Signs of the Times - April 2020 - 44

"The Destination is the vision you want for the
business. It's as unique as you (and your board),
a fact which is often lost in the myriad of books
on vision, mission and goals."

QUADRANT 3: ORCHESTRATION
Orchestration is the process by which everything is tuned,
tested, then fine-tuned, documented and made repeatable.
Think of it as a collection of recipes, each for a different
aspect of your operation, where you keep control of the
wheel. This system includes quality control and financial
benchmarks - the metrics that reveal the strength of your
systems, and the telltale signs of your ability to work on
the business, not just in the business.
For example, you send a job out the door with your
installer, who drives 30 minutes away, then phones the
shop to say he forgot some tools. It happens. But not to
a company with a system that includes a master checklist
that must be completed before a job goes out the door.
And when some new problem arises, the master checklist
is fine-tuned. Thus, the checklist is a living document and
just one of many examples of orchestration, the purpose
of which is to document data, quantify results, then finetune to improve results.
QUADRANT 4: DESTINATION
Destination is right next to Passion on the wheel: It's where
you want to go, what your business stands for, its moral
compass. This is the vision that feeds the passion. If you lose
your passion for what you've built, you need to connect
with a vision that is big enough and warm enough to
inspire you. Otherwise, if you can't do that, the destination
needs to be your exit, or a business sale. This entity that is
44

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

APRIL 2020

in your care needs a strong hand to guide it, plus
abundant enthusiasm to transmit to the team and clients.
The Destination is the vision you want for the business.
It's as unique as you (and your board), a fact which is often
lost in the myriad of books on vision, mission and goals.
Getting to vision, whether at start-up or for a renewed
purpose, is hard work. It takes dialogue with your market
base and knowledge of self. What drives you? (It should not
be money.) Financial goals are relegated to the Orchestration
quadrant. How are you built? Any business is a reflection
of its ownership. This means you need to be your best self,
work with the best people, to aspire to the best vision -
the Destination - that resides in your wheelhouse.
My passion, along with that of my team, is to help
entrepreneurs achieve month-over-month business growth,
without drifting off track. Figuring out the destination,
the big goal that guides all others, is the result of
collaboration between a business owner and a business
coach. When using a sounding board and the experience
of a business consultant and their team, results can be
remarkable. One shop that was in business for 22 years
came on board with our program. From a name change,
new website, new hires, financial measures, new software
and space expansion, to marketing, vendor relationships
and continuing education, the shop owners demonstrated
a level of commitment and faith in "building the second
story" with us that was nothing short of inspirational. In
36 months, their sales had doubled.
Signs of the Times - April 2020

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