Have you ever read a book called “In Search of Excellence”?
It’s written by Tom Peters, a wonderful management thought leader. He wrote several books on management, but this one is his best seller. One of the things he talks about in the book is that the only way to excellence is to have a vision for your company… and for all of its departments … to become so good other people would pay you for those services. It’s not just about being good at what you “officially” do as a business. But to become great at every single activity.
Now, think about the implications of that.
Imagine if, instead of having your accounting department be an in-house accounting department… What if it was an independent unit and its level of service was so good you could provide it to other people in your industry.
Or… what if your graphic department was so good that you could offer its service to other businesses?
Or… what if you were so amazing at organizing events that your competitors would want to pay you to put up events for them?
That’s an interesting way to look at your business. And just by shifting that perspective, you can immediately see where all the opportunities for improvements are, too. And what’s great about it is; All the supporting activities you already do, are not necessarily what you charge for in your During Unit… All of those could now become a new core service. Something you offer to other people in your industry. And another profit center for you.
So, think about it; What are the things you do so well that your competitors would joyfully pay to be a part of… or hire you to do it for them?
Let me know… and we could hatch some evil schemes around that 😉
For more on excellence, head over to the podcast.