Edition 477 – The Cockpit

When I disembark an aircraft, if I happen to be exiting past the cockpit, I generally take a split second to look in. Usually the captain and the first officer are either standing up and taking a stretch, or completing some notes.

I’m always amazed at the controls on the cockpit dashboard. Various buttons and switches, all seemingly labelled and all, thus, performing their own specific task on the aircraft. It seems like a giant puzzle to me, yet no doubt, years of experience and training means their level of unconscious competence makes it all happen seamlessly, once the doors are shut and the Rolls Royce turbines are fired up.

When I was working with a client recently, it came up in our conversation that operating their business, was much like flying an aircraft. Whilst they have an online component to their business, they have to be aware of:

1. What stock is moving and what stock isn’t?
2. What marketing is working online, and what isn’t?
3. How they manage supplier lead times, and how that feeds into cashflow and stock management.
4. How they manage cashflow so that you don’t over invest in the wrong stock.
5. Being selective about the products and services they do provide?
6. How to manage customer complaints – and not just creating a solution that delights the customer, but determining the root cause of the issue in the first place.
7. Training their people so that they have the knowledge, to provide the best experience, and the right solution, for the customer.
8. Their own interactions with family members employed in the family business, which they need to manage from both a business and a family perspective.
9. How the different seasons (both from a weather perspective, and a sports one) impact their planning for stock management, and the marketing around that stock.
10. How they can de-risk their business from a supplier perspective, so that if their key supplier experiences unexpected constraints, that the business has an alternate offering available to it’s customers, enabling sales to continue, and customers to be served.

A multitude of issues to consider on a daily basis. Lots of decisions to be made – some backed by raw data, and others by gut instinct. Much like a plane mid-flight, it’s the skill to be able to handle turbulence, with great aplomb, that determines the success, or otherwise, of the business venture.

Next time you walk into a business, whether it’s an engineering workshop, a professional office or a bakery, take note of the activity that’s taking place, and how it flows. For me, one of the hallmarks of a successful business is how seamlessly things happen – how the activity takes place – with little fanfare, and a flow that reminds you of the duck on the pond, gliding along above the water line, but paddling like crazy, underneath it.

This Week’s Tip

“Is there a flow, to how you go about your business
– or does it look chaotic, to those on the outside?”