These two phrases are red flags—The High Performance Igniter?

The High Performance Igniter? is a brief perspective on what I’m seeing in the market, topics of interest for leaders and resources and tidbits to help you with your business. Here’s my take for August 28, 2024.

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Things I’ve been thinking about

I’ve got a confession.

There are two phrases that catch my attention.

And really get my attention when used in combination.

“We don’t have enough money”

And

“We’re different”

We don’t have enough money get my attention for two reasons: it makes me wonder how the business is being managed and how creative people are getting to solve the revenue problem.

Often, the “we need more money” mindset looks to rationalize how the the business is being managed rather than looking to adjust how it is being run to perform better.

Which brings questions like this to mind:

·????? What is the quality of decisions?

·????? Is the structure of the business suited to the current operations?

·????? How well do systems operate?

·????? Is the right talent on board and operating well?

·????? How are costs being managed?

·????? What is getting in the way of getting work done?

The companion to managing the business is getting creative. Which brings up questions like this:

·????? What do customers value and is the business delivering on it?

·????? What projects exist in a fast payback/ROI that can drive more business or increase productivity?

·????? How well are margins by customer and product/service known and managed?

·????? Do people have the mindset to find money and translate it to the bottom line?

The point is to have people pulling all the levers to grow revenue and margins while making the business efficient from a cost and operational perspective.

Which leads me to “we’re different.”

This phrase comes up frequently when discussing why business isn’t going well, used to frame either the industry or the business.

The reality is, there are a lot of commonalities across businesses and industries because people are in every business.

A lot of running a business is creating focus and value.

And when focus is created, the business typically becomes more productive and efficient.

And customer needs are being met.

Of course, there’s the other side of “we’re different.”?

That happens when the company far outperforms their competitors.

And that is worth taking the time to understand what is being done to learn from it.

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To your growth and success,

Heidi

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