Fight Chaos in Your Business with Mastery

In every successful business, there’s a step-by-step process for how it operates.

ActionCOACH’s 6 Steps to Building a Better Business is a proven model that helps businesses produce consistent results over time. It consists of six components: 

1. Mastery

2. Marketing

3. Systems

4. Team

5. Synergy

6. Freedom

The guiding principle of 6 Steps is to create a business that operates without the business owner’s involvement. Rather than working “in” the business all of the time, the 6 Steps process is aimed to help the owner work “on” the business so it can grow and become more profitable. 

Each component in the 6 Steps process builds on one another in order to deliver the ultimate goal for business owners: creating a commercial profitable enterprise that runs without them.

Mastery: Is Your Business Fighting Chaos?

Do you run your business or does your business run you? Are you working too much and putting in too many hours?

At the base level of 6 Steps is Mastery. The goal of Mastery is to eliminate the chaos in your business by focusing on becoming proactive about decisions, not reactive.

Mastery looks at the current state of the business and how it is being controlled with the goal to create stability. 

Mastery is broken down into four main areas: 

1. Destination

2. Money

3. Time

4. Delivery

The business owner must be proficient in four areas within the Mastery component before he or she can move on to the next level of the 6 Steps process.

1. Destination Mastery

Do you know where your business is going? Does your business have a vision? Do you know your company goals? What about your budget for the next 90 days?

If you aren’t able to answer any, or even one of these questions, your business needs to work on its Destination Mastery.

Being able to identify the end point of your business is actually the first step to Destination Mastery. You need to know where your business is going or you will never make plans to get there. It’s important in this step to be clear on your business’s goals and objectives.

ActionCOACH recommends that business owners have 90-day goals, as well as one-year and five-year plans. A coach can help you and your business determine the direction and trajectory of your business by asking you questions. He or she will help you get clarity on the steps to take to accomplish your goals. 

2. Money Mastery

Smart business owners keep track of their profits and understand what drives business results. If you don’t know what numbers to measure or if you don’t track your metrics at all, you need to work on improving your Money Mastery. 

Money Mastery starts with knowing your numbers so that you can make sound business decisions and grow your business. By taking control of the money in your business, you are able to make better decisions regarding inventory and profitability, for example. You’re also able to benchmark your figures to your industry and make any necessary adjustments. 

When an owner takes charge of the money-side of their business, they no longer act as an employee. Rather, they begin to build the business, not just the job of the business.

3. Time Mastery 

Time never stands still or stops. Therefore, it can’t be fully managed. People however, can be managed and leveraged to increase productivity. If you want to maximize productivity in your business, you need to know how to manage people and prioritize tasks that are most urgent and timely.  

Through basic leadership and management techniques, you can double your team’s productivity without needing to double the number of people on your team.  

4. Delivery Mastery

Are your customers getting what they need on time? Can your business make, buy or deliver your products and services with consistency? Delivery Mastery focuses on the systems and processes that contribute to the distribution of your product or service. If you have any bottlenecks in your supply chain, you may need help with your Delivery Mastery. 

Once you have a handle on your supply chain management, you can redirect your focus to quality control as well as the ease at which your customers can do business with you. Lastly, to complete the delivery and distribution cycle, train your people in customer service. Providing an exceptional customer experience will delight your buyers and turn them into raving fans.