Want more profits? Work on (Not in) Your Business

Are you too busy working IN your business to work ON your business? If you answered yes, please read on. If you want to scale, you must start working ON your business.  When I was CEO of Dial800, our sales tripled once I began working ON my business. More about that later. First, let’s clarify what working IN vs. ON your business means.  

Working IN your business 

This involves managing the day-to-day operations, such as handling customer service inquiries, payroll processing, and inventory. It's about executing tasks, fixing immediate issues, and ensuring the daily functions run smoothly. It’s the day-to-day grind of running a business, which is often chaotic and not a good recipe for long-term success.

Working ON your business 

By contrast, working ON your business means focusing on strategic planning and system development. This includes setting short—and long-term goals, creating a vision, implementing a Business Operating System (BOS) built on the 9 Core Competencies of great businesses, and developing marketing strategies. It also involves leadership development, training staff, and delegating responsibilities to ensure the business can grow and scale effectively. 

9 Core Competencies

Working IN my Business

I was hired to run Dial800 in 1996. Dial800 had thousands of memorable vanity 800 numbers and only two customers. No business plan, vision, core values, or goals were written. We had one part-time employee who performed admin tasks. I loved the concept of these numbers, so I targeted potential clients and worked tirelessly on marketing and sales. I worked IN the business.

Working ON my Business

By 2006, we had clients and revenue and had distributed millions to shareholders. Our chairman gave me the choice to keep the company small or try to build a more significant business. I chose the latter.  The problem was that I didn’t know how to do it.  Thankfully, I hired an experienced coach.  With his guidance, we started working ON our business, creating a BOS with a written plan, vision, core values, and goals. We held regular meetings, hired better talent, and maintained a low turnover due to our strong structure. We had dedicated departments for sales, marketing, technology, and finance. This led to 25% year-on-year growth, establishing us as a leader in our industry and to a lucrative exit in 2017.

Overwhelming?

It doesn’t have to be. While it’s possible to self-implement a BOS, hiring the right coach, like I did, makes much more sense. A coach will guide you in setting everything up right the first time. I’m happy to answer any questions about setting up a BOS for your company. I can be reached at (310) 613-8686 or Scott@ScottRichardsConsulting.com.