I’ve worked with businesses of all sizes for over 35 years and been involved in their ‘business planning’. I’ve seen some businesses achieve what they set out to achieve…. I’ve seen many more not achieve what they want to achieve.
About 10 years ago I had a big a-ha moment. I had the realisation why most business owners don’t achieve their goals. I discovered there were 2 factors missing in the traditional business planning process:
Over the last 10 years I’ve introduced the process I’m sharing with you here to many business owners and helped them achieve a new level of freedom from their businesses.
To understand the process, let’s first gain a common understanding of what “reverse engineering” means. It is an engineering term, referring to the process of taking apart an object to devise how it would be created from scratch. In our context, when I suggest that we need to reverse engineer our goals to set out business targets, it is about breaking down the outcomes we’re looking for into their respective parts in order to create a plan that enhances our chances of success.
In my experience most businesses set their targets for their business based on a percentage increase of revenue from last financial year. We made $2m last year. Let’s set a 50% increase target to $3m this year. As stated, some businesses succeed, the vast majority don’t!.
That is why we suggest that we “reverse engineer” the planning process, because for most people the traditional business planning methodology needs to be enhanced so more people have a greater chance of achieving their goals and targets.
The first step in the reverse engineering process is to know what you want and why you really want it. (See Begin With the End in Mind for more details). What does the ‘finished product’ look like for you? For most of our clients, this first step it the most important. So many business owners don’t really know why they’re doing what they’re doing – or what outcome they expect to achieve by doing what they’re doing. Most of us are living on hopeium – we hope that what we’re doing will give us the results we hope we want. Few of us have a clearly defined outcome and a clear strategy to achieve it.
Once you know what you want, then it’s a matter of mapping those outcomes back to the business. Here are some of the questions we ask our clients:
Kaibizzen’s reverse engineering process is simple to follow but it is not easy to simply document. Every business is unique with its own particular combination of challenges. It is why we facilitate this process with our clients, to ensure that every business we work with has their own roadmap to achieve the outcomes that they want.
This tailored, approach is one of the aspects of Kaibizzen’s coaching process that our clients absolutely love.
Anthony, Director of Building Brokers QLD said, “This process we’re following with Kaibizzen has been the missing link in the chain for us in understanding what we need to do – so we can do what we want to do. Honestly, it’s not something I would have ordinarily engage with. I hate that ‘airy-fairy’ stuff because it’s not the way I think. I think about what I’ve got to do, not what I want. But I’ve come to the realization that to think about what I want is to know what I need to do.”
Sally, General Manager of Bruin Builders also says ‘This process with Kaibizzen brings to light the things that you’re semi-aware of but not constantly checking yourself on. Getting clear about what I ultimately want is the reminder I need for why I’m doing what I do every day, especially through the trying times. For me, the self-awareness has impacted everything – and everyone – around me’.
So, if you’re tired of setting goals and not achieving them and you’d like to learn about a new and proven way to ensure a greater chance of success or you’d like to know more about how to develop a plan for 2020 that is different to how you’ve always done it, contact us. We’d love to help you finally get the business and the life you deserve.
What does it take to actually remove yourself from the day-to-day grind of business? Learn from our panel of Business Owners who've Been There, Done That.
