The good, the bad and the ugly: getting to know your business

| October 1, 2010
Phil Doyle

Phil DoyleGetting to know the ugly side of your business might just be the trick to move things up a gear.

Virginia Harrison spoke to Phil Doyle from Curtin University. They’ve been running hands-on business development programs for small and mid-size businesses as part of the Curtin Growth Owner program for the past 15 years.

The so-called “pocket MBA” delivers practical lessons from business people, rather than academics.

Program Manager Phil Doyle said medium businesses often hit a snag when trying to scale up because they don’t know their weaknesses.  

“Most entrepreneurial people are innately good at the vast majority of business development things. They’re really good with customers and can develop their business to the point where it’s profitable.”

“With most of our clients, we maintain they are probably 80 per cent good, they are doing a lot of things well, but they’ve never had any opportunities to broaden their skills, to fill in the gaps.”

 Mr Doyle says the mindsets that can block growth for smaller operators are often shared with their larger counterparts.

“Every business has a bit of the good, the bad and the ugly. But when you’re working in the business, you can’t find what’s good, bad and ugly.”

He warns against the “busy fool syndrome,” where businesses start making less profit for greater effort and turnover.

“What we see happen is the very traits that enable them to get that business going, those entrepreneurial traits, becoming inhibiting factors. They don’t put in the systems and the structures and procedures, and don’t start extracting themselves from the business.”

Deficiencies for managers are often around strategic capability, and failing to properly understand their customers. 

 “Strategic thinking and planning comes up a lot. Most people haven’t been given any lessons or tools on how to think strategically.”

“Also marketing – understanding who your customers are and why they buy from you. Getting a profile of you best customer and trying to sell to them. Some people come at it from the wrong direction, they don’t know why they’re doing it.”

But Mr Doyle says these practical skills are relatively simple to pick up.

“They are the hard skills. The hard skills are easy and the soft skills are hard. So the soft ones are people skills, understanding yourself and why you are they way you are, and others are the way they are, and why.”   

For more visit  Curtin Growth Owner >>

 

PHIL DOYLES’ TOP TIPS FOR MID-SIZE DEVELOPMENT

  • Understand and address your weaknesses
  •  Know your place – avoid the “busy fool” syndrome
  • Spend time developing hard and soft skills
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