IBANNZ

Planning for Change

John Raffaelli — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 04:57:50 +0000

Planning for Change

Change is constant and, to keep up with or ahead of our competitors, we must plan for change.

Planned Change is not about change just for the sake of change. It is also not always about being a disruptor in the marketplace. In most cases change is simply about either retaining or growing your market share.

The old adage “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”, which was a previous favourite of many business owners, has never been the greatest way to run a business if you want to stay ahead of your competitors. Today, change is moving faster than ever, and to keep up with or ahead of our competitors we must embrace change. Whether we like it or not, change now appears to be the only constant.

So, how do we plan for change? There are many approaches to successfully plan for change. Here are a couple of tips to help you look at some of the areas it will most affect:

Monthly customer / sales review to track both market and customer movements.
Monthly product / service mix reviews to keep in touch with customer requirements.
Regular reviews of customer collections.
Regular reviews of what your competitors are doing.
Regular reviews of technology applicable to your business and market.

If you need help with any of this, we as Business Advisors are Experts in Change Management and can provide the guidance and solutions to help you to both keep up with and implement required changes in a planned and non-disruptive way.

Change, whether we want it or not, is here to stay and accelerating in pace with new technologies. So, rather than waste your energy on fighting it, invest your time in adapting to the change. That way you will not only stay relevant in your marketplace but also potentially improve your position in it.

Many businesses waste both valuable time and potential profits because they are simply unable to identify the changes that need to be made in their businesses. Sometimes, all that is needed is the fresh pair of eyes of a good Business Advisor.

If you are an Independent Business Advisor or Business Coach who would like a support network of like-minded individuals, then why not have a look at the iBANNZ website https://ibannz.co.nz/ If you think that this may be something for you but would like more information please email contact@ibannz.co.nz

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Team Culture – The Primary Driver of Leadership Behaviour?

John Raffaelli — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 00:54:11 +0000

Team Culture – The Primary Driver of Leadership Behaviour?

Businesses typically spend around 75% of their management energy focusing on their core operations. On ‘doing what they do’.

A further 20% of their energy is typically spread between their human resources, financial management, marketing, customer service and general administration functions.

This leaves 5% for some planning and strategizing.

So where does team culture come in?

The amount of energy spent on deliberately designing and influencing their culture is, more often than not, a big fat zero – which is where we, as Business Advisors, come in.

You can’t ‘not have’ a culture. If it is not a culture by design, then it will become one by default.

A business’s culture is palpable. When we walk into any organisation, we perceive its culture almost immediately.

Once a business decides to focus on culture as the primary driver of its leadership behaviour, there is an ultimate shift in performance across the organisation which can be extraordinary.

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Beyond Profit: The True Purpose of a Customer-Focused Business

John Raffaelli — Fri, 24 May 2024 03:05:25 +0000

Beyond Profit: The True Purpose of a Customer-Focused Business

The purpose of any business must lie outside of itself. It should be deeply rooted in the community where people live, operate, and interact to thrive and grow.

In essence, the most valid purpose of a business is to create a customer. Without customers, there is no business.

What is a Customer?

A customer is someone who needs or wants a solution to a problem, which can be provided through products, services, or a combination of both. Sometimes, customers might not even realise they have a need, and this is where effective marketing and sales come into play.

Successful businesses always place the customer at the centre of everything they do. They leverage and maximise their core strengths, capitalise on opportunities, and mitigate risks as they develop their products and services.

Two Key Types of Customers

External Customers: These are the individuals who consume and pay for the products or services. They often have problems that they cannot solve on their own due to a lack of skills, knowledge, or time. The role of the service provider is to address these obstacles and challenges and simplify complexities. This then becomes the foundation of the value proposition. Customers determine the value of the proposed solutions based on the strength of relationships, timely delivery of outcomes, cost, and other attributes.
Internal Customers: These include employees and contractors within the business. Staff have their own needs and wants, such as trust, fairness, clear purpose, visibility of their impact on external customers, appreciation, transparent communication, and opportunities for training and skill enhancement.

A high-performing and engaged team enhances a business’s ability to deliver superior products and services, boosting brand reputation and market differentiation. This, in turn, increases the chances of growth, sustainability, and long-term success.

Conclusion

By focusing on both external and internal customers simultaneously, businesses can foster an environment that promotes growth, prosperity, and endurance over time.

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Time Management or Managed by Time

John Raffaelli — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 01:49:05 +0000

Time management, or managed by time?

iBANNZ was formed by a group of Independent Business Advisors to provide a forum to share ideas and experience-based advice gained from working with real world Business Owner issues.

During one of our regular iBANNZ Zoom conference calls we had a robust discussion about time management in today’s world. Below are some of the snapshots taken from that call which illustrate how good time management can improve both efficiency and productivity.

If you ever catch yourself saying you don’t have enough time, consider this: the number of hours available to you are the same as those that Taika Waititi, Michael Hill, Peter Jackson, Stephen Tindall, etc had available to them.

The fact is, we all have the time to achieve what we want to achieve. We all have many demands on our time – e-mails, telephone calls, work, etc. which means that we need to prioritise and find ways to Work Smarter, Not Harder. It’s as simple as taking ownership of time and managing it rather than letting it manage you.

This involves prioritising what we must do, plus looking to improve on how we do what needs to be done, leaving out what we don’t need to do. Managing time is about efficiency, it’s about simplifying how we work, trying to complete things faster, and relieving the stresses of overwork.

We need to clear space in our lives to make time for the really important things that make it worthwhile: people, rest and play. There really are more than enough hours in every day for all the things we would like to do, but it takes change and reorganizing to discover them.

There are many different strategies we can employ to chisel out the time we need. First, time management’s golden rule – “complete the most important tasks first.” We then need to grasp the concept of starting early and starting often. Procrastination is the thief of time and effort.

To do this, we also need to learn to say “no.” Taking on too many commitments can sap our energy so we should only commit to the tasks we know we have time to complete and that we truly care about.

When we commit to a job we should devote our entire attention to that task. We should not waste time on irrelevant time-wasting niceties that add no value.

Set realistic deadlines, not “it is going to take as long as it takes.” Rushing from task to task kills motivation. We need time to take a breath and allow our brains and bodies to catch up, otherwise we waste valuable time.

Much of our lives is full of excess. If we recognise and remove the excess, we can become more in touch with what’s significant and what deserves our time. Remember work should not be a chore, it should be fun. Grasping this is the key to time management.

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Getting Product Mix Right

admin — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 22:38:57 +0000

The Importance of Product Mix

Has your Gross Margin declined but your sales / revenue remained constant? If the answer is Yes, then a good Business Advisor will have the answers to help you get back on track.

Product Mix

It is a fair guideline to state that approximately 50% of businesses are unaware of movements in their product mix.

The main issue here is that businesses are unaware of changes to their sales / revenue line and so don’t take the required actions to manage these changes. This can result in a combination of:

Reduced Gross Margin if a high margin product drops in popularity.
Not taking corrective action to improve the product mix.
Reduced cashflow from not reducing material order and inventory levels for the declining items.
Running out of stock of increasing product lines.
Falling behind competitor innovations.

If you want to stay on top, then you need to know what is happening in the marketplace and how it is affecting your sales / revenue lines.

Business Advisors can add significant additional Gross Profit to businesses of all sizes and in every type of industry, by identifying the reasons for, and then applying the remedies to correct the issue. Product mix changes can occur from:

Actions you have taken to increase another specific sales / revenue line.
Improved competitor marketing.
Competitor innovation.
A better alternative solution has become available on the market.

You need to be aware of the impacts of both your own and competitor initiatives on the market.

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The importance of Teams, Suppliers, and Customers

admin — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 22:29:48 +0000

Teams, Suppliers and Customers

During the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the All Blacks put together a great team performance to beat the Pumas in the first of the semifinals.

In the second semifinal, Owen Farrell nagged and backchatted so much to the referee, that he was marched back 10 metres, making a difficult penalty kick just that much easier for Handre Pollard, who slotted the kick for a vital 3-points. South Africa then going on to beat England 16-15.

It is our experience that businesses that treat their Teams, Suppliers and Customers with respect fare better than those who use arrogance as their key management tool. Generally, if you look after your people, suppliers, and customers, they will also look after you.

The main advantages of looking after both your internal and external teams are:

Staff will go the extra mile when required to get out rush orders or make up production after a machine failure.
When stock is in short supply, Suppliers will supply their good clients first.
When cashflow is tight, Suppliers will often give their good clients extended turns for a period of time.
Looking after Customers often means a higher retention rate and a bigger share of the customer purchases.
When cashflow is tight, offering payment plans to customers who are struggling will often lead to increased sales to those customers when their cashflow and performance improves.

The key to retaining good relations with staff, Suppliers and Customers is good meaningful communication.

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How the Best Businesses stay ahead of the pack

admin — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 22:23:11 +0000

How the Best Businesses Stay ahead of the Pack

They stay in front by having good, accurate and timely information including:

Balanced Scorecards – tailored to individual managers.
Key Performance Indicators – tailored to individual managers and team leaders.
Dashboards – tailored to individual managers and team leaders.
Customer Analysis – to understand and stay on top of any changes in the market.

How do they do this?

The bigger businesses achieve it by employing Analysts and Commercial Managers.

The smaller businesses engage Business Advisors / Consultants to develop and write these models. If they do not have the required staff available to update the models on a monthly basis, then they will also contract the Business Advisor / Consultant to update them for them. Depending on the quality of the financial information these monthly updates will generally take between 2 to 8 hours to update.

Why do they do this?

Because good, accurate and timely information is the key to running a good business. Any change in the analysed information can identify where both good and bad trends are developing and therefore where management needs to focus its attention.

It should be noted that that these reports do not only contain financial information. They also reveal key analytical indicators such as utilisation, breakdowns, capacity constraints, delays in producing customer invoices, staff absences, etc.

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iBANNZ – Who we are and what we offer

admin — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 02:08:54 +0000

Are You an Independent Business Advisor or Coach Who Would Like to Sometimes Meet and Chat with Other Independent Business Advisors and Coaches?

Independent Business Advisors Network of New Zealand (iBANNZ) is New Zealand’s first registered Independent Business Advisor Association supporting Business Advisors and Business Coaches to achieve their goals.

Officially registered in 2020 as New Zealand’s first creditable Business Advisor and Business Coaching support network, iBANNZ has since been nurtured by a group of like-minded and experienced individuals, so that, from its very inception, there has been an ongoing commitment to create an organisation that has its members at the centre of what it does.

iBANNZ was born from the need of those who may trade independently to have a network of trusted peers on whose support and counsel they can rely. We provide a forum to share ideas and advice, and a culture of collegiality and friendship.

The Four Pillars of iBANNZ are:

A network of fellow Independent Advisors
A forum to share ideas and advice
A culture of collegiality and friendship
A market perception that we are more than isolated one-man bands

Our stated mission is to create an environment for Independent Business Advisor professionals to network, collaborate, advocate, innovate and learn.

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