Signs of the Times - April 2020 - 42
FOUR FOOD
GROUPS FOR
BUSINESS
THE ESSENTIAL AREAS TO KEEP
YOUR SIGN COMPANY
HEALTHY AND GROWING STRONG
BY TERESA M. YOUNG
NCE upon a time, I had time to read
scores of books about business growth,
entrepreneurship, business metrics,
systems, sales and marketing. Each
had a nugget of wisdom or a system
that sounded pretty great. Then came
"the days of no time," decades of
partnership with hundreds of business owners in the sign
industry who demanded all of my attention. Bonus! I could
test those proposed systems and bites of wisdom.
It all started with my work at the Michael Thomas Corp.
in the early '80s. There, I implemented a systems-based
approach. Next, I spent over 30 years as a business consultant,
first while running my sign shop, then as president of Sign
Biz, Inc., specializing in the sign industry. This trial by
fire revealed that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for
increased sales, profitability and smooth management of
a signshop.
So, I forged a new model, distilling successful strategies
and sorting them into one complete and balanced diet for
healthy business growth. Consider these the four essential
food groups for business; that is, four areas of focused
O
42
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
APRIL 2020
strategies and tactics that apply to any business.
These areas of focus can be viewed as quadrants in a
wheel - each one connected to the next in a circle that
can be monitored for continuous improvement. The
quadrants are Passion, Communication, Orchestration and
Destination. If any one of these is not a fully functioning
part of the business wheel, the business will go off the
rails. At best, the business will limp along. At worst, it will
fail. Moving clockwise through the wheel, we find...
QUADRANT 1: PASSION
Passion is what fuels the enterprise, especially during
start-up years, those "salad days" of enthusiasm that
invigorate the early years that every business has enjoyed.
The company is ignited by the energy of the owner or partners
to fill a need. This passion is integral to the life of the enterprise. If it has wilted or expired, the destination needs to
be sell or quit (or renew the vision, see Quadrant 4 below).
One client who inherited his company from the prior
generation had no passion for the business. In fact, he
could not bring himself to visit the shop more than once
a week. He abdicated almost all management activity to a
Signs of the Times - April 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - April 2020
Contents
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - Intro
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - BB1
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - BB2
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - Cover1
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - Cover1a
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - Cover1b
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - Cover2
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - 1
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - Contents
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - 3
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - 4
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - 5
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - 6
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Signs of the Times - April 2020 - Cover3
Signs of the Times - April 2020 - Cover4
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