Nobody said running a business is an easy thing. One minute you can be on top of the world; the next, you don’t know when your bad luck will end. If your business appears to be heading in the wrong direction, then failing to act isn’t going to see the turnaround you desire.
Instead, you’ve got to be proactive, identifying problems and logically fixing them. Sometimes, it’s only a few small changes that can make a big difference; other times, it might take a complete overhaul, but if you approach this challenge correctly, you will give yourself the best opportunity to overcome it.
Define the Problems
A good way to start fixing the problems afflicting your business is using the Six Sigma DMAIC framework to assess your issues. Through this process, you address your concerns in five steps:
- Define
- Measure
- Analyze
- Improve
- Control
You can’t just start by trying to implement solutions to your problems. You’ve first got to pinpoint what the issues are before you can fix them. If you follow the DMAIC pathway, you have a logical solution to addressing your business problems.
Get Everyone on Board
Once you’ve defined the problem, you need to make sure that everyone in your business is on board and willing to make changes to fix these problems. If you’re confident in your work during your DMAIC process, you will know the direction you want to go with your business.
At this point, you don’t need people pulling in the other direction. Once you’ve committed to a plan, you need people who will bring that plan to fruition. Get the people you need on board and find the new people necessary to make the required changes.
Invest
In many cases, getting that perfect team together and equipping them with what they need to turn things around will take investment. This means investing in the right staff but also investing in their training and the resources that are available to them.
When you look after your team, they will look after you, but you’ve got to make that initial investment.
Rethink the Company’s Mission
Companies often struggle when they get away from what they do well. If you can refine the company’s mission – what it is and why it is there-ensure that it gets back to what makes it successful.
Make sure it’s clear to everyone what your company is about and how it can help them.
Follow the Plan
Once you’ve figured out where your problems are coming from and the solutions you need to implement to fix them, you need to be disciplined and follow through on your plans.
If you keep turning back on your plans, you will end up with no direction at all, and you will find it difficult to turn the situation around.
