Businesses overtime become weak and sick and may eventually die if continuously action is not taken in identifying the cause of the sickness with the aim of administering remedial action. The symptoms of sickness are many and may include declining market share and profitability, negative publicity and low staff morale among others. In the process of identifying the cause of sickness management has to consider the following among others;
Are you committed to mission in life?
Sometimes the business loses focus on its purpose for existence and starts its downward journey because the owners supported by management are longer committed to the mission of the business. A business organisation is just a vehicle to enable the entrepreneurs achieve their mission in life. The success of the business organisation therefore depends on the commitment of the entrepreneurs to the mission of the business. The business cannot therefore propel itself without continued support from the owners. There is always a need therefore to reconfirm the commitment of the owners to the business when business organisation starts showing signs of sickness.
Review strategy
There are so many business with wonderful missions that are registered but do not take off because of lack of an effective strategy to guide the entrepreneurs during the process of moving forward. A business strategy is a plan that guides an entrepreneur in a business journey to achieve his or her mission under conditions of uncertainty. It is a roadmap that is developed after taking into account the uncertainties in the following areas;
- The purpose of existence
- The important goals that will make the business achieve its purpose
- The guiding principle of behaviour and action
- The strength , weakness , opportunity and threat (SWOT) analysis
- Review of competitiveness analysis
- The business plan addressing medium term goals
- The implementation and monitoring of the business plan
The review is intended to confirm that the strategy is flexible enough and still capable of moving the business towards its mission.
Review the implementation of strategy
I have seen many wonderful strategies which do not go beyond the approval process by the board because they lack an effective implementation plan. A strategic plan just guides the business organisation during the process of moving towards its mission but requires implementation plan for the strategy to be live. The implementation strategy includes activities that turn the strategic plan into action. The implementation plan also known as business plan includes strategies that will enable the business attain both its short, medium and long term goals. The implementation plan addresses questions of who, where, when, and how the desired goals and objectives in each strategic area will be achieved. Some businesses therefore become sick because they lack an effective implementation plan to move them forward.
Are the staff supportive?
Staff are key in the implementation of the business strategy. It is the staff that are capable of combining technology and various processes in producing quality products and services as required by the current and future customers. It is also the staff that are capable of linking or connecting the business organisation with the outside world. The organisation has core values that can only be lived by and it is the staff that give the current and potential customers a wonderful experience of the business. A business organisation will for sure start showing signs of downward trend if the staff are not committed to its success. The success of a business organisation therefore depends on the commitment of staff towards its success.
How is innovative culture in the business?
A business organisation’s success depends on the innovative culture of that organisation. Innovative culture is the work environment in an organisation that encourages staff to engage in creative and imaginative thinking with the aim of developing innovative and original ideas for implementation. The aim of the innovative ideas is to give an organisation a competitive advantage over the competition. It is the innovative culture that makes business organisations effectively compete in market places despite the existence of a lot of uncertainties.
Author: John Muhaise Bikalemesa
Director:Big Drum Advisory Services Limited
johnmuhaisebikalemesa@yahoo.com
