Your business is a palace. From the foundation to its unique trappings, every feature and detail of your enterprise has a distinct role in showcasing its utility and beauty.
Building a successful business from scratch is like constructing a palace from a blueprint. The overwhelming elements you have to consider can be intimidating. But focusing on the supporting pillars of your palace can help you draft an enduring structure that’s as beautiful as it is functional.
Here are the five pillars of business success:
1. Strategy
Your strategy is your plan. It’s the driving force behind the vision, concept, and features of your business. The other pillars would have no direction without this initial plan.
2. Methodology
This is your approach or the “how” of your construction. Putting strategy into action requires calculated steps and a precise plan.
3. Technology
This is the toolkit for your website and communication channels that will help your strategy and methodology excel in the marketplace.
4. Implementation
This step involves putting the first three pillars into practice. It includes opening your store, taking your website live, and offering your product for people to use.
5. Adoption
The fifth pillar is the most elusive. It’s contingent on the world’s response and interaction with your business after the implementation stage.
To encourage successful adoption, you must clearly outline the previous pillars. Commit to the strategy, methodology, technology, and implementation of your business, and your clients will be more likely to commit to your business in return.
Here are some pointers that will help support your pillars:
Don’t shun innovation.
The pressure to maintain relevance in the changing digital environment can be scary. But denying the need to innovate and change with the outside world will put you behind in business.
Take Kodak, for instance. It was perfectly positioned to innovate in its field and even produced a digital camera years before other companies. But instead of capitalizing on this lead, Kodak focused on the traditional film aspects of its brand and lagged behind in the digital revolution. The adoption pillar will crumble if you aren’t recognizing, keeping pace with, and setting trends.
Lead an educated team.
Providing team members with access to the information and tools they need to understand your business and their roles within it will fortify your organization to endure the strain of innovation and change. Establishing timelines for projects and removing barriers to change can keep employees on the same page and progress consistent.
When we introduced a new CRM system, Delta Force, the new, attractive features quickly overwhelmed us. We had committed to the new technology without learning the best applications for our business. Without good training, even the most impressive pillars will be vulnerable to the slightest disruption.
Promote community at every level.
Whether you organize a company social every month or send company emails with motivational messages and rewards, keeping the team united is a great way to ensure pride and loyalty. Team members who find meaning in their work and feel indebted to the company will be more proactive in maintaining its stability and making improvements any chance they get.
Act with purpose.
In every act of communication, design, or implementation, maintain a clear sense of purpose. Your values should guide everything you do. When you give employees instructions, consider those goals — however unrelated they might seem — and remind them how their job influences the company’s success.
Each pillar of business doesn’t awe people when it stands alone. But when you consider its function in supporting the buttresses and levels of the palace, each becomes vital. And people want to go to work knowing they play an important role in something meaningful.
Strengthen your planning.
A well-defined and sturdy strategy, methodology, and technology will ensure implementation and adoption go smoothly. Poring over these early stages and only advancing when you feel complete confidence in each pillar will improve your business’s chance of success when exposed to the outside world.
But it’s never too late to go back to these primary pillars and make them stronger. Maybe you need to adjust your methodology or introduce a technology your customers will love. Constantly referring to the pillars you’ve already built and honing them will give your adoption a steady boost.
Carefully constructing each pillar of business provides reinforcement that will help the organization withstand any destructive elements thrown its way. And the final flourishes of your palace will have visitors travelling miles just to see it.
After incorporating these pillars, you can stand back and appreciate what you’ve built.