How One Small Change Can Equal Massive Results In Your Business
I was having lunch with one a client last week, he had invited me out for a casual Friday lunch, no particular reason. I enjoy a Friday lunch as much as the next person!
He bounced into the restaurant, big grin, high fived me and sat down. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world, which I knew not to be true. But he was clearly feeling good when he met me.
“I have never made as much money as we have this year,” he says to me with a massive grin. I sit on the advisory board of this business, so I know their business well, I know their finances well.
I knew that there hadn’t made any monumental changes to the business model – maybe I was missing something? We had made a number of the ‘1%ers’ that were all adding nicely to the overall business, so I was racking my brain to figure out which in particular had got him so excited.
So, I asked him, at the risk of looking like I had not been on the ball with their business ;-) “What’s changed?”
I knew we had made some important changes to their business processes, streamlined their business and helped to drive more profitability and efficiency, but I didn’t think he would be this chuffed about that. Then I thought about the work we had done in our strategic planning workshop getting clarity around their perfect customer to ensure that they attracted the work they wanted to do, not the work they had to do, but that was well underway and had been helping the business improve profitability already.
What was he so excited about today?!
Then he told me – and I had to say, I felt fairly deflated.
“You made us set up that new bank account…….”
So… of all the things that we had worked on, talked about, planned for and worked on, this was the highest value thing we achieved???!!!! A new bank account!!!
He saw the look on my face and quickly reassured me. “This was one of the best things that we did……have you seen how much money is in it?”
Then it dawned on me. As part of their strategic planning session, we had agreed that their Wildly Important Goal (WIG) was to increase their personal returns from their business by over 50%.
Starting with an already very generous 6-figure return, this was going to be no mean feat. So we had agreed that the best way to achieve this was to setup a new bank account – Directors Bonus account - and every month we would transfer an agreed percentage after reviewing the financials and agreeing on the numbers at our advisory board meeting.
Certainly not a new strategy but like all great plans, often get overlooked or pushed out as something ‘more urgent’ comes about.
These guys did it and followed it and now are reaping the benefits. The cash is in the bank.
Often it is simple things are the keys to success in business. This ‘bucket strategy’ used by the Barefoot Investor for people to build their personal wealth is also one that can be used in your business.
Many business owners (and their advisers!) tend to focus on the complicated and ‘sexy’ parts of business in their pursuit of scale and growth. Don’t overlook the simple things – they will often get you most of the way.
“Paying attention to simple little things that most people neglect makes a few men rich.” – Henry Ford
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