Page 52 - Australasian Paint & Panel Mar-Apr 2019

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Business Matters
PAINT&PANEL MARCH / APRIL 2019
H
GETTING THE FOUNDATIONS RIGHT
BEN FEWTRELL OF MAX MY PROFIT IS THE BUSINESS COACH FOR EAST COAST PAINT & PANEL AS WELL AS OTHER AUTOBODY REPAIRERS AND HAS FOUND MANY BUSINESS BASICS LACKING.
AVING STARTED COACHING WITH
East Coast Paint and Panel, and several other collision repair businesses I have noticed a com-
mon thread in the challenges faced. These challenges are not unique to au- tobody repair. Every single business on the planet needs to get the foundations right otherwise your business will be in- efficient, difficult to scale and harder to
run than it needs to be.
When I talk about getting the founda-
tions right, typically, operationally most collision repair businesses are proficient in getting the repairs done. However, be- ing great at repairing cars doesn’t make you great at running your busi- ness. There are five key areas that gives a business strong foundations
for growth and profitability.
GOAL SETTING AND PLANNING
Setting goals and creating plans is noth- ing new when it comes to building a suc- cessful business, however very few busi- nesses have documented their goals and the step-by-step plans to achieve them.
Setting goals can be quite a daunting task. Clearly defining goals will help you, your clients and your team get ex- cited about your business, so it’s worth while taking time out to do it.
Start by writing down what your busi- ness would look like if you had finished building it. What would your revenue be? How many team members would you have? What profitability would you en- joy? Where would your business be lo- cated? Would you have multiple loca-
tions? What type of work would you do? How many hours a week would you work inthebusiness?Thesearejustsomeof the questions that you can ask yourself.
How long will it take you to achieve your goal? Will it be two, five or 10 years? People typically underestimate what can be achieved in 10 years and will over estimate what they can do in 12 months.
Next you need to break it down into smaller milestones. For example; if it was going to take 10 years, next decide where will you be in five years. Then decide where you will be in three years, two years and in twelve months time.
KPI’S AND REPORTING
Onceyou’vecreatedyourcom-
pany's operational plan this
will help you and the team
head in the right direction.
Each person in the business
will also need a plan that will provide guid- ance, measurement and accountability.
Imagine going to a sporting game where they didn’t keep score. KPI’s are your way of keeping score in your business. Too of- ten I see business owners waiting until they have a problem before they look at the numbers. This leads to a panicked and re-
Imagine going to a sporting game where they
didn’t keep the score. KPI’s are your way of keeping score in your business.”
active approach. Had they known of the problem by looking at the num- bers well in advance, they would make a more measured decision to rectify the issue.
KPIs are useless if they are not tied to a person in the company. The ideal is to hold weekly manage- ment meetings to review progress and identify issues that will stop
Once you have your 12 month goal you can break this up into four quarterly goals giving you targets for each quarter. The shorter periods are like sprints in what is otherwise a marathon. It’s easier to do four sprints than it is to run an entire marathon.
Each of these ‘sprints’ will then have KPI’s attached to them making it easy for you to hold yourself and your team ac- countable. It is easier to check in on a weekly basis and make corrections as re- quired. A big mistake is to wait until the end of year and then realise that your strategies were not effective.
you from achieving your goals.
Things will come up in your business that urgently need your attention but it’s important that you maintain discipline and hold these meetings as if your busi-
ness depended on it - because it does. KPI’s are like the dashboard in your car, would you be comfortable driving with- out a fuel gauge or speedo working? The
same should apply to your business.
STRUCTURE FOR GROWTH
This is a common problem, in fact so com- mon that it has been dubbed ‘growing