BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT
BBO METHOD
The BBO Method is the systematic approach we use to identify what a business owner needs to work on next in order to achieve business success.
BBO helps aspiring entrepreneurs move through the four stages to becoming a successful business owner.
BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT
BBO METHOD
The BBO Method is the systematic approach we use to identify what a business owner needs to work on next in order to achieve business success.
BBO helps aspiring entrepreneurs move through the four stages to becoming a successful business owner.
STAGE 1. genuine business opportunity
The first step in becoming a successful business owner is to ensure you are pursuing a genuine business opportunity. Failure to have the four elements that make up a Genuine Business Opportunity is often the fundamental cause of small business failure. Do not proceed unless you are confident you have these four essential elements.
1.1
Clearly understood customer desire
Business exists to allow people to exchange money for something they want. Therefore the foundation of every business must be a well understood customer desire. It is here that industry knowledge, market research and customer feedback is essential. Business owners must realise that customers don’t desire their products or services. They desire the solutions, feelings and benefits that their products or services provide. BBO uses customer interviews, web research and sales data analysis to help understand and confirm the customer desires on which a business is being built.
1.2
ABILITY TO PROVIDE SUPERIOR SATISFACTION
You must be able to provide superior satisfaction to your target customers if you are to successfully compete in the market place. This superior satisfaction may come from combining a whole range of attributes including but not limited to pricing, convenience, service, timeliness and quality. This element can be called your “competitive advantage” but it needs to be developed by thinking about “how can we provide superior customer satisfaction compared to their other options”.
1.3
ACCESIBLE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
A genuine business opportunity requires an effective way to identify and educate a sufficient number of potential customers about how you can help them better than anyone else. An accessible potential customer is someone who you can contact that has a desire for what you offer and is able to be serviced should they choose to buy from you.
1.4
ATTRACTIVE PROFIT POTENTIAL
Finally it is essential that the accessible potential customers can be converted to customers and satisfied profitably. Margins need to be healthy, secure and sustainable. Overheads need to be predictable and easily covered by the anticipated gross profit. Without the potential for an attractive profit there is not a genuine business opportunity. BBO uses margin analysis, overhead budgeting and sales forecasting to assess the likely profitability of a venture.
STAGE 2. solid business launch-pad
The second step in the BBO Business Improvement Method is to establish the foundations for a successful business. These elements are required before you can capitalise on a genuine business opportunity. Reflect on whether you have these elements in place before putting any effort into business growth.
2.1
A SELF-AWARE RESPONSIBLE LEADER
Every ship has one and only one captain who is ultimately responsible for everything and everyone on-board the ship. Just like with a ship it is essential that every business has a captain (or responsible leader). Without this, coordinated focused action towards any objective is impossible. The business leader must be sufficiently self-aware to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. They must then establish their operational and managerial responsibilities in the business accordingly. BBO uses personality profiling to help business owners and managers better understand how they respond to different situations and what roles they are best suited for in the business. BBO finds one-on-one coaching to be very effective in improving business owners’ leadership, delegation and time management skills.
2.2
COMMITTED TEAM WITH COMMON VALUES
Business growth is dependent on building capacity and in most cases increased capacity requires forming a team of people with differing roles and responsibilities. This only works if the team members share common values. Values are the fundamental framework which people use to make decisions. Without well understood, common values team members will make inconsistent, in congruent decisions that influence customer service and contradict organisational objectives. BBO uses values elicitation workshops to help business owners & their teams discover, define and implement the Core Values of their business.
2.3
SOUND IMPLEMENTABLE STRATEGY
Just as every ship needs a course to give it direction, every business needs a strategic plan. The strategic plan will explain how the business plans to achieve its objectives and what milestones will be used to measure progress. The strategic plan must be well informed and implementable. The strategy will only be as good as the information on which it was based which is why when BBO is engaged to assist with strategic planning we place a strong emphasis on doing the necessary research and analysis prior to brain storming strategic options.
2.4
ACCESS TO NECESSARY TIME & RESOURCES
The final essential element to a Solid Business Launchpad is access to the necessary capital, time, skills, people, equipment, lending, experience, systems, advisers, suppliers etc. needed to implement the strategy. Many businesses fail, not because they had a poor business model, but because they simply did not have the resources to pull it off. The business owner’s personal time is often a critical overlooked factor.
STAGE 3. Successful business
Once the business foundations are in place to seize a genuine business opportunity, a successful business can be built. This however does not automatically mean the business owner will become successful, but is it an essential prerequisite. Unfortunately many business owners loose sight of why they went into business in the first place and fail to move beyond this stage.
3.1
SUFFICIENT DEMAND
Ever since the beginning of recorded history there have been successful businesses. Long before the internet, MBA’s and fancy business management terms. What has and always will be required for a successful business is sufficient demand both now and into the future. Sufficient demand can be defined as enough sales to allow the business to operate profitably and make effective use of its available capacity. Increasing demand requires the development and implementation of effective marketing strategies assuming that it has already been confirmed that a genuine business opportunity exists. BBO develops marketing strategies that encompass all four elements of the marketing mix which are Product/Service, Pricing, Promotion and Placement/Delivery. BBO also helps businesses gain quick wins using tactics to increase prospecting effectiveness, quote conversion rates, average sale values and customer retention/loyalty.
3.2
SUFFICIENT CAPACITY
The second key element of a successful business is the ability to consistently deliver on your marketing promises. You must be able to satisfy customers in an accurate, timely and quality manner that meets their expectations. Sufficient capacity also refers to your ability to process inquiries in a way that maximizes the number of inquires that lead to sales. Often the first sign of insufficient capacity is in quoting delays rather than missed delivery deadlines. BBO is very experienced in helping clients increase capacity to take advantage of marketing improvements.
3.3
SUFFICIENT RETAINED GROSS MARGIN
Cash is king only if it is yours to keep. The profit margin in a sale is useless until you have satisfied the customer, received the cash and paid all your related bills. It then becomes Retained Margin, and it is this that gives the business security and the owners’ their financial returns. A successful business is financially viable both now and in the future. It retains sufficient margin to build capital reserves and fund growth after the owners have been paid fair commercial salaries.
3.4
ORGANISATIONAL MEMORY & AWARNESS
A successful business must understand the past so it can predict the future. Organisational memory refers to all the policies, procedures, information, data, relationships, knowledge and experience required to continue satisfying customers into the future. Awareness refers to the ability to understand the current state of the business and the business environment so that appropriate decisions can be made. Dashboards, management reporting, market research, competitor monitoring and forecasting all contribute to organisational awareness.
STAGE 4. Successful business owner
The final, most challenging stage is to become a successful business owner using your successful business. Most small business owners never achieve the state in which they have the income, freedom, security and personal fulfilment needed to make being in business worthwhile. These are the Better Business Outcomes which we help business owners achieve.
4.1
ADEQUATE INCOME
Every business owner will have a different interpretation of what Adequate Income is for them to regard themselves as successful. BBO defines Adequate Income as a commercial salary, plus more than 20% return on capital invested plus a saleable business asset. In other words, a successful business owner must be earning more than if they had invested their capital in the share market and were working as an employee with a similar level of responsibility & pressure. Adequate Income should allow a business owner to live comfortably, educate their children, and have options in retirement. BBO does not believe a business owner needs to become a multi-millionaire and retire at 40 to regard themselves as successful.
4.2
ADEQUATE FREEDOM
A successful business owner controls their business rather than the business controlling them. Adequate Freedom is a personal decision but we see it as having enough non-work time to maintain your health, relationships and personal pursuits. BBO considers Adequate Freedom as a business owner having the same working hours and annual leave as a salaried employee in a similar leadership role. A successful business owner should be able to take at least four weeks of annual leave each year without negatively impacting their business.
4.3
ADEQUATE SECURITY
Every business owner wants to be able to sleep comfortably at night without worrying about the future of their business. BBO calls this “Adequate Security”. It is the point where the owner is comfortable that the risk justifies the returns. Security is increased by such things as insurance, abiding by the law, tax compliance, safety systems, access to emergency funding, strong contracts, IP registration, supplier agreements, internal & external audits, quality procedures, disaster recovery plans, security systems, data back-ups, fire alarms and succession planning. BBO helps business owners understand the risks they are facing so they can decide how much they wish to invest in making their business more secure for the future.
4.4
PERSONAL FULFILMENT
Why do business owners who have all the money, freedom and security they need still feel dissatisfied with their level of business success? It is because they are yet to achieve personal fulfillment. A successful business owner is content with what they are doing in their life. They will no doubt have goals and ambitions for the future, but they will also have a sense of satisfaction about their life so far. BBO believes that a truly successful business owner will love the business they have created and gain great satisfaction from what it does for its customers, employees and the community. The owner will be using their business as a means to achieve worthy personal goals that lead to a sense of personal fulfillment.
The first step in becoming a successful business owner is to ensure you are pursuing a genuine business opportunity. Failure to have the four elements that make up a Genuine Business Opportunity is often the fundamental cause of small business failure. Do not proceed unless you are confident you have these four essential elements.
1.1
Clearly understood customer desire
Business exists to allow people to exchange money for something they want. Therefore the foundation of every business must be a well understood customer desire. It is here that industry knowledge, market research and customer feedback is essential. Business owners must realise that customers don’t desire their products or services. They desire the solutions, feelings and benefits that their products or services provide. BBO uses customer interviews, web research and sales data analysis to help understand and confirm the customer desires on which a business is being built.
1.2
ABILITY TO PROVIDE SUPERIOR SATISFACTION
You must be able to provide superior satisfaction to your target customers if you are to successfully compete in the market place. This superior satisfaction may come from combining a whole range of attributes including but not limited to pricing, convenience, service, timeliness and quality. This element can be called your “competitive advantage” but it needs to be developed by thinking about “how can we provide superior customer satisfaction compared to their other options”.
1.3
ACCESIBLE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
A genuine business opportunity requires an effective way to identify and educate a sufficient number of potential customers about how you can help them better than anyone else. An accessible potential customer is someone who you can contact that has a desire for what you offer and is able to be serviced should they choose to buy from you.
1.4
ATTRACTIVE PROFIT POTENTIAL
Finally it is essential that the accessible potential customers can be converted to customers and satisfied profitably. Margins need to be healthy, secure and sustainable. Overheads need to be predictable and easily covered by the anticipated gross profit. Without the potential for an attractive profit there is not a genuine business opportunity. BBO uses margin analysis, overhead budgeting and sales forecasting to assess the likely profitability of a venture.
The second step in the BBO Business Improvement Method is to establish the foundations for a successful business. These elements are required before you can capitalise on a genuine business opportunity. Reflect on whether you have these elements in place before putting any effort into business growth.
2.1
A SELF-AWARE RESPONSIBLE LEADER
Every ship has one and only one captain who is ultimately responsible for everything and everyone on-board the ship. Just like with a ship it is essential that every business has a captain (or responsible leader). Without this, coordinated focused action towards any objective is impossible. The business leader must be sufficiently self-aware to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. They must then establish their operational and managerial responsibilities in the business accordingly. BBO uses personality profiling to help business owners and managers better understand how they respond to different situations and what roles they are best suited for in the business. BBO finds one-on-one coaching to be very effective in improving business owners’ leadership, delegation and time management skills.
2.2
COMMITTED TEAM WITH COMMON VALUES
Business growth is dependent on building capacity and in most cases increased capacity requires forming a team of people with differing roles and responsibilities. This only works if the team members share common values. Values are the fundamental framework which people use to make decisions. Without well understood, common values team members will make inconsistent, in congruent decisions that influence customer service and contradict organisational objectives. BBO uses values elicitation workshops to help business owners & their teams discover, define and implement the Core Values of their business.
2.3
SOUND IMPLEMENTABLE STRATEGY
Just as every ship needs a course to give it direction, every business needs a strategic plan. The strategic plan will explain how the business plans to achieve its objectives and what milestones will be used to measure progress. The strategic plan must be well informed and implementable. The strategy will only be as good as the information on which it was based which is why when BBO is engaged to assist with strategic planning we place a strong emphasis on doing the necessary research and analysis prior to brain storming strategic options.
2.4
ACCESS TO NECESSARY TIME & RESOURCES
The final essential element to a Solid Business Launchpad is access to the necessary capital, time, skills, people, equipment, lending, experience, systems, advisers, suppliers etc. needed to implement the strategy. Many businesses fail, not because they had a poor business model, but because they simply did not have the resources to pull it off. The business owner’s personal time is often a critical overlooked factor.
Once the business foundations are in place to seize a genuine business opportunity, a successful business can be built. This however does not automatically mean the business owner will become successful, but is it an essential prerequisite. Unfortunately many business owners loose sight of why they went into business in the first place and fail to move beyond this stage.
3.1
SUFFICIENT DEMAND
Ever since the beginning of recorded history there have been successful businesses. Long before the internet, MBA’s and fancy business management terms. What has and always will be required for a successful business is sufficient demand both now and into the future. Sufficient demand can be defined as enough sales to allow the business to operate profitably and make effective use of its available capacity. Increasing demand requires the development and implementation of effective marketing strategies assuming that it has already been confirmed that a genuine business opportunity exists. BBO develops marketing strategies that encompass all four elements of the marketing mix which are Product/Service, Pricing, Promotion and Placement/Delivery. BBO also helps businesses gain quick wins using tactics to increase prospecting effectiveness, quote conversion rates, average sale values and customer retention/loyalty.
3.2
SUFFICIENT CAPACITY
The second key element of a successful business is the ability to consistently deliver on your marketing promises. You must be able to satisfy customers in an accurate, timely and quality manner that meets their expectations. Sufficient capacity also refers to your ability to process inquiries in a way that maximizes the number of inquires that lead to sales. Often the first sign of insufficient capacity is in quoting delays rather than missed delivery deadlines. BBO is very experienced in helping clients increase capacity to take advantage of marketing improvements.
3.3
SUFFICIENT RETAINED GROSS MARGIN
Cash is king only if it is yours to keep. The profit margin in a sale is useless until you have satisfied the customer, received the cash and paid all your related bills. It then becomes Retained Margin, and it is this that gives the business security and the owners’ their financial returns. A successful business is financially viable both now and in the future. It retains sufficient margin to build capital reserves and fund growth after the owners have been paid fair commercial salaries.
3.4
ORGANISATIONAL MEMORY & AWARNESS
A successful business must understand the past so it can predict the future. Organisational memory refers to all the policies, procedures, information, data, relationships, knowledge and experience required to continue satisfying customers into the future. Awareness refers to the ability to understand the current state of the business and the business environment so that appropriate decisions can be made. Dashboards, management reporting, market research, competitor monitoring and forecasting all contribute to organisational awareness.
The final, most challenging stage is to become a successful business owner using your successful business. Most small business owners never achieve the state in which they have the income, freedom, security and personal fulfilment needed to make being in business worthwhile. These are the Better Business Outcomes which we help business owners achieve. This is the purpose of the BBO Business Improvement Method.
4.1
ADEQUATE INCOME
Every business owner will have a different interpretation of what “Adequate Income” are for them to regard themselves as successful. BBO defines “Adequate Income” as a commercial salary, plus more than 20% return on capital invested plus a saleable business asset. In other words, a successful business owner must be earning more than if they had invested their capital in the share market and were working as an employee with a similar level of responsibility & pressure. Adequate Incomes should allow a business owner to live comfortably, educate their children, do some travel and have options in retirement. BBO does not believe a business owner needs to become a multi-millionaire and retire at 40 to regard themselves as successful.
4.2
ADEQUATE FREEDOM
A successful business owner controls their business rather than the business controlling them. Adequate Freedom is a personal decision but we see it as having enough non-work time to maintain your health, relationships and personal pursuits. BBO considers Adequate Freedom as a business owner having the same working hours and annual leave as a salaried employee in a similar leadership role. A successful business owner should be able to take at least four weeks of annual leave each year without negatively impacting their business.
4.3
ADEQUATE SECURITY
Every business owner wants to be able to sleep comfortably at night without worrying about the future of their business. BBO calls this “Adequate Security”. It is the point where the owner is comfortable that the risk justifies the returns. Security is increased by such things as insurance, abiding by the law, tax compliance, safety systems, access to emergency funding, strong contracts, IP registration, supplier agreements, internal & external audits, quality procedures, disaster recovery plans, security systems, data back-ups, fire alarms and succession planning. BBO helps business owners understand the risks they are facing so they can decide how much they wish to invest in making their business more secure for the future.
4.4
PERSONAL FULFILMENT
Why do business owners who have all the money, freedom and security they need still feel dissatisfied with their level of business success? It is because they are yet to achieve personal fulfillment. A successful business owner is content that they are doing what they want to be doing with their lives. They will no-doubt have goals and ambitions for the future, but they will also have a deep sense of satisfaction about how they have lived their life so far. BBO believes that a truly successful business owner will love the business they have created and gain great satisfaction from what it does for its customers, employees and the community. The owner will be using their business as a means to achieve worthy personal goals that lead to a deep sense of personal fulfillment.
1
Successful business Owner
| 1.3 |
| 1.4 |
3
Successful business Owner
| 4.1 Adequate Earnings |
| 4.2 Adequate Freedom |
| 4.3 Adequate Security |
| 4.4 Personal Fulfilment |
4
Successful business Owner
| 4.1 Adequate Earnings |
| 4.2 Adequate Freedom |
| 4.3 Adequate Security |
| 4.4 Personal Fulfilment |
About Us
Better Business Outcomes is a business consulting practice based in Toowoomba, Queensland.
We provide management support, business process improvement and software implementation services to our small business owner and self-employed clients. We work alongside major life insurers, assisting with their return to work services for self-employed customers.
FREQUENT QUESTIONS:
We serve clients nationally and in New Zealand using phone and video conferencing applications.
On-site consulting and ERP Project Management is available in Brisbane, Toowoomba, Warwick, Dalby and Ipswich areas and in combination with offsite as required.
CONTACT US:
Call us
0413 101 944
Postal Address
PO Box 1799
Toowoomba QLD 4350
Email Us
info@gmail.com
admin@gmail.com
FREQUENT QUESTIONS:
We serve clients nationally and in New Zealand using phone and video conferencing applications.
On-site consulting and ERP Project Management is available in Brisbane, Toowoomba, Warwick, Dalby and Ipswich areas and in combination with offsite as required.
CONTACT US:
Postal Address
PO Box 1799
Toowoomba QLD 4350
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