The 6X Entrepreneurship Program Creating An Effective Business Map Guide

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1 The 6X Entrepreneurship Program Creating An Effective Business Map Guide Today you need is a business map or road map of where you are now, and where you want to be. A map shows you the territory, so you can say here is where my business is and here is where it needs to go. In order to get where you want to be, you need to fully understand your business at its current state. This allows you to identify the areas that need to change. If you know where your business needs to go but you lie to yourself on where you are, trying to make it better than it is, you are never going to get there. Your trajectory will be completely off. 1. FIRST ASK YOURSELF WHAT BUSINESS AM I IN TODAY? For example railroad business or I m in the business of selling used cars. And then drill a little deeper. For instance, what business is Starbucks in? Most people would say the coffee business. But ask Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and he will likely tell you about his trip to Italy, where he saw people eagerly meeting in cafes before and after work. Before Schultz ever began wondering how to create a business plan or map, he saw the promise of a transitional meeting place between home and work, and that was the seed that grew into Starbucks. He knew his business was about creating an experience, not just delivering coffee. THE NEXT QUESTIONS ARE: WHAT BUSINESS AM I REALLY IN, WHAT DO I REALLY NEED TO DO FOR MY CUSTOMERS, WHAT BUSINESS DO I NEED TO BE IN TODAY? How is this useful? These questions prompt business owners to not think only about their specific company, but the industry as a whole and the people they re delivering value to. Back in the early 1900s, if railroad companies in the U.S. realized that they were really in the transportation business, not the railroad business, they could have prevented the entire industry from going bankrupt as the trucking industry took over. Having a business map really means framing your business in terms that enable you to see opportunities (and threats) that you might otherwise overlook. Knowing what business you re really in means having a deep and thorough understanding of your customer and the value they gain from you.

2 In this case, it is not the railroad business. It is the transportation business! Once you really understand how to consistently offer more value than anyone else in your market, you re in a better position to identify where you are now, and what it will take to get to where you want to be. You ll have more certainty about what your business needs to grow now, and you ll be better able to steer your organization in accordance with that vision. Most importantly, you ll understand what business you need to be in to become the dominant force in your market. A SYSTEM OF CONSTANT STRATEGIC INNOVATIONS IS THE ULTIMATE ADVANTAGE. Apple. Facebook. Tom s Shoes. What do all of these groundbreaking companies have in common? 2. SECOND ASK YOURSELF WHY AM I IN BUSINESS? WHY WAS I IN BUSINESS BEFORE? WHY AM I IN BUSINESS TODAY?

3 3. THIRD ASK YOURSELF WHO AM I N BUSINESS? There are three kinds of people and that s what starts most business 1. A talent or special skill, for example for artists or scientist. In this case you need to focus only on your talent and let others help you with you business, manage people, manage risks etc. 2. You are talented at managing people. In this case you are not the artist you are the manager who needs to hire an artist. Your talent is the people and process management. 3. Are you the entrepreneur? Are you the person who wants to take big risks? And want to put yourself on the line, your money, your time, your energy. You are constantly trying to find how to shape your business or expand it Every business needs all these three types of people. So make sure you got the right artists, with the right managers, with the rights entrepreneurs working towards the same goals. Figure out who you are and spend more time with that. Most people have a dominant, as well as a secondary gift. I am the artist, manager or entrepreneur? What is my dominant gift and secondary gift? 4. FORTH FIGURE OUT WHERE YOU ARE AT? Where you are means, where you are in your own life cycle? During youth you have some much energy you can just burnt it. Then you usually figure out how to apply yourself in your 30ies or 40ies. Then you are in power in your 50ies and 60ies. You ve worked hard in your 30ies and 40ies, so you are now in that stage where you are collecting the rewards from all these years. And then you may be in our post 60ies or 70ies or 80ies and you are now the elder of the tribe. You now have value that you want to give. You want to mentor others. You will look at your business differently in your 20ies than in your 60ies. I am here:

4 WHERE IS YOUR BUSINESS IS AT? Most businesses follow a similar trajectory as they grow and die. During that journey, there are different stages that classify where in that journey your business is. o Birth: The moment you take the big leap. You re managing yourself and working to meet your own needs. o Infancy: Survival mode, but you re making progress. The first hire has been made and you have a major focus on throughput. Unfortunately, cash flow is usually a challenge here. o Toddler: The business is now operating on it s own, but still relies on you for critical decision-making. Cash flow is a concern, but growth is still accelerating. You manage things reactively rather than proactively. o Teenager: You now have a team to manage the business and cash flow issues are dwindling. You re confident in your growth and innovation. It s now a key focus, but speed can mean trouble. o Young Adult: The choices you re making as a business are more proactive than reactive. You ve chosen to limit what you re going to focus on as a business so you can spend more time developing processes and systems. This new you will require a new brand or identity to launch and with that, you ve begun to define what long-term success looks like. o Zone of Maximization / Maturity: The business is now self-sustainable, run by a management team, and is producing income and profits that are growing steadily. Your new identity is solidified - you know exactly who you are, who you are not, and the objectives you need to reach. o Mid-life Evaluation: Innovation is needed in order to bring the business back to the Zone of Maximization, but first you have to evaluate whether or not it makes sense to do so. o Aging: The pace at which the business is breaking down is accelerating and the people that helped to build and manage the company are leaving. o Institutionalization: Innovation has come to a halt. The only thing keeping the business alive are the systems, policies, and processes that have been put into place along with the help of third party support. o Death: There is no one left on the team to support the vision or mission of the company. The idea is no longer sustainable. The value in knowing where your business stands helps you make better decisions about how to reach the next stage or course correct. For example, if your business is in the Teenager stage and you re looking to grow, know that in order to do so, you may have to stop chasing every revenue opportunity and put a greater emphasis on your longterm Vision. Once you understand the life cycle stages of a business, you can also apply those same principles to your personal life cycle as a business owner or employee, or apply that to the life cycle of the industry you re in as well.

5 My business is at: WHERE IS THE LIFE CYCLE OF YOUR INDUSTRY? WHERE IS THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE ECONOMY? 5. AND FROM THERE, ASK YOURSELF WHERE TO GO NEXT? AND HOW TO GET THERE? Here are some examples of successful businesses and their business map: In conclusion, it is great to have a plan but it will depend on what business your are in and what business you should be in. It is based on why you are in it. That s going to get you to follow through and knowing where the gaps are that you want to close. It is based on who you are. Are you the person who creates the product, manages the process or are you the entrepreneur. And it is also where you are. Where are you right now as a business?