By now we are well into the third and final level of the Masterplan – The Optimisation Level, where we focus on routines and generating more income so we can reach our final goal.
The last article looked at considerations for getting you out of working ON your business to focus on working ON it, so you no longer have a true functional role, but can understand what is or is not working without you having to be there all the time.
Now we look at the leaks in our ‘business bucket’ and the plugs we can create to fill those holes.
Remember, we’re working towards the 9th and last step of the 9 steps – Not working Fridays! So we need to accelerate…
Where are the leaks in the business bucket?
If I asked you to go back to your last 20 customers, do you know:
- How they found you – are you casting your net far enough?
- What marketing worked – can it be replicated in another avenue?
- What really performed from a business perspective?
What about the leads that didn’t convert to customers? Do you know:
- When they dropped out – review Step 5, Marketing and Customer Acquisition
- Why they didn’t convert – review step 6, Delivering Excellence
- What didn’t work in your business?
- Was it the marketing
- The customer journey
- The sales process
- Or a team member?
These are potential leaks, and if we can pull certain levers to plug those leaks, you’ll soon see a step change in how your business performs and crucially, generates more income.
The core levers in most businesses
The idea of pulling levers is more about being proactive in your thinking – Preparing for leaks rather reactive – the act of plugging the leak. Levers need to be manipulated before the leak even occurs, and here’s the three steps to achieving that:
- Understand the leaks in your business bucket
- Design the levers to plug the leaks before they happen
- Prioritise the levers.
The point of getting you more time to work ON your business, is that you can pay attention and time to those three steps.
So, what are the levers?
- Leads
- Conversations
- Customers
- Average order value
- Repeat purchases
- Margins
NB: These are common levers in most businesses, but not necessarily yours, so I urge you to take some time with your team, or with your mentor, to identify the levers relevant to you.
Once identified, you can figure out the numbers associated with each lever, agree on a target to reach that gives that area of your business a boost and get your team ready to implement any processes or changes to deliver said boost.
For example, if your priority is leads not converting, why didn’t they convert? Is there a process you can implement by which you can find out the answer, or do you need to analyse existing data?
Quite often, working backwards from a lost lead can expose the cause, giving you valuable insight into how to pull a lever and plug the next leak before it even occurs…
Do you want to talk this over with a business mentor who has gone through this process, and worked on the Masterplan to bring other clients success? I’m happy to have a 30 minute discovery call, or a free business mentoring session at your convenience. Please just book some time to see if I can help.