisdom of “old” hands.

 

 

·         How can I increase productivity?

While your company does everything to save money, it is important to determine whether the tasks you perform can be done in ways that can save time as well. Be “waste wise”; unnecessary waste can hamper a business’ productivity. With a little investigation you will learn that some processes might be completely irrelevant to your current processes and by eliminating them you can increase productivity.

 

·         Will this WOW my customers?

A big part of a business’ success is its customers. Word of mouth can be a blessing, but also a curse. It is wise to include the interests of your customers into your business audit process. A company needs to have the interests of its customers at heart, not only while you deal with them, but in the years to come as well.

The lessons I have learnt?

A business is ever-changing and there is never a ‘perfect’ plan. To keep it almost perfect, it is imperative to always be assessing your position. Take chances, make mistakes, but always take a step back, asses, plan, re-plan. In the end, it might just be worth it. Chances are, with proper process audits in place, it will be.