Dave Lavinsky, is a serial entrepreneur who built his own company from the ground up. Dave's book, Start at the End was a #1 Bestseller on Amazon just one week after it was released! The stated goal of the book is to learn how to work fewer hours and be efficient when working at a new job or starting a business.
The top 12 tips from Dave’s book below with a bit of commentary from me in italicized print
1. Start at the end – if you don’t know where you want your business to go, you’ll never get there.
In the military I was a big fan of backwards planning. Generally this had to do with schedules, but I can see how it would fit for a business, an agency, or a nonprofit in looking at goals and the end state you are trying to achieve, say for example: disaster resiliency.
2. SWOT analyses are obsolete; realize there will always be threats and company weaknesses that don’t warrant fixing. Rather, focus on opportunities that leverage your strengths (SO analysis), and build your strengths further so they give you sustainable long-term advantage
I see this one as focusing on your strengths and not sweating the weaknesses. Minimize the weaknesses, but exploit your strengths as an individual and as an organization.
3. Forget your P&L; that’s short-term thinking; need to also think longer-term; building business assets that allow you grow your business and reap better P&L later and forever.
I could not agree with this particular one more. There is way to much focus on quarterly profits. This short term thinking is destroying our long term future. We will reap a whirlwind of problems when all our deferred maintenance comes home to roost.
4. If your business doesn’t have a scorecard, you will lose EVERY time. Your scorecard needs to include the detailed KPIs that underly your revenue and profit results.
Key performance indicators is business speak for performance measures. For emergency management this isn't an easy solution as I've written about before, but we need to work at it so we can quantify or qualify why what we are doing is important.
5. If your business doesn’t operate without you, it’s not a business; it’s a miserable job. You must systematize your business so it works for you, not vice-versa.
Work is supposed to be fun. We need to be sure we are not micromanaging staff and squelching their ability to develop.
6. The most important marketing metric in a business is PPI – profit per impression. To maximize it, you need a fully optimized marketing system.
See my latest Eric's Corner about Selling Emergency Preparedness like Coca Cola
7. Business owners don’t need more leads (even though all of them think this will solve all their problems). Rather, they need a better marketing system that converts leads into lifelong customers.
Government's customers are citizens and residents. There aren't too many raving fans of government out there today.
8. Most business owners don’t have even one organization or “org” chart when in fact you need to have 3 to succeed.
Not sure about this one. I do think the old org chart is history. You might need one for personnel rating purposes, but most work is project based. You need to form up teams of people with the skills needed for the project, no matter where they are on the formal org chart. Complete the project and then reform staff for future projects. Multiple projects going on all at the same time. This can build a cohesive and agile workforce.
9. Successful business owners don’t run businesses. They have employees that run their businesses; they grow them. To be successful, you need to build an org chart that includes the necessary personnel and structures to allow your business to run without you.
Leaders cast a vision and provide resources to get the job done. They plow the way toward success and get rid of "Toads in the Road" who are stopping progress.
10. Because of poor management, most small business owners’ employees focus on the wrong things. Ask your employees how they think their performance should be judged, and make sure that agrees with your thinking. If employees don’t understand what success is, they can’t possibly achieve it.
Begin with the end in mind is what Stephen Covey used to say.
11. Business owners should stop innovating. Rather, do more of the things that are proven to work and less of the things that haven’t worked. Avoid shiny object syndrome of constantly wanting to try the latest thing.
I disagree on number 11. I'm "all in" on innovation. It is the key to success in the 21st Century. I like to be on the cutting edge, but not the bleeding edge.
12. Humble yourself by building an advisory board. You’ll be amazed by what other successful people know that you don’t.
I believe in having people who can be your close advisers. Typically they can't be subordinates since they won't be that truthful with you. Find an accountability group (if you can) and talk through your issues and see what they have to tell you.
