So far, I have three things aka 3Ps about business but also life in general. It’s People, it’s Processes, it’s Partnerships. You must have the right people, and you must strive to build a shared mindset, value system, we tend to call this culture.
As you get people on board, you want to figure out your process. Your process is going to be unique to your business, your context, your resources. And you must find a way to keep improving that process everyday. Process means making decisions such as; ‘Should I purchase from the farm? Or should I purchase at the packhouse?’ And there are many other mini-processes to the main process. For example your payment process, your communication process, your issue resolution process.
You want to spend time improving process, otherwise it will give you a serious headache, and will keep you constrained. Your process is either making you money or bleeding you money.
In life, for me process is as simple as not checking into the socials or whatsapp until midday. It’s not progressing with the day until I have filled my To-do-list. Personally the To-Do-List keeps me alive. I can’t function without it. Every business has some process, your goal is to work on it and improve it.
Yesterday I said, avoid automating a process before you’ve improved that flow. You risk automating garbage. Think of your process as a pipeline. Whatever you are doing a product or service, it’s going through this pipeline. You want a smooth flow through that pipeline. Don’t over-design a process. Let your process grow with your business.
The third thing is Partnerships. This is extremely crucial. All businesses are about partnerships. Think of everything through the angle of partnerships. See Government as a partner, the regulatory authorities, the tax body, etc. See your suppliers as partners. Always look at creating shared value.