About Bruce Wade

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far Bruce Wade has created 224 blog entries.

What is the purpose of your business?

This is a question we ask many of our clients. Purpose and the related strategy seem to be more accidental than driven, by the people we chat to. So what does it mean to have a Purpose Strategy for your business?

Defining the purpose of a business comes from a number of different purpose statements. The first is for the reason for starting a business. Many people start their business due to financial reasons. They need to earn money. This is true for all businesses but there are often underlying reasons such as wanting more personal freedom, to do good in the community or to gain fame and fortune. What is yours?

The second purpose statement comes from the long-term purpose. Where is the business destined to go in 10 or 20 years from now? This may be a very long-term view and often too far ahead for any clarity, but knowing an idea goal determines the actions of today. Is your business going to be handed down to family members to build a legacy? Do you want to sell it in a few years and do something else? Are you planning to franchise or list on the stock exchange? Each of these options is key to the actions of incorporation that you take when registering your business.

We can now progress onto the initial problem you want to address as a business. This purpose statement is now more focused as you define the attention of the business. This needs to clearly define the problem, the people you address and the proposed solutions you will implement, sell or offer in order to address the defined problem.

Join us on Wednesday for more explanation of these and others on this week’s webinar

By |2017-10-09T11:40:53+02:00October 9th, 2017|Strategy|0 Comments

How to get a Strategy for your business

To get from HERE to THERE requires a strategy. Not just a plan with a dash of hope: but a full strategy. But what is this thing called a strategy? What does it contain? What does it mean? And how can I get one?

The webinar video this week unpacks the various elements of a good strategy. Watch the video below (27 min) to get a full understanding of the different elements. Here is a short summary:

Vision: A written image of what the future will be if all goes according to plan.

Focus areas: select up to 5 areas that require focus and change to realise the vision.

Goals: write out 5 goals per focus area that need to be achieved in order to obtain the vision

Actions: What actions are required and by whom and by when in order to achieve the each goal.

Watch the video for the full story and an explanation of the WIGS required to get all this done.

By |2017-10-05T09:47:04+02:00October 5th, 2017|Strategy|0 Comments

Performance Measurement: Let’s Measure Performance!

Last week we looked at the history of performance measurement and how it has improved over the years. This week we will look at how business owners and managers can measure non-financial performance indicators (NFPI) and give practical examples.

When you call the call-centre of most companies these days, they ask you to rate the service at the end of the call. When you enter a bank, they have a machine on which you can rate the quality of the service. A good example most of us are familiar with is when you call SARS; and after you are done with the call centre agent, you are asked to rate the service from 1-5. You are requested to rate it on the friendliness of the agent, their knowledge of tax issues, their attention to detail, the time it took to be serviced and the number of times you had to call until the issue in question was resolved. This is very much a non-financial performance measurement strategy.

A restaurant can measure the % of meals delivered in say 30 minutes. Quality of meals rated by an independent reviewer, average customer rating of their experience there. This customer rating is now available on Google maps for any company or Hello Peter and other review websites; where your clients can rate you or air their complaints. It would help visiting these sights and see what the customer thinks of your business and how you can improve. Through search engines, you can now rate the number of searches your business has had and the number of website visits. You can then ask the question: through which platform have you gotten potential client enquiries? You can rate the number of complaints the business has received and what the company has done to address these. All these NFPIs can then be compared to industry averages to see how the company fairs in comparison to the competition. These can be compared year to year to measure trends and see where the business has improved and where it has faltered; and how this can be remedied.

Another important NFPI is employee satisfaction and turnover. Staff surveys on happiness on the job, one on one personal development and welfare meetings, and staff turnover and exit interviews can help create a culture of valuing people. Business owners should always remember that a happy employee will always equal a satisfied customer and return sales. Yes, the customer is king, but the staff are in the business of king-making. Companies can also have competence surveys to review training needs. You can also measure absentee rates/sick days to review how satisfied the staff is. The higher the rate, the less satisfied the employees are.

We will continue discussing practical issues regarding performance measurement next week.

By |2017-10-25T13:51:49+02:00October 4th, 2017|Financial Management|1 Comment

Reid Hoffman- Founder of Linkedin

Reid Hoffman is known for saying that an Entrepreneur is someone who jumps off a cliff and builds a plane on his way down.

You should never be too determined about what you’re going to be, your life plans change as you go. Reid Hoffman also went on to say he worked better off in a smaller environment.

This video is an extract from Khan Academy keynote speech about how in late 2002, Reid recruits a team of old colleagues from SocialNet and PayPal to work on a new idea. Six months later, LinkedIn launches. Growth is slow at first—as few as 20 signups on some days—but, by the fall, it shows enough promise to attract an investment from Sequoia Capital.

By |2017-10-03T10:50:31+02:00October 3rd, 2017|Techno Tuesday|0 Comments

Business Growth Strategy Part 1

October is here and with only 3 months until 2018 we are embarking on a final 2017 strategy sprint to help us all get to those items on the list that we planned to get done in January.

This month we are going to take a trip through some of the Business Growth Strategies that we use to coach our clients. So please join us over the next four weeks as we go under the covers a bit and unpack the secrets of business growth.

The first item we need to define and unpack is STRATEGY. Strategy is a word we throw around a lot in our business: we use it in marketing, coaching and a lot when doing talks. But what is strategy? What does it imply or contain? Let’s unpack for a bit.

Strategy is a means to an end: it defines the process of getting from here to there. But it assumes that you know where here and there are and that there is where you want to be. Got it?

So first we must assess where we are, in all aspects of our business. Then we must discover and understand where it is that we must or want to be. This second destination is determined based on available resources, market-driven indicators and a desire to change.

Now, with an understanding of here and there: we can employ our strategy to reverse engineer the process and then drive it forward from today into the future. But just having an ideal of a future destination is not enough: this needs to be developed with a plan. The plan has actions, accountability levels with resources, a critical path and defined outcomes. This is a strategy.

Join us this week on our Weekly Wednesday Webinar as we unpack the elements of a growth strategy and create a framework for the next 90 days in your business.

By |2017-10-02T12:02:19+02:00October 2nd, 2017|90 Day Sprint, Strategy|0 Comments

Watch our YouTube Video on YouTube on YouTube

YouTube has to be one of most underutilised platforms for small businesses. Yet it is said to be the 2nd most used search engine used by potential customers. Why do most small business owners ignore this fact and not even have a business YouTube account?

We unpack some of the ins and outs of online video in this recorded webinar on YouTube.

Take some time to go through the video (30 min) take notes and get some of these things done to help improve your online footprint in the marketplace.

If you need help, give us a shout on email or call and we will assist you with some of the difficult things.

If you have missed some of the videos in the series then pop by our Expertise community page and catch up on your Social Media learning.

From next week in October, we start a new series on Business Growth Strategies. Join us for tips, tools and techniques that will help accelerate your business before the end of the year.

By |2017-09-28T10:29:08+02:00September 28th, 2017|Social Media, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Finding Balance in Performance Measurement

Last week we started a series on Performance Measurement. This week we take a peek under the hood and ask about the balance required within a business regarding performance and how to measure non-financial indicators.

Since the dawn of business science, financial performance was the exclusive yardstick of business performance. The 1980s saw companies realising the pitfalls of focusing exclusively on financial performance indicators. They realised that Financial Performance Indicators were leading to an intensive emphasis on cost reduction.

These excessive cost reductions were being achieved at the expense of long-term growth; because they resulted in low staff morale, low quality and customer dissatisfaction. Managers ignored quality, delivery, customer care & after sales service. Owners discovered, during audits that accountants were practising “window dressing”; that is making the accounts look good on the last date of the period.

Some of this myopic behaviour is still being practised today, to the detriment of business growth. Failure to invest in projects with long-term profitability; as managers aim to achieve profit now than later. Failure to invest in activities that build long-term value such as employee training, advertising & marketing; research & development etc. Cutting production costs that ensure better production quality; resulting in poor quality products and reduced market share. Reducing head-count, which may result in one employee serving several customers and thus loss of morale and poor service. Salary freezes resulting in high staff turnover, and a loss of corporate knowledge and high recruitment costs.

To address this “myopia” or shot-termism; experts came up with Non-Financial performance Indicators. Non-Financial Performance Indicators are designed to balance between financial performance and other areas of the business that foster business growth and longevity. NFPIs focus on product quality, delivery, customer satisfaction and after-sales service.

Business owners can put in place performance measurement or measures of product/service quality that ensure that managers do not cut back on these factors that sustain the business. Measures can be implemented for staff satisfaction e.g. staff turnover; to reduce cutbacks in staff-related expenditure. Non-Financial Performance indicators aim to create that balanced focus on the key areas that drive a business’ long-term growth. What are some examples of NFPIs that companies can adopt?

We will explore some of this performance measurement options next week.

By |2017-09-26T17:21:41+02:00September 27th, 2017|Financial Management|1 Comment

YouTube: the must-have app for business

I remember when YouTube first came out in February 2005. We were all amazed at the availability of 100s of online videos that you could watch on a bunch on subjects. I sat for hours going through the different categories and watching videos, albeit somewhat frustrating with the buffering that went on using my dial up service in the office.

Then it went crazy: from 100s to millions of videos and the world exploded with video services and a multitude of spinoffs from the YouTube model. But they held market share and were bought out by Google in November 2006 for $1.65 billion and video fast became the main player in online marketing.

I went out and bought a video camera, set up a home studio and began making videos. Over the  next few years I made 100s of videos and learnt from other people and soon developed a knack for good, fast professional videos for the entrepreneurial market.

To date, we have over 15 online video based courses on 4 different platforms. We have created a vast number of videos for education, marketing, instructional and inspiration. We now have 2 cameras, a full set of lights and wireless sound in our own video studio.

I share this not to brag, but to inspire. If we can do this, so can anyone. It takes time to learn how to be in front and behind the camera and more time learning how to work the complex editing software but time is spent having fun and learning.

This week we will unpack some of the benefits of having videos for your business and how we have learnt to leverage YouTube as one of the most powerful online search tools and marketing platforms available to businesses.

Join us as we journey through some good, bad and ugly, but all inspirational videos and tips and tricks to build your business.

Register for the webinar on Wednesday here and read the other blogs during the week.

By |2017-09-26T08:28:19+02:00September 26th, 2017|Social Media|0 Comments

FaceBook Master Class

So you use FaceBook, but how well do you know what it can do for your business?

In this week’s episode of Social Media for Entrepreneurs and following on from last week’s Blogging, we unpack some of the useful elements of FaceBook.

The use of Pages, Events, Adverts and the Insights all add to making FaceBook a very useful tool to develop an active online digital footprint for your brand. It is also a great platform to chat to and engage with current and future clients.

Watch the video below (42 minutes) to get all the details.

By |2017-09-21T14:00:03+02:00September 21st, 2017|FaceBook|0 Comments

Performance Measurement -is profit enough?

We start a new series this week with a look at some financial management issues that every business owner should be looking at on a regular cycle, well at least twice a year. Performance Management? What is it? How do we define it and even if we get the numbers, what do we do with them? Let’s start by unpacking some of the mysteries and terms related to Performance management in your business.

The bottom line…The amount of profit a business has made is a universally accepted standard for keeping score the world over. We always measure how successful a business is by the amount of profit it has made. Banks will offer more credit to more profitable entities. It does make sense because the net profit represents the true income of the business, and consequently of the owners.

The increase in sales, gross and net profit are some of the basic Financial Performance Indicators (FPIs) that any business person would keep an eye on to ensure that the business is viable. The downside, however, is that the managers or owners get caught in the rut of profit chasing at the expense of the very reason the business was set up the in the first place.

Financial Performance Indicators are vulnerable to manipulation. Managers become obsessed with reducing costs even at the expense of the organization’s long-term viability. This is because recognition, bonuses and even promotion are linked to how profitable a manager is. These cost-cutting measures may impact negatively on staff morale, quality of products or services etc. Focusing on the bottom line disregards what actually drives the profitability of the business.

Is there a solution to this myopia? Is there a way to balance the objectives of the business to ensure longevity? We explore this in the next post.

 

By |2017-09-20T09:04:48+02:00September 20th, 2017|Financial Management|1 Comment
Copyright © EM Solutions 2025