Columnist Dr Scott King CENG, Director, Pinnacle Growth Group
Business Growth and Shaping Your Journey When you get time for reflection, which let’s be honest has been challenging across 2021, do you ever look externally and feel that other businesses appear to achieve more, move faster, or seem to know exactly what they need to do and when?
transformation project. Although you might then ask; why would you transform if things are going well? I think the most stressful and difficult time to consider initiating a transformation is when things aren’t going well in the business. Let’s be honest: when a business is struggling it’s going to be under a significant amount of additional stress and the motivation levels of staff within the business may not be high. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t initiate a transformation during this period, but rather it’s important to recognise that it’s going to be tougher.
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ithin your business, have you wondered if there is a set process a business can implement and follow that can help guide and shape a transformation journey that ultimately moves the business forward, supports its development and its successes? Business transformation is a subject which many people have been asking Pinnacle Growth Group for support with over the past 12 months.
So, you made the decision to initiate a transformation project. Next step: how do you do it? Each transformation is unique. However, I believe there are three keys factors needed for success: • Having the support of people who have successfully completed a transformation can significantly increase your likelihood of success. • Your team are key stakeholders: if they aren’t on board and involved in planning the transformation, they won’t buy in and the success of the transformation will be impacted. • You need to accept that in order to make a successful transformation, you will need to allocate appropriate time and resources (which may be limited).
So, what is it? The Harvard Business Review informs us that: Business transformation involves making fundamental changes in how business is conducted. For Pinnacle Growth Group, business transformation involves the structured (and planned) change, improvement, evolution and/or the replacement of processes, people, training, systems, technology, marketing and brand perception. This will ultimately lead to business improvements in the form of, for example, increased efficiencies, sales, workforce skills, customer satisfaction, brand improvement, stakeholder approval and profits. We firmly believe that any business can successfully complete a transformation project to support their growth. Whether you’re a £50k or £50m turnover business you’ll perform – at a high level – the same type of change activities. The key differences will be the scale of transformation undertaken, the time frame needed, the resources required, and the magnitude of the transformation attempted. Remember: although your company might have a small turnover and limited resources compared to others, that doesn’t mean you can’t complete a successful transformation project.
So, to summarise: • Business transformation can be undertaken by businesses of any scale at any time, however, its always easier when the business is in a positive position. • Transforming a business is a challenge. It takes time – potentially months and longer depending on the scale of transformation – and a lot of hard work and commitment. • Thinking you can successfully achieve a transformation without time, effort and commitment is a sure-fire way of setting yourself up for failure. However, if you follow a process and have the support of people with the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience, you can successfully transform your business and ensure success for years to come. Business transformation is only one of the areas where Pinnacle Growth Group can add value to your business. We can also: • identify funding opportunities to assist your business transformation • assist with business planning and strategies for future growth • assist with accessing new markets, growing sales and client profitability.
So, when is the right time to kick off a transformation project? This is a very important question to consider. After all, should you kick off when your business is: • going well, and you have a positive momentum and sufficient resources, or • during a business plateau when your business is neither growing nor reducing, or • when things aren’t going well, and you need the transformation to recover your business?
If you want to discuss any of your questions with one of the Pinnacle Growth Group team, contact Scott at: scott.king@pinnaclegrowth.group or judith.neill@pinnaclegrowth.group.
When things are going well in a business and confidence is high, this is when they are most positive about initiating a
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