Today we’re on Stage 24, Let me be the first to congratulate you for making it through the most difficult Mountain Stage of this year’s Tour de Profit – the Business Chassis stages! If you took a short cut over these past five days and did not do your homework, you will certainly be sorry. And you will have missed out on one of the most powerful concepts you will ever come across for growing your business.
But now is not the time to rest or take a break. We begin Stage 24 as we enter the region we call Leverage. This is an exciting, four-stage region where you have the opportunity to “shift gears” and get yourself out of the monotonous day-to-day routines in your business.
Shifting Gears is a good thing. If we were to try to ride this entire race with a single gear, there would be times when we would be literally spinning our wheels and other times when we would just wish we could go faster. These are the four areas of your business where you can apply Leverage in a meaningful and impactful way:
● In the Processes you use to get work done
● In the Marketing strategies you use to promote your business
● In the People processes you apply to your business
● In Technology you bring to bear in your business
Each of these four areas holds a goldmine of improvement that can be gained through Leverage. Let me give you a few examples to get your juices flowing about creating leverage in your business. This can be in the sales process, in your manufacturing processes, in your quality control area, in your finance department, your purchasing function or your human resources activities. Anywhere you have activities that are done on a repeated basis there are opportunities to improve through Leverage.
Think about those areas in your business where you have multiple people who do the same task, such as sales, order entry, assembly operations, packaging and shipping, delivery or accounts payable. These are prime suspects for improvement through Leverage.
Your Profit Tip of the Day
Get your wheels spinning by creating a list of all of the repeatable activities in your business. Put them into groups related to the functions of the business. Then once you have brainstormed all that you can – and you should have at least 20 possible ideas – then take these and prioritize them.
Here’s a quick way to do the prioritization. Consider your entire list and allocate 100 points across all items with those having the biggest potential impact on the success or efficiency of your business getting more of the points. Then list your ideas in order from highest to lowest points received. Are you ready? This is not difficult work, but it is game-changing.
Remember, your competitors aren’t doing this, so why not take this opportunity to distance yourself from them.
If you’re looking for more success and freedom from your business, join my FREE, private Facebook Group called The Peloton. It’s where business owners like you are learning, sharing and working together to get better every day! Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jointhepeloton/
Come on – join us! And remember, whatever you do, RIDE HARD!
