Industry Magazine Get JACK'D Magazine Winter 2019 | Page 7

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don’t know what “there” is! I’m not talk-
ing mission and values here. What I’m
looking for is, what does the company
look like in the future? Geographical
footprint? Size? Locations? Revenues?
Margins? Number of people? Channels
of business? As my client Brian
Scudamore, Founder of 1-800-Got-
Junk?, likes to say, the Painted Picture.
Can you draw it, and attach appropriate
timelines?
Once we know the “What/Vision,” the
BUSINESS PLAN is the “How.” Here we
are looking for the strategies needed to
accomplish the Vision. While the Vision
will be further out in the future, the
Business Plan focuses on the next one
to two years, providing critical specific-
ity as to who, when, where, and how.
The FINANCIAL PLAN comprises our
projected Income Statement, Balance
Sheet, and Source and Use of Funds
(Cash Management). Here’s an area that
cannot be ignored by the CEO but is too
often neglected by the CEO. Delegation
is fine; abdication is not. The CEO must
have a handle on the numbers of the
business and can drive the direction of
the firm via-a-vis the BUSINESS PLAN.
Attention to CASH is critical, and daily
reporting and monitoring of cash should
be a staple of any business. The entre-
preneurial graveyard is packed with the
bodies of businesses that focused on
sales growth, only to find themselves
out of cash to “pay the bills.”
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are
essential for the CEO to have a firm
grip on. All too often, CEOs ignore the
“Leading Indicators,” which help us tell
the direction the company is heading (as
opposed to “Lagging Indicators” which
generally report where we have been).
The ORGANIZATION CHART has more
to do with ownership of activities and
accountability than anything else. The
key here is to regularly ask the ques-
tion as to whether the team in place is
the team to take you where the Vision
states. Many times, the leadership
team a company begins with is not the
team that will take the firm where its
Vision states.
7. Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinko’s, prob-
ably said it best: the job of the CEO is
not to run the company; it’s to grow the
company, and you don’t do that sitting
behind a desk at corporate. I’m not sug-
gesting that the CEO “sells,” but being
more active in the field with their sales
teams will bring significant growth to
the company.
8. KEY RELATIONSHIPS need to be nur-
tured on an ongoing basis by the CEO.
These can include banking relations,
key customers, vendors, investors, and
various other relationships that can be
relied on in both good and bad times.
9. Are you tapping into those who have
“been there, done that”? MENTORS/
ADVISORY BOARDS can be worth their
weight in gold in terms of extending
the reach of relationships, tapping into
growth opportunities, and avoiding los-
ing direction based on their reservoir of
experience.
10. INDUSTRY NETWORKING has present-
ed countless opportunities for growth
in my previous businesses. Keeping
12.
FOCUS precedes success. When
Steve Jobs was asked what he was
most proud of, he surely had plenty
to choose from. His answer was quite
revealing: all the things he said NO to.
Witness Apple as the highest-valued
company in the world selling very few
products. Yet, we regularly witness
entrepreneurs chasing too many shiny
objects.
13. How much of your time is being invest-
ed in TODAY vs. TOMORROW? Salim
Ismail, in his classic book Exponential
Organizations, underscores the amount
and speed of change in technology and
how most business platforms will be
rendered obsolete in a relatively short
period of time. What are you doing to
stay ahead of the change coming to your
industry and business?
14. CONTINUING EDUCATION – How
much time are you allocating to staying
ahead of your competition and keeping
abreast of where your industry is head-
ing? As my friend Verne Harnish says so
well, “Leaders are readers.”
Once we know the “What/Vision,” the BUSINESS
PLAN is the “How.” Here we are looking for the
strategies needed to accomplish the Vision.
While the Vision will be further out in the future,
the Business Plan focuses on the next one to two
years, providing critical specificity as to who, when,
where, and how.
one’s ear to the happenings within the
industry can often uncover avenues
for growth that can often be missed
by those whose noses are singularly
placed inside the business.
11. Peter Drucker said it best: CULTURE
eats strategy for breakfast. The CEO
should ensure the appropriate systems
and processes are in place for consist-
ent recognition and communication. All
too often we see CULTURE by default,
when it should be by design.
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15. We use the word leader often in business,
and I say that we somehow dropped off
the beginning letters to what’s needed:
CHEERLEADER. Building and growing a
business is challenging and can often be
rewarding. However, I’m hard-pressed
to locate the successful business that
doesn’t encounter potholes along the
way. As the CHEERLEADER of the com-
pany, it’s the CEO’s responsibility to se-
cure and grow the enthusiasm of all in
pursuit of the Vision.