This was never meant to be a definitive “how to” business book. Rather, I attempted to show, through stories, how I built my business one step at a time.
As I wind down, I’d like to point out some practices that were always in the forefront of my mind during the second half of my business life, and are part of the Love and Quiches Desserts philosophy and ethics. I embarrass myself when I think of the first half, except we wouldn’t be here without it.
Much of the following has already been demonstrated through my stories, but is important enough to bear repeating. I wish I could have been provided with this list when I was just beginning. So, in no particular order:
• Our employees are our greatest asset, and are valued insiders. We are all in this together. However, there is always politics involved, even in a small company; egos, jostling for position and power, jealousies, and so on, are a fact of life. Strong leadership and management at the top can keep it to a minimum, but cannot stop it altogether.
• Get the right people on the bus and know their strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities. That said, we now have, as 2012 is beginning, by far the strongest and most talented team in place than in our entire history.
• Cross training is an important part of our protocol.
• If your superstar suddenly leaves, you’ll survive if you keep calm and act quickly… no one is irreplaceable. We learned this more than once, but particularly when our beloved Jimmy the Baker died so suddenly in the late 90s.
• Customers are equal in importance to a strong organization. No customers, no business! It is the customer that fuels growth in business. We partner with our customers to make sure their needs are being fulfilled since it is much less costly to keep a customer than to have to constantly seek new ones. But we balance the needs of our customers with the needs of the company.
• We do not rely on too few customers, too few channels (areas) of business. We do not put all of our eggs in one basket.
• We strategize by business segment, channel, and class of customer. Our Sales, Marketing, and R&D departments work hand in hand in the process, gathering technical and market intelligence, and we analyze the information to see how it may benefit the company.
• If it isn’t working, change it. Or leave it to die. Don’t do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.
• And, for sure, we no longer throw “upside-down widgets” at the Operations Departments without first checking if the processes required are viable.
• The majority of the participants in my industry are knowing, sophisticated, and loyal (mostly). But there is a fair amount of moving around, so networking works. We belong to the key industry organizations, and keep our name out there.
• We price our products properly, because we are aware of all our costs. We keep what works well and rationalize those products out that do not generate enough sales.
• Cost cutting has its limits and can drive profits just so high. Reinvest those savings in growth. Grow or you will lose ground.
• We control all costs. Everything gets shopped; from waste disposal to logistics (shipping costs) and everything in between.
• We keep strict controls of our raw and finished inventory, and adhere to the Just in Time method of manufacturing; no excess or obsolete inventory.
• Our strong accounting practices get us the information we need to make smart strategic decisions for sales, marketing, labor needs, capital expenditures, and so on, but, most importantly, for projections, and forward planning. We always know where we are now, and are always planning for the future.
• Our market is constantly changing and we change along with it; because of the evolving economic climate, changing tastes (comfort foods, ethnic tastes, etc.), and demographics. We seek market intelligence from our sales and marketing teams, and use the information to remain cutting edge, in stride with or, hopefully, ahead of our competition.
• There is an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for everything; no shooting from the hip, which is just about the only way I did things, at first. In fact, I excelled in it.
• There is no “”One Size Fits All” management technique. We provide direction and goal setting, clearly communicated, from the top, but our department heads and managers run the meat and potatoes with complete authority.
• Communication, communication, and more communication-- which travels both ways. Everybody needs to be on the same page, at all times, and clearly understand why we are all here and doing what we are doing. Excellent communication is the best money saver of all.
• A last word, yet again, about failure. Success is never a straight line to the top. Failure never hurts unless we do not pay attention to its lessons. Our failures have been a learning tool. Our failures have made us better. We don’t often make the same mistakes.
Of course, in a complicated manufacturing business such as ours, these tenets are just a few of so many more that help us stay healthy and on message.
Until next time...make someone happy —serve them dessert!
http://www.loveandquiches.com/
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