“It’s none of your business.” “Let’s get down to business.” “That’s enough of your funny business.” “The dog did his business in the corner.” We use “business” loosely in many ways. Pause and think: Can you recite the definition of business? …Don’t’ worry. No one I’ve asked can.
Two companies I once worked with had it down pat. For them, the unchangeable purpose of business was to acquire, grow and retain customers at a profit. (For non-profits, just change “at a profit” to “on a sustained basis” and you’ve got it.) They went further, breaking the definition down to five inter-related factors they used in real time, all the time, to effectively run their businesses, from strategy development through operations.
The first, offer a service or product matching what your customer needs (or thinks he does). Second, acquire your customers. Next, retain your customers and grow that customer base. Fourth, manage the key elements that drive profitability. If you think about it, your organization won’t ultimately survive unless all four of those cylinders are pumping smoothly.
It was the fifth that surprised me: Continually manage the constraints on your organization. Constraints are internal (the aging founder who is losing touch, the disruptive board chair who donates a lot) and external (new regulations, delayed government funding, changing political environment, down economy). Constraints are, by definition, often outside of your control to influence. But, failure to identify them, project their impact, minimize their effect and/or turn them to your advantage can jeopardize your organization’s very existence. Sometimes, managing the constraints may even mean managing the other four core elements in ways which will change your organization’s mission, who it serves and whether it needs to partner with others.
So, keep Fido in his corner and, by all means, don’t step in the “business” he does there.