ONE SYSTEM, TEN KEY AREAS
The SMARTer System
One coach and mentor for the whole business, with proven practice behind every part of it.
A way of looking at the whole business, not just one part of it. The SMARTer System uses ten key areas to help you see how the business is really working, decide what matters most, and make the changes stick.
It starts with what you want
It starts with what you want
Every business is trying to get somewhere, and every owner wants something different from theirs. Most want some mix of four things.
So the SMARTer System starts with your goals, not a template, and everything that follows is measured against them.
The system itself is your business's own: the way it wins work, delivers it and runs itself. It is not a programme I deliver to you. My job is to help you see it clearly and improve it.
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A business that makes the money it should, not just more turnover.
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Your time back, with less coming back to you.
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A team that runs things well without you in every conversation.
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A business worth more, when you choose to step back.
ONE BUSINESS
Ten key areas
Direction and leadership
Where the business is going, and how it is led
Where do you want the business to be in three years, and what needs to change to get there?
Marketing
How the business creates demand for its services: who it is for, what it is known for, and how it stays visible.
Where do your best clients come from, and how deliberately are you creating more of them?
Sales
Turning opportunities into profitable work consistently, without it all resting on you.
If you wanted to win a quarter more work, what would actually have to change?
Clients
The value of the relationship to both sides: keeping clients, doing more for them, and being recommended.
What would your most valuable clients say is the reason they stay with you?
Service delivery
Where the promise made by marketing and sales becomes reality: quality, capacity and margin.
What happens to quality and profit when you get a third busier?
People
An organisation capable of delivering what you want: roles, managers, delegation and succession.
What are you still doing because you haven't yet got someone you trust to do it?
Finance and commercial management
Understanding the economics of the business, and using them to make decisions.
Which clients and services are actually making you money?
Systems and technology
Whether the way the business works has kept pace with its growth.
Where is the business losing time, information or control?
Risk and resilience
The things that could seriously disrupt the business, kept practical rather than a compliance exercise.
If you couldn't work in the business for six months, what would happen?
Continuous improvement
Whether the business deliberately learns, and gets better on purpose.
How do you know whether the business is getting better?
A question that runs through all ten
Does the business have this, or do you?
In every area there is one question worth asking: is this something the business can do, or something you do? A sales process, or you winning most of the work. A management team that manages, or everything coming back to you. The answer is not always to hand things over. But a business that achieves what you want it to usually depends on you less, not more.
ONE COACH, THE WHOLE BUSINESS
One coach and mentor for the whole business
Generalist business coaching tends to offer breadth without depth. Specialists offer depth in one area and nothing beyond it. The SMARTer System gives one coach and mentor a body of proven practice in every key area, so you can work on whatever matters most to your business now, and keep what you build when we finish.
Where my experience runs out, proven practice takes over. Where both run out, a specialist does, and I help you brief them.
Winning and keeping clients is the area with the most depth, because it is where many businesses that sell expertise feel the pressure first. It is set out as eight capabilities across Marketing, Sales and Clients.
How the system is used
How the system is used
Look at all ten key areas, quickly and honestly, with the free review or a SMARTer Business Review.
Choose the two or three areas that would make the biggest difference.
Set goals for them, and work on them: coaching, evidence and experience, with you making the decisions.
Review what happened, learn from it, and move to the next priority.
The engagement is designed to end. The capability is designed to stay.