ALIGNMENT – YOUR BUSINESS DEPENDS ON IT

If the success of your business was dependent solely on how hard you worked each day then you should be a millionaire by now, right? That’s how I used to feel, especially as a new entrepreneur. I devoted countless hours, days and nights, to building my business but I just wasn’t seeing the fruits of my labor as much as I thought I would be. Hard work will take you far but it won’t take you over the finish line, so what are some other things you need to have as part of your business culture to help place and keep you on the path to success? Today we’ll talk about a big one — ALIGNMENT.

Alignment, in its most basic definition is “when everything lines up”. When all four of your vehicle tires are in alignment there is less of a chance your car will veer to the left or right while driving down the road. This concept is similar for your business. In order to keep your business on track and heading in the right direction, growth and profit, all elements of your business – your employees, your business culture, your org structure, your marketing strategy and your branding – are strategically arranged to fulfill the purpose of your business. In short, your business has a goal, everybody within your business understands that goal and all energy is focused on achieving that goal.

How do you achieve alignment in your business? It starts with two simple but very important questions: 1) What do you customers need and want? 2) What service or value are you producing? If the answers to these two questions are in alignment then you are off to a great start! If your business foundation is solid, your mission, vision and values should be clear and attainable.

Successful business alignment follows a 3 step process:

1. Establish goals and objectives that are known and understood throughout your organization.

2. Create a plan that will achieve your goals and objectives, communicate that plan to everyone and make sure any initiatives, activities and efforts are related to what you want to accomplish in your business.

3. Develop metrics to measure results. Having a plan in place serves no purpose if you don’t have a way to measure progress and make changes if needed.

Is your business properly aligned? If it’s not, you are wasting precious time and energy that can be better spent positioning yourself for success!