Businesses start and fail in the U.
S. at an incredible rate.
Every year, over 500,000 people start
a business. Within one year,
40% are out of business. Within five years, more than 80% will have
failed.
What happened to the dream?
The key to business success is a
process called "business development."
Business development can be systematically applied by any business.
Businesses don't work by themselves;
people work. And what makes people work
is an idea worth working for.
The Entrepreneurial Seizure
The real reasons people start businesses
have little to do with entrepreneurship.
The entrepreneurial myth echoes
heroic efforts and self-sacrifice. However, the Entrepreneur exists for
only a moment. What was the entrepreneur doing before starting the business?
Working, doing technical work for someone else, most likely.
One day, suddenly, an Entrepreneurial
Seizure strikes the Technician. Cut the cord! Be the boss!
The Fatal Assumption
The Entrepreneurial Seizure started
the business. But
the Technician went to work.
When starting a business, Technicians make this fatal assumption:
- If you're an expert in
the technical work of a business,
- you'll be an expert in
a business that does the technical work.
Knowing the technical work
of the business becomes the new Entrepreneur's biggest liability! É
And the BIG IDEA, the entrepreneurial dream, turns into the Technician's
nightmare!
Why? The technical work of a business and
the business of doing the technical work are two different things!
The solution is to learn how
to make the business work.
Making the Business Model Work
If the results in your business depend
on extraordinary people, it's not duplicable. Sooner
or later you'll have problems because your results depend on specific
people.
Great businesses depend on
great systems, not great people. You can duplicate systems, but not
people. If your business can't duplicate salable results, it
won't survive. Duplication is Nature's Law of Survival.
Extraordinary people don't
build great businesses. Ordinary people
build great businesses by producing extraordinary results using a duplicable
system.
It's impossible to produce
consistent results in a business that requires extraordinary people.
(Typically, an "all-star" team produces
mediocre results. Why? They're not using a proven system. Besides, everyone
is too busy trying to be THE STAR!)
Instead, develop a result producing SYSTEM that
amplifies ordinary skills into extraordinary results!
Therefore, don't waste your
time looking for extraordinary widget makers. Develop
a wiget making SYSTEM ordinary people can use to produce extraordinary
widgets. Predictably. Affordably.
Don't look for the best accountant.
Develop an accounting SYSTEM anyone
can use. Predictably. Affordably.
Don't look for the best salesperson.
Develop a sales SYSTEM anyone can use.
Predictably. Affordably.
Here are some basic rules for building a duplicable
business (called "model" below):
- The model will stand out as a place of impeccable order.
- All work on the model will be documented
in Operations Manuals.
- The model will provide a uniformly predictable service
to the customer.
- The model will use a consistent standard for color, facilities, and dress.
How Do I Know?
I've been through it, having
either started or participated in several entrepreneurial ventures.
By 1984, I had worked for start-ups
like Scientific Data Systems, Trans-A-File,
and Credex. I had founded my own ventures: Documentation Express, Safari
Studios, Talisman Party, and Senior Management Services. In every case, I made the Fatal Assumption.
I turned my entrepreneurial dreams into technician's nightmares!
As a result, I immersed myself
in business development. From '84 until
'92, I spent thousands of hours developing and documenting my "franchise
prototype."
Why a franchise prototype?
Because most franchises succeed,
while most start-ups fail. Successful
franchises have an idea worth working for.
And, they have a documented management system É documented
strategies and plans É documented business processes É etc.
During the development of my
prototype, I paid many thousands of
dollars to the Michael Thomas Corporation, a consulting firm. There,
I was personally trained by Michael Gerber, Tom Travisano, Ilene Gerber,
Jeanne Martin, Richard Chambers, Robert Vickery, Paul Anderson, Carolyn
Martin, Paul Anderson and others.
This training was not fancy
MBA theory. It was real-world application in real-world
business. I studied, learned and applied. Day after day, month after
month.
One day, I invited them to
my office to see how I had computerized the franchise prototype. They
were blown away! To
summarize, my franchise prototype is worth a fortune!
Someday I may sell the whole package.
Until then, I am prepared
to tailor pieces of it to your business. This would save you a lot of
time, trouble, and expense.
The upside is: business development
works. The downside is: business development
is never done. (The only constant is change.) By
now, I think you've got the idea. I
hope to assist your success, too.
To your health and wealth,
Mike Hayden