The 5 skill areas underlying the art of successful business

1. 5 Pillars of Business
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The 5 Pillars of
Business

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THE PRINCIPLE…
There is no Magic to running
a successful business
There is, however,
Art

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THE PRACTICE…
5skills comprise the
ART of doing
business....

4. STRATEGY1
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MARKETING2
OPERATIONS3
PEOPLE4
FINANCE5
The 5 Pillars of
Business

5. The 5 Pillars of Business
STRATEGY1
• Planning is preparation for scale
• You don’t need a 500-page thesis.
You do need a destination, though –
and a map to get there
• Your strategy tells staff, customers
and suppliers where you want to be,
and the route you will take
• What business are you in? Who is
your customer? Where are you
going? Where are you not going?
What does next look like?
• ….your strategy is the answers
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“When you come to
a fork in the road –
take it”
Yogi Berra

6. The 5 Pillars of Business
MARKETING2
• The most important word in the
world is ‘Expectations’. Your
marketing will raise expectations –
and you need to fulfill them
• Identify a market need. Design a
targeted, viable, affordable solution
• Craft your message. Choose your
channels. Schedule the flow. Express
the attraction. And repeat….
• Remember that Marketing lives on
distribution – don’t just create
need.... help customers satisfy it
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“It isn’t what they say
about you, it’s what
they whisper”
Errol Flynn

7. The 5 Pillars of Business
OPERATIONS3
• Whether you make or buy, if you
can’t deliver it you can’t sell it
• Logistics is key – the science and
organisation of internal processes
and external deliveries
• Decide the outcome you want;
collect & analyse the data; assess
the output gap; adjust; deliver
• Most importantly – Simplify. Do as
little as necessary to deliver the
output – all else is costly waste
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“Technology is neither
good nor bad. Nor is
it neutral”
Melvin Kranzberg

8. The 5 Pillars of Business
PEOPLE4
• Whether B2C or B2B, you’re a
people business
• The most important people element
is ‘fit’. If the people you hire don’t fit
your values, they’re not your people
• After ‘fit’, hire for intellect and
commitment – train everything else
• Then develop and empower;
challenge and support; motivate and
reward – remember, if there’s dead
wood there, you killed it
• And get a mentor.... right away
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“Every employee tends
to rise to his level of
incompetence”
C. Northcote Parkinson

9. The 5 Pillars of Business
FINANCE5
• Growth is not just about money –
and neither is finance
• Get expert advice to determine what
you need and when you need it –
equity, debt, factoring or trade
finance – and cherry-pick investors!
• Target the spending to the strategy –
not the other way round
• And remember that businesses
don’t fail because they run out of
customers. They fail because they
run out of cash
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“The size of a firm and
its growth rate are
independent”
Robert Gibrat

10. STRATEGY1
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MARKETING2
OPERATIONS3
PEOPLE4
FINANCE5
The 5 Pillars of
Business

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THE POINT…
Your business needs to grow
to survive
Appoint someone competent
for each of the 5 Pillars,
and you’ll have the
foundation for a successful,
growing business
ENJOY THE JOURNEY…!!
The 5 Pillars of
Business

12. 5 Pillars of Business
John Mark Williams
LinkedIn: John Mark Williams
Skype: jwrunning
twitter: @jwrunning
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