state of the business owner fundamentals webinar

State of the Business Owner 2012

Fundamentals

Fundamentals WebinarJune 21, 2012

333 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 350 | Portland, OR 97204 | 800-620-0307 | www.synotac.com© Synotac Design, LLC 2012

Presented by:Cameron Madill, President and Founder, Synotac

Tricia Huebner, Director of Training and Education, EMyth

Presenters

For Guides & Additional Resourceswww.stateoftheowner.com

Cameron Madill Tricia Huebner

President Synotac

Director of Training and Education

EMyth

Webinar Questions & Comments

Twitter Hashtag: #sobo2012

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Origins and Motivation

What are the success factors helping small and midsize businesses

succeed in 2012?


The Planner and The Pessimist


The Planner

o Believes they control their destiny

o Has a coherent vision of the future

o Regularly tracks business metrics

o Has concrete plans to move towards their business vision

o Are innovative with technology


The Pessimist

o Believes the future is dictated by external events beyond their control

o Does not have a vision for their company in the future

o Has few or no formal plans for making progress towards this vision

o Does not regularly consult metrics to track business progress

Why should I care?Businesses owned by Planners:

Grew faster in 2011

Had higher annual revenues

Were more optimistic about 2012

The owners took home more compensation


Planner Disciplines


Fundamentals Accelerators People



KEY #1FUNDAMENTALS

Fundamentals

Businesses that thrived in 2011 followed a simple formula:

Vision + Plans + Data = Success

KEY #1 - FUNDAMENTALS


Vision + Plans + Data• Businesses with a written description of what they want their

business to look like in the future grew 50% faster than those who did not.

• The greater the extent of revenue planning, the more successful businesses were in 2011 and the more optimistic they were about 2012

• Businesses that tracked business metrics monthly were 80% larger and earned 60% more than those who did not

• Businesses that use financial statements to make decisions were 45% larger and earned 60% more than those who did not



Vision



The Most Important Leadership Question:



Do you know what you want your business to look like three years from

today?

Poll



Do you have a written vision document that clearly describes where your company will be 3 - 5 years from today?

Default or Design?



EMyth Process



• Visions and Plans (what's the difference?)

• Pre-work: Primary Aim & Personal Objectives

• Creating Your Strategic Objective

• Dreaming Exercise and Brainstorming Tool

• Commitment Check

• Implementation Plan (key drivers)

Leadership System: Company Meetings

Management System: Key Strategic Indicators

Management System: Employee Development Meetings

Vision and Plans

Vision is…

The What

Plan is…

The How

The Why?

Is answered through:

Primary Aim (personal passion and purpose)

Personal Objectives (business versus job)

Mission Statement

Company Values

EMyth Vision = Strategic Objective

Your Strategic Objective is a clearly written “statement” of what your business will be when it is complete.

It is a detailed picture of what the business will look like, act like, and feel like, and how it will perform when it is “done”.



Why do you need one?

A Strategic Objective provides a sense of direction and goals for the future, motivation for you and your employees — a dream to strive for, and a basis for decision making, planning, and business development activities.

Priority Flow Model



Vision Orientation



Technicianthe doer

Managerthe designer

Entrepreneurthe dreamer

What’s the one impossible thing that if

you could do it you would own your market?

Line of BusinessProducts/Services Offered



Who are you? Will the business be a manufacturer, retailer, distributor, service company, or something else?

What kinds of products and services will be offered?

Company Size/Growth Objectives

Projections for:

Annual sales, profitability, return on equity, number of employees, number of outlets, growth rates, etc.



Geographic Scope

Market areas served Business locations

established Headquarters Operational reach



Target Markets, Market Positioning

Types of customers Demographics Psychographics





Competitive advantage

Product features

Distinctive elements of your product or service.

Product/Service enhancements

Basis of Competition

Basis of Competition



Distinctive…

Marketing methods

Behavior/dress/employees

Presence

Operations

Tangible impressions

Intangible impressions

Timing

When will the Strategic Objective be achieved?



Plans



Plans



The greater the extent of revenue planning, the more successful businesses were in 2011 and the more optimistic they were about 2012

Poll



Do you lead your management team through an annual planning process?

Poll



What prompts your planning process?



Business Development Dynamics

Data



Bowling Blind

What would happen if you had to run your business without any feedback on the results you were achieving?



What gets measured, matters.



Key Strategic Indicators



CEO dashboard or report the measures overall progress toward your Strategic Objective.

A set of tangible and intangible elements that are described in your Objective.

The quantification of your company’s “condition” compared with the key elements of your Strategic Objective.

Selecting Your Key Indicators• Focus on the few (10 – 12 total) key elements of your

Strategic Objective.

• Report the ones that are tangible (things you can count) such as revenues, profit margin, growth rates, number of locations opened, company valuation, etc.

• Create a scoring system to quantify those intangible elements that you are unable to measure numerically (count easily), customer experience, employee buy-in, industry reputation, etc.



Key Elements: Tangible

Key Elements: Intangible



Intangibles…You need to define it!



Premiere?

Leading Edge?

Professional?

Team Atmosphere?

Customer Satisfaction?

Vision + Plans + Data• Businesses with a written description of what they want their

business to look like in the future grew 50% faster than those who did not.

• The greater the extent of revenue planning, the more successful businesses were in 2011 and the more optimistic they were about 2012

• Businesses that tracked business metrics monthly were 80% larger and earned 60% more than those who did not

• Businesses that use financial statements to make decisions were 45% larger and earned 60% more than those who did not



Questions?



State of the Business Owner 2012For additional research, guides and community:

www.stateoftheowner.com

Facebook.com/StateOfTheOwner

@StateOfTheOwner
