Run the Business, Transform the Business
Day to day vs. long term transformation
Every day, businesses face a constant tug-of-war. On one hand, leaders need to run the business, which involves the usual tasks such as managing staff, fulfilling orders, and ensuring a steady stream of revenue. On the other hand, leaders must incrementally transform the business to keep up with a constantly evolving landscape, including the impact of emerging technologies, shifting customer needs, and innovations from competitors.
The challenge for business leaders is to achieve a healthy balance between running and transforming the business. As James Schoen, Co-Founder of Trumbug says, “for small businesses, the biggest challenge is often taking the time to focus on strategy amidst competing priorities. You know it’s important, but it keeps getting pushed back due to more urgent tasks.”
The dangers of not doing both
Focusing only on running day-to-day operations can cause a business to become stagnant. While it might feel safe and comfortable to keep everything running smoothly, this approach leaves a company vulnerable to market changes and disruptions. Consider how many successful brick-and-mortar stores ignored the rise of online shopping and were outpaced by competitors who embraced e-commerce.
On the flip side, concentrating solely on transforming and innovating without paying attention to your current operations can lead to chaos. Picture a scale-up that’s so obsessed with developing the latest technology that they neglect their core product. Their customers might become frustrated with poor service or unmet expectations, leading to a loss of trust and business. This imbalance can cause a company to fail despite having great potential.
Being able to transform or grow a business while putting out the fires that come with running a business is difficult, but essential, so how can you ensure you aren’t neglecting transformation?
First of all, have a forward-looking strategy, and refer to it often. Putting some time on the calendar to step back and consider whether you have the right ambition, and whether the way you spend your time is going to get you there. Cassie Maschoff explains that at Lottie’s Meats, they proactively “try to reassess and align on our strategy on a monthly basis. Because once you’re going and operating, it’s hard to find the time to sit back and strategize.”
Second, think strategically about how you divide your budget, time, and team resources. Allocate a portion to running the business, to ensure smooth and efficient operations, and dedicate other resources to transformational initiatives that will help you achieve your future ambition. The resources you need can be defined in an initiative charter, which is a tool that provides an overview of a specific initiative.
Lastly, track how you spend your time. As you review operational metrics to show how you are running the business, don’t forget to review progress against your strategic initiatives to show how you are transforming the business. Short, regular updates shine a light on how you are progressing towards your ambition, or whether you are getting stuck in fighting today’s fires.
By setting up these simple mechanisms, your transformational initiatives stand a better chance of not getting buried in the endless list of urgent to-do’s, setting you up for achieving your longer-term ambitions.