Now if you're one of those people who likes that kind of infinite certainty, that tomorrow will look like today and today resembles nothing so much as yesterday, then you can stop reading this book. Certainty is exactly what you like, and you know the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome. So you're going to keep doing the same thing and expect the same result. In a world where the rate of change continues to increase, that is the new definition of insanity. Your market will simply leave you behind.
If you're someone who shudders at the thought of infinite certainty, this book is for you. Perhaps the shudder is born of today's poor business performance making the prospect of repetition without progress a nightmare. Perhaps the shudder is born of the good performance of today's business but a strong sense that it could do better. It doesn't matter. What matters is an awareness that your business is not operating at the level it could or should be. And you're right, it's not. Your business, like you, is always capable of better.
Businesses encounter one of three problems. The first problem is trying to answer the question of whether there is a market for what you're selling, and whether it's scalable and profitable. This is not just an ‘early stage of growth' problem. Many small businesses address that question every day for years until they realise either that they've got a job or that they have to up the ante. In my own business, scale has always been the issue. But there are ways around the scalability problem, so long as you are prepared to think differently about your business.
The second problem is the washing machine. So you've proven there is a market and you're getting lots of demand; in fact, the challenge is to keep up with it. And at some point the growth stops. All that's left is the churning. The solution, as we'll see, lies in systems, but getting to that solution requires a step away from doing directly and instead investing in platforms that don't do anything for a while. This is the problem for the largest number of small businesses with potential, and it comes down to the owner having to spend more time on today's issues than tomorrow's opportunities – literally doing a job instead of building a business. I have a lot more to say about that problem throughout this book.
The third problem shouldn't be a problem. You've solved the sustainability issue, you've got through the washing machine, you should be sitting pretty. The problem is that you're bored. The business has reached a plateau. And so have you.
Now if you think that sounds like you and you're perfectly happy to stay in your nappy (the theme of a wonderful book I used to read my children), then by definition it's not a problem. Or you might like the excitement of the washing machine, so that too is not a problem. These things are only problems if you think they are. But then, if you like repetition without progress, you probably haven't even picked up this book, or if you did, you've stopped reading by now.
What you'll find in this book
Charles Handy said that life is a series of S curves. I don't think it's so dramatic in business. I think it's a series of plateaus – we climb, we achieve, we settle and then, unless we climb again, we decline, as shown in figure D.
Figure D : the plateau problem
Ideally, we would start preparations to go to the next level as soon as we start to level off. But we don't. We don't see that we've plateaued and we don't know how to let go so we only change when we have to.
This book reflects the key plateau points; the things we need to think about and implement if we are to avoid stalling. Part I sets the scene and discusses the seven mistakes that business owners make. If you don't recognise yourself in this section, put the book down and go about your business. There's nothing for you to see here. Parts II through V are organised around ‘breakpoints', which are points of departure from the status quo, points at which we break free from the constraints and start to climb again to the next level of performance. Finally, part VI is about mastery.
The stages of business ownership
Figure E shows the four stages of business ownership.
Figure E : from doing to being
The first transition is getting from sole trader to owner-operator. At the sole trader stage we have the biggest functional role in the business and we bring people in for technical roles. The plateau effect is that we kind of lose our lives in the business. I don't mean that we die, but rather that the business consumes us and imprisons us. We allow it to happen, but it can still feel incredibly difficult to break free. Passing from this stage to the owner-operator stage is getting your life back, and there are two distinct breakpoints: shifting your energy and regaining your freedom.
The second transition is from owner-operator to owner-manager – a true business owner. This is about what we do to the business to make it run without our direct input. To do that we have to evolve as leaders, and we have to grow the business to adulthood. We do this through leverage, which we achieve through two breakpoints:
• gaining a clear vision for the business and its purpose
• creating growth plans for marketing, staff and customers.
The third transition is where your business has become an investment. You may well still be active in it, but you have more of a strategic leadership role rather than managerial. In some ways this is the hardest part because your business is already successful, and now you want to take it to the next level – a state that I call ‘mastery', which part VI deals with. One of your key tasks here is building and being part of a team that drives continuous improvement.
The breakpoints here are about understanding what progressing beyond success looks like, and then it's about playing a bigger game. This piece sits outside our three transitions, and is more of a picture of what is possible for a business.
Making it real
I'd like to think that our bias at The Breakthrough is towards the practical. People tell us that what they like about our approach is that our concepts are framed in such a way that you can do something practical about them. So the theme of implementation runs right through the book, and in the conclusion we have a short section on execution, which goes back to where we start: in your head.
All the skills and behaviours we talk about in this book can be learned by anybody. Success will come if you are willing to think differently. In the end, though, for all the ideas and opportunities and challenges, it comes down to taking action.
By the end of this book, you will be inspired by new possibilities, fired up with enthusiasm, and ready for the new challenges. Above all else, I want to encourage you – literally, to give you courage. Because with courage and a clear picture of what is possible, the journey becomes a genuine adventure.
I always think that the journey metaphor sells the experience short. A journey is what happens when we go from A to B. Owning a business is full of twists and turns, risks and rewards, failures and triumphs in unequal measure. It's risky and rewarding, unpredictable and enriching. Lots of people look at that and say it's an ordeal, a lot of struggling for an uncertain outcome. But at The Breakthrough we choose to look at it as an adventure, which has the same components as an ordeal, the only difference being our attitude: an adventure requires of us a sense of discovery and excitement. I hope this book gives you that sense.
PART I
THE SEVEN MISTAKES
Over the last 10 years we've helped hundreds of business owners grow their businesses and improve their lifestyles. They've come from every sector, age group and qualification set. They've had good businesses in tough