Five Goals Necessary for Success
The Port Hope and District Chamber of Commerce recently underwent a Strategic Planning process. It occurred to me that the strategies that we researched, reviewed, and ultimately planned applied as much to our, or your, business as it does to the Chamber. Commitment, advocacy, empowerment, technology and governance are what build the strengths of a company and make it successful, whether it is a Chamber of Commerce or a private business. So I thought you might be interested.
The Port Hope and District Chamber of Commerce Strategic Planning process included research of current business association publications and a review of the strategic plans of other Chambers, local as well as regional. The thoughts and vision of the board of directors were collected through a combination of efforts, including a questionnaire to all directors and a strategic planning session, to which the executive, board and staff were invited. Several drafts were distributed for comment.
The strategic plan outlines the five important goals necessary for the Chamber to achieve its vision: to be Port Hope’s leading business association.
Goal 1 – Membership Programs and Services
Be responsive to the needs of our members and commit to excellence in the services we provide.
Goal 2 – Policy and Advocacy work
Engage in effective advocacy to bring issues that matter to our members to the forefront of the public agenda.
Goal 3 – Organization and Administration
Empower staff and enhance staff expertise.
Goal 4 – Technology Planning
Build a robust technology framework that will guide us into the future.
Goal 5 – Governance
Build a dynamic, sustainable, independent, representative, and effective business association.
The Strategic Plan represents a renewed commitment to Chamber members through excellence in services provided, advocacy and education. The plan contains a fresh perspective and gives clear guidance on specific issues.
For example, our economy has changed dramatically in the last few years and, as a result, the Chamber has recognized that the needs of their members have also changed. Understanding those needs and how to satisfy them requires a thorough analysis of the marketplace. It also requires an objective evaluation of current programs and services, which must be relevant, fresh and offer valuable resources.
Maintaining its relevance, the Chamber identified a need to be proactive and persuasive in policy advocacy. Keeping issues that matter to its members in the forefront of the public agenda will keep the Chamber in the forefront of the minds of its members and local municipal government. Staff training and staff empowerment were also considered to be key issues to developing a strong Chamber. Investing in staff members and their expertise will allow the Chamber to build on its successes and ultimately build its financial resources.
The Chamber also identified the need for technology planning, with emphasis to be placed on strengthening an online presence and building a technology framework that will create fundamental changes to the way the Chamber delivers valuable services to its membership. Increasing the resources designated for technology will guide it into the future.
The Chamber committed to continuously overhaul its governance model to stay fresh and relevant and responsive to members’ needs. The Chamber also identified the need to seek out skill-based board members rather than the current practice of having industry sector representation. And finally, three key business issues pertinent to the local economy were determined as focus areas for special programs and attention.
The strategic plan shakes up the traditional approach that similar associations have taken in the past. It concentrates on getting the right people focused on the right things and in places where they can have an effect. Maintaining the status quo isn’t enough to entice new membership, or keep current members engaged, and even less likely to pry a fee from the members’ pockets.
Brainwork, the 21st century skill
In today’s ‘brain based’ economy manual labour is becoming obsolete. Innovation and technology have transformed industry and even the simplest of tasks require technical knowledge. The skills that we need to run our businesses have become cerebral. Even at its most basic level we have seen our own industry develop from print provider to communications and marketing provider. The print industry’s development has come from innovative technology. Our employees are now skilled in data management, creative design and web engineering. Twenty years ago we could hire people with little or no industry experience; all they really needed was a positive attitude and good hand-eye coordination. Now we need ‘brainwork’, which is mainly mental activity, thought, imagination. The effort of thought, reasoning or planning, ordered or direct thinking.
A brainwork economy brings with it its own set of challenges. Because brainwork is the skill most desired by employers, they must now learn to protect their investment by protecting the brain health of their employees. Business owners and managers must embrace mental health as a governance matter.
Bill Wilkerson, a fellow ‘Port Hoper’, has devoted many years to researching mental health issues in the workplace. He believes that there must be fundamental changes in our society, government, education and human resource policies to prevent the disabling effects of depression, anxiety and addictions in the workplace. He has worked for the past 12 years with Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, which he co-founded with former Finance Minister Michael Wilson. ‘The Roundtable consists of business, health and education leaders who have undersigned the proposition that mental health is a business and economic issue.’
Depression is the main source of disability in North America. ‘Disability is a huge business issue and once recognized as such, the impact of mental health issues on business performance becomes readily apparent.’Through training, education and the fostering of workplace cultures that permit open and informed communication on mental health we, as business owners and managers, need to educate our employees and ourselves. We need to understand the sources of workplace stress most likely to aggravate mental health conditions in the workplace. In order to eradicate stigma we need to promote acceptance and understanding.
Mr. Wilkerson prepared the following:
Top Ten List
Major Sources of Chronic Job Stress in Today’s Workplace
Number 10: The treadmill syndrome. Too much to do all the time
Number 9: Random interruptions
Number 8: Ambiguity, employees not sure what’s going on around them
Number 7: Mistrust and vicious office politics
Number 6: Not walking the talk. Mission statement, say hello to actual practice
Number 5: Fictional performance reviews. “You’re doing great, you’re fired”
Number 4: Lack of discrete, honest face to face feedback day to day
Number 3: Email overload
Number 2: Lack of control over your own job.
Number 1: Withholding material information needed to get the job done
To learn more about mental health in the workplace visit www.mentalhealthroundtable.ca.
A One-Stop Shop for Marketing Services & Printing
“Over the last few years, printers have been urged to expand beyond being printing services providers and do more than put ink on paper. They are being urged to become marketing services providers. This move was aimed at offsetting printing revenue that has been lost to the Internet in recent years.
Among the services they are encouraged to provide are graphic design, marketing campaign development, website development, and database management.
Many large printing companies did move into marketing services to help generate new revenue streams, but smaller companies with fewer resources (and fewer in-house capabilities) were slower to make the shift. Now smaller companies are increasingly becoming Market Service Providers and offering services that go well beyond ink on paper.” Howard Riell, National Association of Print Leaders.
Cats Media was quick to dive into the wonderful world of marketing services providers. We knew that creative services would ultimately support our core print business but, along with that, we believed that offering new services would allow us to take better care of our existing clients. We have had some mixed results, but in general it has been a very positive move for our company.
Since expanding our services at Cats Media we have increased our sales every year. The economy is not booming but we are. In this zero growth economy we are experiencing, the only way to develop business is to increase market share and what that means is you have to take business away from someone else. This may sound harsh but it is reality and it is exactly what Cats Media has done. As we expand our services other companies are shrinking their services and concentrating purely on their core businesses. Some companies are closing.
We began by offering data base management, mailing and fulfillment services. Then we branched into graphic and web design, IT services, photography, marketing and strategic planning and e-services. We now have 35% non-print sales. We anticipate we could easily move to 45% non-print in the next couple of years.
Data base management, mailing and fulfillment services have proven to be the most profitable additional services we offer without detracting from our core print business. These services are a natural fit and go hand in hand with print. In the beginning we offered them simply to support our clients’ needs; we didn’t really consider them to be a split from print or a move toward ‘marketing services’ but in fact they are. These services are required after the product is printed. Our existing clients happily embraced them, and although they may have less print requirements, we continue to grow through these new service offerings.
The big stretch came with offering graphic and web design, two very popular commodities. We have many clients looking for business branding (logo development) and creation of marketing collateral. These services are still new to us and, with only a few years’ experience, we have found that making a profit is a challenge. Not having bench-mark pricing available to us, we have struggled to price projects appropriately. And developing web sites has opened up a whole new set of challenges. Our clients want us to build and host them but web site development requires different skills, which means hiring additional staff. It also means additional programs, software, hardware and insurance. We did not fully anticipate the hidden costs associated with web site development.
It is interesting to note that most of the clients who require our creative services are new clients to our company. The creative design and marketing plans come before the need for printed material. It’s a pleasure to have new clients who know us first as a creative company and then use our print services. Disappointing is the fact that many of our traditional print clients still do not use our creative services.
We readily invest in outsourcing, contracting or collaborating if we have a project more complex than our own team can handle. If a client requests a service that we don’t have the expertise to deal with, we work with someone who does. We charge a little extra for the project management but sub-contracting to an expert in the field gives our clients everything they need and more. There have been a few cases where we have hired the person we contracted if we recognised that there was a regular demand for their skill. However, more often than not, we encourage our team to get involved and develop new skills. It’s free ‘on the job’ training.
Small printers need to become marketing service providers in order to attract new clients and new business. At the same time it is important to protect the core business of print. The profit from printed material is too important.
You’re the Boss. Be the Leader
You own the company. You are the boss. Obviously you have been a part of the day-to-day business of running the company from its inception. However, leading it should now be your primary role. It can be difficult to make the transition from being hands-on to being the leader but leaders we must become. We often resist taking on that role because we think that because we own the company we should be ‘slugging it out’ day to day. Wrong. There is nothing more important than providing strategic leadership to your team. Your company needs you to be the strategic thinker; your company needs you to direct growth. As its strategic leader you will provide the vision and direction for the growth and success of your business.
One reason this transition can be so difficult is because most people don’t know what strategic leadership is.
Leaders envision the future
Strategic leadership is having the ability to think ahead, to study the industry and to seek out what opportunities are available. Leaders have to search for future gains and advantages. They have to network and constantly be on their toes to stay ahead of the market.
Leaders refuse to maintain the status quo
Leaders must think critically. Challenge everything. Find better ways. Leaders must change current mindsets and current methods. The most important thing is that as leaders we must constantly strive to make our products or services better and better.
Leaders analyse and make decisions
A good strategic leader holds steady. Don’t jump on new thoughts or waves until you’ve analysed the market, opportunities and trends. Thoughtfully review options. Make a decision before you become paralyzed by too much information and too much time to think about it. Have an opinion and take a stand.
Leaders motivate their team
Good leadership involves building trust with your team and engaging key players and partners. Even when different points of view exist, good leaders can bring the cause to the foreground and make a difference.
Leaders never stop learning
Never stop talking to other professionals. Constantly encourage feedback and dialogue with those around you. If you go off track, get back on course quickly. Celebrate successes and failures. Keep reading and stay in touch with your industry. Someone is always better, stronger or faster.
DELEGATE
As small business owners we wear many hats. Often our business is our life’s dream, our personal creation, a reflection of ourselves, and we are hesitant to entrust its management to others. We believe they won’t do as good a job as we would. I remind myself of two important pieces of advice:
1) My purpose is to be a chiropractor. I used to think I was saving money by doing things like cleaning the office or painting a treatment room. I have come to realize that my time is valuable. It is much more productive for me to spend it adjusting patients or developing procedures or coming up with ideas to obtain more patients, than it is for me to be painting and cleaning. I have learned that it is much more productive to hire someone to do the other jobs so I can invest my time and energy in my core values.
2) The 80% rule. When I delegate I remind myself the other person likely won’t complete the task to my exact expectation but to be happy with 80% satisfaction.
STAFF BONUSES BASED ON MONTHLY COLLECTIONS
As the owner of a small business with small growth I am not in a position to offer my staff yearly raises. At times it created tension with staff as they anticipated a yearly raise. It always bothered me that I couldn’t do that. My solution was to offer a bonus system based on monthly collections. Bonuses are in increments of $100. In a good month my office manager has made as much as an additional $300. The bonus system motivates the staff to “produce” more. In the good months I can easily compensate them for their stellar performance and in the lean months they receive their expected compensation. The bonus system has satisfied the needs of both employee and employer.
CORE VALUES
One of the first assignments given to me by my chiropractic life coach was to identify my core values. Your core values are the essence of who you are. Knowing what they are allows you to determine WHY you do the things you do in life. When the WHY is big enough, the HOWS look after themselves. Knowing your core values helps you to set your goals and dreams in a way that is compatible with who you really are. It creates your true voice in the world. The result? It expedites the journey to fulfilling your dreams!
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Each marketing idea is assigned a file. In it we track all expenditures of time and money for that project. New patients are asked to identify how they heard about our office. At month end we assess which new patients were associated with which marketing project. We know how much revenue the average new patient generates so we can then determine our return on investment. Was the project worthwhile and will we continue with it?
WEEKLY STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
At Ganaraska Chiropractic we collect and analyze statistics weekly. This allows us to quickly identify and assess what it was that improved a stat or resulted in a drop. It is easier to make that assessment when the results are fresh. If the analysis shows that something has improved then we can identify why and build on it. Alternatively, if a stat dropped we can assess what we did or did not do to cause that and correct it. If we wait until month end the strong weeks are averaged in with the poor weeks and there is a risk of overlooking important factors as they happen.
Your Strengths Set you Apart
Build on your strengths instead of spending time working on your weaknesses. Whatever business you are in, focusing on weak areas takes energy and effort away from building on strengths. Your strengths will suffer; they will be in danger of becoming weaknesses. When it comes to marketing, identify your strengths — products, services, techniques, approaches, relationships — and exploit them to distinguish yourself. Trying to be well rounded, or all things to all people, doesn’t set you apart. Great strengths and a little lopsidedness, does.