Strike the balance between platforms and people - RJ Lewis

RJ Lewis – Planning Out Loud Show

​IBGR.Network - PROFIT Radio. Everything a business owner needs to start, grow or exit a business. GROW WITH US.

The Objectives + Opportunities + Challenges Presented.
Ever buy a car?

What was the greatest priority for you?

• Gas Mileage
• Reliability
• Speed

At the end of the day, no matter what your top priority is, you want to have a reasonable surety that the thing is going to both keep running and [🤞🏾] look good doing it.

When you focus on your business operations, you're buying that car all over again. That fine tuned machine that delivers you to exactly where you need to be...or not.

Today we're going to focus on that aspect of this "car buying" experience AND try not to let the metaphor get too far away from us.
By the end of our time together you'll be able to better understand how your business activities [or lack thereof] are all governed by the underlying structure of your business and how that support platform can make [or break] the bank for you.

🎙 Listen → Apply → Engage

Check.
Do you have the adequate people, processes, and platforms to cover your core functional areas and achieve viability [read stability and profit]?

Core functional areas:

1. Management →
   Strategic planning and development of the value chain, business model, org structure, and goals in a way that allows for proper allocation of talent and resources.
   
   
2. Accounting and Bookkeeping →
   Financial record-keeping
   
   
3. Finance →
   Budgeting and money management
   
   
4. Production →
   Ensure that products and/or services are available to consumers so that effective exchanges can occur.
   
   
5. Marketing and sales →
   Identify potential customers and promote products/services throughout the customer life cycle.
   
   
6. Legal →
   Formation of the business, regulatory compliance and documentation, as well as financial analysis and planning from a legal perspective.
   
   
   

Understand the functional overlap in your business development planning and your role within your business.

Think.
Our key strategy is define your value chain — how your product/service is valued – monetarily – by your end users — and use it to inform your process.

For product-based businesses this generally involves some prior planning that sets the stage for the customer to ascribe and assign value to the finished product that they encounter in the customer life cycle.

For service-based businesses customer value is measured via touchpoint [convenience point]:

• Primary customer value is need based. They want to buy what you're selling.
• Secondary customer value is experiential. They place value at the stages of the [process of acquiring your product or service](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/32152/McorpCX Insights Files/Publications/Aberdeen_The CX Value Chain_Paving They Way to Advocacy Report.pdf?__hssc#:~:text=Customer experiences are dynamic%3B they,driving customer loyalty and advocacy.).

When introducing people and platforms into your value chain, take a MUCH closer look at that secondary customer value. Think about autonomation - automation with a human touch - as a way to provide an unforgettable experience in a good way.

Act.
To get started, evaluate each core area as a support of your value chain and

1. Simplify the workflow
2. Templatize replicable tasks
3. Incorporate system integrations
4. Implement an automation strategy

The entire objective of each iteration of this process is to empower you and your people work in comfort.

Resources.

1. Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for Service-based Businesses – RJ Lewis
2. Finance vs. Accounting – Corporate Finance Institute
3. Porter’s Value Chain - Does it serve the service industry? –  Rajesh Bhadwal, IT Manager
4. [The Customer Experience Value Chain: Paving the way to Advocacy](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/32152/McorpCX Insights Files/Publications/Aberdeen_The CX Value Chain_Paving They Way to Advocacy Report.pdf?__hssc#:~:text=Customer experiences are dynamic%3B they,driving customer loyalty and advocacy.) – Omer Minkara, the Aberdeen Group
5. IBGR Community – Agilean Operations Group

Shows.
← Previous show : Episode 10. Email Marketing Roundup

• We've briefly touched on email marketing as a communications tool, a CRM hub, and a primary sales driver. Is it one of these, all of these, or none of these? Find out in this episode.

🔗  Listen now | Read the show notes

Next show → : Episode 12. Business Operating System Strategy: Season 4 Recap

• Oh yeah...It's time to work through how to use season 4 to build YOUR BOSS [business operating system strategy]. It's been a blast these past 11 weeks. Join me live and let's review the highlights!

Written by Rahgna J. Lewis
An Army wife and mother of 3 living in the Richmond area of Virginia, USA, RJ is a digital experience and systems strategist.

RJ Lewis Digital is a consultancy that is helping CEOs like you simplify and streamline their business operating system strategy by peeking at the digital systems you use to deliver your programs, communicate with teams, organize workflow, onboard staff and convert lurkers to clients. This agency's specialty is to ALIGN ALL THESE SYSTEMS so you and your company can flourish.

Videos and social media posts are all fun and sexy, but WHAT'S HAPPENING BEHIND THE SCENES IS GONNA MAKE (or break) your company BANK.

Visit justrjlewis.com to learn more about designing a business operating system strategy – an audience-focused digital ecosystem for your business.

Instagram: @talk2rj | Facebook: @RJLewisDigital | LinkedIn: @talk2rj

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