Business is complex. It is a not for the weak at heart. It requires dedication, passion and investment. In today’s marketplace, business has become even harder, even more complicated. How do you sort out the noise and really focus on the most critical factors for success?
Sometimes, business ownership can be isolating and a lonely place. You feel like no one else understands your unique challenges and it’s hard to find help.
Let’s be honest, help is out there, it’s just hard to be objective about a business you built. The passion you have for your business can blind you to the obvious gaps in your organization that hold you back from even bigger and better results.
ActionCOACH Business Coaches are certified professionals who work with businesses every day to build successful teams, increase profits and drive revenues to new levels. That doesn’t mean business owners turn over the responsibility to their coach to do the work. On the contrary, business owners work hand-in-hand with their coach to put new processes, and strategies in place to achieve massive results.
What follows is a great example of one of the veteran, award-winning ActionCOACH in New York City, Michael Breitman, leading a his clients through the concept of business complexity.
Veteran Award-winning ActionCOACH from NY
His blog appears on his website https://michaelbreitman.actioncoach.com/how-complex-is-your-business/
“While working with one of my clients whose medical practice has been growing very rapidly, the subject of maintaining organizational focus and culture came up. As our discussion progressed I was reminded of a few flip charts Brad Sugars, the founder and chairman of ActionCOACH, presented at one of our conferences. Brad first drew a two person company with one direct connection between the people. That flip chart looked something like this:
The next flip chart showed a three person company that had three direct connections between the people, looking something like this:
His third flip chart was a four person company with six direct connections:
Brad’s final flip chart was of an eight person organization showing twenty eight direct connections.
My client, with a stunned look on her face, saw this and said “No wonder I’ve had so many problems controlling the growth of my business.”
Just to recap:
| Number of People | Number of Direct Connections |
| 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 6 |
| 5 | 10 |
| 6 | 15 |
| 7 | 21 |
| 8 | 28 |
| 9 | 36 |
| 10 | 45 |
| 50 | 1,225 |
| 100 | 4,950 |
The simple formula for this is:
Direct Connections = ((Number of People * (Number of People – 1) / 2)
Using this formula it is easy to see that the level of complexity in a company grows at a much greater rate than the company’s growth rate.
Is your business starting to look a little bit more complex than perhaps you realized?
So how are we to grow our businesses, maintaining organizational focus and effectiveness? There are four key things you must accomplish in order to grow in control:
- Have a clear company Mission, Vision and Culture (MVC) – A strong and clear MVC that is aligned and congruent with your company’s Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is the cornerstone of healthy consistent growth.
- Communicate and Educate – You must constantly communicate your MVC and UVP to your team, both internal and external, and to your customers, both existing and potential. You must educate new team members and potential customers about your MVC and UVP and the why behind them (Read Simon Sinek’s book “Start With Why” for further insight). And most importantly it is absolutely essential that you eat, sleep and breathe your MVC and UVP.
- Plan your organization – Although many like to promote flat organizational models, completely flat organizations quickly lose their effectiveness as they scale up. Thus it is vitally important to plan the organizational structure of your company. At one end of the scale, completely flat will not allow for effective growth, at the other end of the scale, old fashion command and control will compromise creativity and nimbleness.
- Be Proactive – Most companies grow organically, without very much forethought or advanced planning. Too often companies reach the point of no return structurally and fail. All of my clients have a vision of how their companies will be structured working backward from three to five years in the future. You should do the same.
My ActionCOACH colleagues and I will be happy to assist you to develop your MVC, UVP and Organizational Structure, all of which will prepare your business for exceptional growth.”
This is just one example of the type of coaching, ActionCOACH offers. Whether during a one-to-one coaching session or as part of a group coaching session, ActionCOACH provide actionable, realistic and practical strategies that build on the universal fundamentals of any business. It doesn’t matter whether you run a one-man business or own an organization with hundreds of team members, there is a coaching program available to you to get ahead of your competition. More and more, business owners are investing in a business coach to help them keep their business thriving even through uncertain times.
To find an ActionCOACH near you visit www.actioncoach.com. We are so confident that you will find value in the coaching our independent certified professionals guarantee our services and the first session is on us.
What have you go to lose? What could you business gain?
Reason #1: Different styles and methods of business coaching don't work for everyone
It's important to be honest with yourself and conduct a realistic assessment when it comes to business coaching. Though business coaching can have many benefits, it might not work for everyone.
Every individual brings their own experiences and values to the coaching dynamic, so results will vary. Additionally, some individuals might need more than just a coach. They might also need specialised knowledge or communication strategies specific to their industry or target audience. Below are a few key factors to consider:
Reason #2: There is no clear focus or vision (talk about time dedication here too)
cIt's important to be honest with yourself and conduct a realistic assessment when it comes to business coaching. Though business coaching can have many benefits, it might not work for everyone.
Business coaching is an effective tool for developing a clearer focus and vision for growing your business. A good coach will help you to take a comprehensive look at your strengths, weaknesses, and available resources that can be used to reach those goals. They will also help you draw up action plans with step-by-step instructions to get there.
By providing honest feedback and being patient throughout the process, a business coach can make sure that you’re on the right track. This will enable you to set realistic milestones and tasks.
These tasks may need dedicated time outside of coaching sessions. For example, a coach might help a client develop a marketing strategy or implement new systems for managing employees. However, if the client does not have enough time to devote to these tasks outside of coaching sessions, progress will likely stall.
Both the coach and the client must have enough time available to reflect on past experiences, brainstorm new solutions, and test out different strategies. If either party is rushed or distracted during coaching sessions due to other commitments or obligations, they may struggle to fully engage in this process.
Effective business coaching also requires a commitment to regular meetings and ongoing communication. If either the coach or the client does not have enough time to dedicate to these meetings, progress may be slow or nonexistent.
It's important to recognise that business coaching is an ongoing process that takes time to yield results. While some clients may see improvements after just a few sessions with their coach. Others may need months or even years of consistent effort before they begin seeing real changes in their businesses.