Business Management … The Bigger Picture

When people talk about business management, they’re usually referring to managing the day to day, nuts and bolts operations of an enterprise. There are thousands of people out there who can help you with that.

We look at business management from a different perspective … a life-cycle perspective. Just as a person goes through stages of development and maturation, so does a business. From this point of view, business management takes on a whole different meaning.

IT’S MORE FOCUSED ON THE BIG PICTURE, GOING FROM WHAT IT TAKES TO GET YOU OFF TO A GOOD START … TO HOW YOU MAINTAIN YOUR MOJO AS YOU MATURE … TO HELPING YOU ADAPT AND REINVENT THE BUSINESS AS TIMES CHANGE.

INFANT … As you work to get your business off the ground, you’re giving birth to something new, and you get to decide exactly what you want it to be. In this phase, you’re doing all the strategic planning and legwork necessary to establish a firm foundation. So often, we see people stumbling into business vs. carefully planning and executing their entry into the world. The kind of care and feeding a baby gets, in large measure, determines how healthy he or she will be. It’s no different for a business. You have to feed the baby! That means doing the planning and the hard work it takes to get your fledgling business off to a good start.

YOU HAVE TO BE CLEAR ON YOUR SPECIFIC BUSINESS OFFERINGS AND PRICE POINTS … WHO THEY’RE BEST TARGETED TO … KNOW HOW TO REACH THAT TARGET, AND HAVE ALL THE PROCESSES IN PLACE TO SUPPORT YOUR BUDDING ENTERPRISE. WE CAN HELP WITH THE STRATEGIC PLANNING ASPECT.

TODDLER … In this phase, you’re a processing machine, figuring out how to make things work, and you have to put in a lot of concentrated effort to accomplish anything. Lots of effort in … not much in the way of results out. It’s easy to get discouraged and think you can’t accomplish what you want to … that your efforts are in vain. You look at older more established companies and wonder why you aren’t performing to the same level they are. This is where your personality comes in. If you’re doggedly determined and highly motivated, you just keep going. If not, it’s easy to flounder.

AS YOUR BUSINESS ADVISOR, OUR JOB IS TO HELP YOU COURSE CORRECT, MAKE SURE YOU’RE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS THE RIGHT WAY, AND REASSURE YOU THAT YOUR EFFORTS WILL PAY OFF IN TIME.

This is a necessary, if sometimes frustrating, phase where you’re just trying to gain traction. You aren’t walking confidently just yet, much less running.

ADOLESCENT … Things are starting to come together. You’re beginning to represent, more confidently, who you are and what you can do for people, and your message is starting to penetrate through to the people in your target market and resonate with them. Your concentrated and persistent efforts are yielding ever more satisfying results. You’re not quite there yet, but you can feel you’re on the verge of something.

TO CONTINUE TO GROW, YOU NEED TO DEVELOP A TEAM YOU TRUST … EVEN IF THEY’RE PART TIME OR 1099 CONSULTANTS. YOU’RE DOING ONLY THE THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING OR CAN DO, AND MAKING SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN PLACE TO HANDLE EVERYTHING ELSE. YOU’VE ESTABLISHED CLEAR GOALS, DEFINED ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES, AND STANDARDIZED PROCESSES.

GROWN UP … This is the stage where you really live into your potential. You’re established now. You’ve learned what it takes to operate a successful, profitable business. You know that if you do X, you’ll get more of Y, so you’re doing as much X as you can … and the results are there. But there are a lot of demands on your time and only so much of you to go around.

HERE THE BIGGEST BUSINESS MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES ARE TO CREATE A NEW, BIGGER VISION AND CONVEY THAT THROUGH YOUR LEADERSHIP PRESENCE.

That’s often not so easy to pull off when you’re often drawn into the day-to-day demands of running a business. We help you analyze where you’re spending your time and focus your efforts on the big picture.

MIDDLE AGED … This is the extended phase of peak productivity where things are running smoothly. You’re serving people efficiently and well and making money doing it.

This is the stage where it’s easy to get complacent and neglect the need to continuously improve, to refine and fine-tune your goals, your processes, your communication skills, and any areas where you aren’t as strong as you could be.

WE HELP YOU STAY AS HIGHLY SKILLED AND SHARP AS POSSIBLE, BECAUSE WHEN YOU STOP GETTING BETTER … WHEN YOU STAND STILL … YOU’RE ACTUALLY LOSING GROUND TO THE COMPETITION … BECAUSE THEY AREN’T STANDING STILL.

YOUNG AGAIN … Times change. People’s preferences change. Markets change. Some businesses will grow old. They’ll fail to adapt and innovate … and they’ll disappear. But, unlike the life cycle of a person, a business can live on indefinitely, as long as you as the business owner … and whoever succeeds you … are willing and able to stay current on what the people in your target market want and need and make any changes you need to make to ensure you’re giving it to them.

SOMETIMES THAT INVOLVES SIMPLY ADAPTING TO THE NEW REALITIES BY TWEAKING YOUR MARKETING APPROACH OR YOUR OFFERINGS. SOMETIMES IT MEANS REINVENTING THE BUSINESS IN A MORE FUNDAMENTAL WAY. WHAT’S THE LEGACY YOU WANT TO LEAVE?

Would it help to have another set of eyes looking at where you stand now and in which direction you might want to head?

Business management really is about more than just taking care of business. It’s about understanding what your business needs at every stage of its life-cycle and getting the help you need to see you through all the challenges that starting and running a business present over time.

“I started working with Denise Hedges when I was transitioning to a new venture.  Even though I’d successfully operated my event planning business for over 25 years, I needed help starting my coaching business.  I was leaving an industry I knew thoroughly and moving into an industry that wasn’t as familiar to me.

With her mild disposition, laser focus, and intuition, Denise was the perfect coach for me! She helped me gain the confidence I needed to successfully move forward in my new venture and lay a solid foundation for my business growth.  We worked together to develop strategies, systems, and processes that would work best for my business, and she provided the tools I needed to fill my practice with ideal clients.

Since working with Denise, I now have the confidence, tools, processes, and strategies to be as successful in my coaching business as I was in my event planning business!”

Shelby Tuck-Horton

COACH & CONSULTANT, BOWIE MD.