In our book, Trucker Management, we propose that small business owners use "Circle Checks", similar to those used by truckers to check on the safety of their rigs, as an easy, concise way to keep track of all the small details in their businesses, and to present their best image to customers, employees, etc.. The idea is that if you are regularly forced into taking a few minutes to step back from your business and eyeball things the way impartial third parties would, by having to complete your Checklist, you will see things that you might otherwise miss amidst your busy work each day.
I'm sure there are many business owners who would scoff at the need for something like this, already feeling like they are in relatively complete command of their business, tuned in to everything such that a Checklist is nothing more than a silly nuisance that would add no value.
Now we have some pretty powerful support for our Checklist approach. I recently saw an interview on TV with the author of the new book "The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right". In the book, he argues that no matter the level of expertise one has in what they are doing, performance can be improved by the regular use of checklists - establishing routines to follow each and every time, no matter how well-prepared you otherwise think you are for the task at hand.
His first example, of course, is airline pilots. Here is a group of people who are well trained and expert in their field, but who regularly use checklists to ensure their optimal performance (ie. arriving safely). But what the author, Atul Gawande, did was extend this rationale to unusual places. He is a surgeon, perhaps the single group of professionals who we perceive to be as trained as they could possibly be, as expert in their fields as one could become. Once his surgical team implemented the use of checklists, they saw all sorts of dramatic results in terms of declines in rates of infection, etc. - very real, important, tangible results, from a group of uber-trained professionals who might otherwise think they wouldn't need to use a tool like a checklist.
I haven't yet been able to read the book, but it is next on my list and I am anxious to get into it. It has received rave reviews already from the likes of Malcolm Gladwell and Steven Levitt.
So, I hate to say "we told you so", but......"We told you so!!". No matter how expert you think you already are in your business, no matter how well you think you have things under control, even surgeons have found remarkable results from using a checklist approach. The changes for your business in using our Circle Checks might not be as dramatic as saving a human life, but could it be as much as saving the life of your business??
A Sign from Above
On our way back from Ottawa, we passed through a small town and saw the best sign message ever. It had me smiling the whole back to Kingston and still thinking about it 2 days later.
It was one of those light up signs that you can change the letters. Over the years it seems to be that churches come up with the most clever things to write and they've done it again.
This sign said "Sign broken, message inside."
How clever! Love it!
It was one of those light up signs that you can change the letters. Over the years it seems to be that churches come up with the most clever things to write and they've done it again.
This sign said "Sign broken, message inside."
How clever! Love it!
Who's more important?
Staff or customers? This is definitely a tough question for business owners. Without staff you can't get as much done, without customers there's no point in getting stuff done.
The other day a local tourist destination said to me that their staff was more important than me - the customer. They didn't say it out loud or directly, but rather in actions. The 3 closest parking spots were all reserved for staff, directors. Customers need to park further away. We're obviously not as important in their mind. But without a customer, would they be a destination?
The other day a local tourist destination said to me that their staff was more important than me - the customer. They didn't say it out loud or directly, but rather in actions. The 3 closest parking spots were all reserved for staff, directors. Customers need to park further away. We're obviously not as important in their mind. But without a customer, would they be a destination?
The danger of over-entrepreneuring
I was working with a client the other day whose business has relatively large cash deposits each day, 7 days a week, along with all of the merchant credit and debit cards they process. They had become disgusted with the 50 cents, or whatever the nominal amount was, that they were paying the bank for each deposit they were making. So, they decided to begin making a deposit only every 3 or 4 days, instead of every day. Deposits are always made by night deposit drop by a manager on the way home, so reducing the number of deposits wasn't saving staff time/cost to make them, simply saving this 50 cents per deposit bank fee to process.
While I admire their attention to detail in looking for cost savings any/everywhere, this particular one was a little ridiculous to me for two reasons. First, holding so much cash on hand for so long just begs for trouble from theft, etc.. If all I have to pay is 50 cents to feel secure that my cash for that day is safely put into my account without any further worry about it, to me, that's a bargain.
Second, and more importantly, is that grouping deposits like that makes it harder and more time consuming for me to do my checking/review of their books, since I now have to add daily amounts together to match to a single deposit on the bank statement. The 50 cent savings from the bank is easily being more than offset by increases in my time, which is billed by the hour.
Now, I'm not normally one to complain about taking money from a bank, but I think this is a classic case of an entrepreneur making a bigger deal of a cost than it really is. Sometimes business owners will find these things because they object to the principle of paying it (this particular client has a hate-on for the banks as it is, so wasn't even phased when I explained it was costing them more for my time - it was justified in his mind if he got to screw the banks in the process).
Other times, this kind of harm-inducing tinkering comes about when entrepreneurs are bored or suspicious of their own successful operations. Businesses that are running well and experiencing consistently growing sales and profits are prime candidates for over-entrepreneuring by owners who have a natural uneasiness about things operating "smoothly", and so they invent things to fix that don't in fact need fixing. They have struggled so hard for so long to make their business successful, turned over every leaf in finding and fighting to get the business to this stage, that it seems soul-shakingly unnatural to them to not still be finding things to change.
And, so when there aren't big things to change, they get out the microscope and find the little things to change. And, they make a change, because their experience has conditioned them to believe that's what they need to do. They cannot simply leave things be, because it feels wrong to do so. And, the result can be unnecessary, or even detrimental, changes to something that was just fine as it was.
As an entrepreneur, do you have the ability to know when to say "enough", and avoid the peril of over-entrepreneuring? Do you have someone around you who will tell you when you can't see it for yourself?
While I admire their attention to detail in looking for cost savings any/everywhere, this particular one was a little ridiculous to me for two reasons. First, holding so much cash on hand for so long just begs for trouble from theft, etc.. If all I have to pay is 50 cents to feel secure that my cash for that day is safely put into my account without any further worry about it, to me, that's a bargain.
Second, and more importantly, is that grouping deposits like that makes it harder and more time consuming for me to do my checking/review of their books, since I now have to add daily amounts together to match to a single deposit on the bank statement. The 50 cent savings from the bank is easily being more than offset by increases in my time, which is billed by the hour.
Now, I'm not normally one to complain about taking money from a bank, but I think this is a classic case of an entrepreneur making a bigger deal of a cost than it really is. Sometimes business owners will find these things because they object to the principle of paying it (this particular client has a hate-on for the banks as it is, so wasn't even phased when I explained it was costing them more for my time - it was justified in his mind if he got to screw the banks in the process).
Other times, this kind of harm-inducing tinkering comes about when entrepreneurs are bored or suspicious of their own successful operations. Businesses that are running well and experiencing consistently growing sales and profits are prime candidates for over-entrepreneuring by owners who have a natural uneasiness about things operating "smoothly", and so they invent things to fix that don't in fact need fixing. They have struggled so hard for so long to make their business successful, turned over every leaf in finding and fighting to get the business to this stage, that it seems soul-shakingly unnatural to them to not still be finding things to change.
And, so when there aren't big things to change, they get out the microscope and find the little things to change. And, they make a change, because their experience has conditioned them to believe that's what they need to do. They cannot simply leave things be, because it feels wrong to do so. And, the result can be unnecessary, or even detrimental, changes to something that was just fine as it was.
As an entrepreneur, do you have the ability to know when to say "enough", and avoid the peril of over-entrepreneuring? Do you have someone around you who will tell you when you can't see it for yourself?
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