See 7 Ways to Keep Your Focus on Execution After the Idea

Every startup begins with an idea, but from that point forward, it’s all about execution. Founders soon learn that customers only spend real money for solutions rather than ideas. Investors have also learned not to invest in ideas but only in entrepreneurs and teams who can deliver solutions. Success requires moving your passion quickly from the idea to the business implementation.

A good execution requires a plan and the right people, combined to create operational excellence and exceptional customer value. Companies that do this best become market leaders. Google, for example, was not the first Internet search provider (think Yahoo!, AltaVista, InfoSeek and others), but according to Investopedia, Google was the first to really monetize search.

As a result, Google has become a verb, and the company is a tech giant with record growth rates and a revenue of $74.5 billion in 2015. But Google is not unique. Many other companies have followed a similar set of execution principles which I believe are required for business success, no matter how great the idea:

1. Tune the business model to optimize value for all constituents.

Smart entrepreneurs architect a value chain that includes customers, partners and vendors, based on market dynamics. They then drive innovations and solutions to feed that value chain. A growth model without monetization for key players is not a long-term success strategy.

2. Plan for pivots as improvements based on results.

If every plan adjustment is a reaction to a crisis, you won’t take corrective action quickly enough and will never find new opportunities. Continuous improvement applies to the business model as well as the product. Set business goals and milestones, and use metrics to track performance.

3. Enable team members to run the business as their own.

Every team member needs the motivation, training and authority to make day-to-day decisions without review and approval. That means milestones have to be documented, measured and desired results rewarded. The whole team is required to deliver a winning customer experience.

4. Two-way communication at all levels is always top priority.

People who don’t know what is expected of them can’t do the job. Customers won’t be happy if you and your team don't listen to feedback and expectations. Strong leaders realize that effective communication becomes exponentially more difficult as the number of players increases.

5. It’s hard to improve results that you don’t measure.

In operationally excellent businesses, productivity and results are measured at every step in the value chain, not just at the end. Targets are benchmarked against competitors, customer reviews and industry expert expectations. Merely keeping up with previous results is falling behind.

6. Define at least one worst-case scenario and recovery plan.

Proactively engaging the team in building a plan-B is the only way to assure a timely response to key challenges. A passionate commitment to an idea alone will not carry the business over downturns in the economy, market evolution or customer trend changes. A great business must be agile.

7. Optimize team efforts with the latest technology and tools.

In this era of rapid technology advancement, an open mind must be the norm in leveraging the latest tools and process architectures. This means regular team training and update sessions, bringing in outside experts, and working with partners and vendors on win-win deals.

Business excellence is a convergence of technology and business elements to maximize customer value as well as company and partner returns. This convergence is not a one-time effort, but an iterative review and improvement mentality that has to be drilled into the team and built into every process and measurement. It has to start with the entrepreneurs at the top.

Google, with founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin leading the charge, demonstrated a technical leadership combined with the foresight to bring in business help, including Eric Schmidt and others, to optimize the business execution focus. Are you sure your startup is moving beyond the idea stage, with the execution principles outline here, to assure long-term business success?

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ACCOUNT OFFICER NEEDED URGENTLY AT (Kosofe LGA)

Requirements
Gender - Male
Age - Not less than 22.
Religion - Christianity

Qualification - OND Accounting with computer skills e.g Microsoft word, excel, etc

Responsibilities
-Manage the day to day running of the pharmacies.
- Prepare, Keep and update the financial records.
-Post inventory into the sales software.
-Manage staff clock-in attendance machine.
-Prepare payroll.
-Maintains the stock warehouse 

Character 
Trustworthy, self- starter, must be able to work with minimal supervision.
Innovative, disciplined, pays attention to details. 
Lives around Kosofe LGA (kETU,MAGODO BEGER).

SEND CV TO INFO@GIGASTREAMSCONSULTING.COM

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DRIVERS NEEDED URGENTLY AT KETU - OJOTA

Requirements 

Gender- Male

Age- Not less than 25

Religion- Christianity 

Character - trustworthy, patient, painstaking.

Not a rough driver. 

Experience- Not less than 3 years experience in driving. 

Have a valid drivers license.

Have a good understanding of Lagos roads and traffic laws.

Can pick and deliver pharmacy goods from suppliers and branch.

Can read and write and be able to do minor bank transactions like paying in cheques.

Lives around Ketu, Ojota., preferably Ikosi Ketu.

Send your cv to info@gigastreamsconsulting.com

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See 3 Tips for Owning Your Company's Most Important Decision: Hiring

The one thing the best companies in the world get is that their people are their most important assets. That rings especially true in a service-based business. At the end of every workday, your assets leave the worksite, and they return the next day. If your product is delivered or executed by people, then it's common logic to assume that your people are your most important asset.

Some of the largest challenges at Practice Makes Perfect have been addressed by bringing the entire team together and brainstorming solutions. I don’t think there is a single organizational problem that can’t be solved if you have enough smart and committed people sitting at the table. Knowing that the biggest and most important decision you can make is hiring the right people means that all CEOs should be prioritizing their time to make the right hires.

Unfortunately, operating a business often gets in the way of desired priorities. So how do you own your company’s most important decision without having to vet every single candidate? Here’s three things I’ve done at Practice Makes Perfect:

1. Clearly articulate your company values.

This is one of the most important things you can do, especially when you have a small team! The values, and more importantly, the behaviors that define your values will say a lot to a prospective employee about your company. I’ve had friends apply and choose not to apply to a company based on their values. So pay special attention to creating the things that are important to you in the workplace.

2. Play an integral role in designing the hiring process.

This is your opportunity to create the hurdles that will keep “bad fits” from joining your team. Though it is important to play a large role, make sure you’re not the sole voice in the design. The process you create will dictate how the interviews are conducted, what your team members will be looking for in potential employees and save you from interviewing every single candidate. People should only be able to get into your company by getting through the process you designed. The only exception we make is for people who have interned with us before. At that point, we’ve had enough time to evaluate whether or not they’d be a good cultural fit for our organization.

3. Make the final decision on all hires. No exceptions.

No ifs, ands, or buts. There is research that shows that a bad hire can cost as much as 15 times their base salary. Not to mention that one really good hire often produces more value than three mediocre hires. That means getting it wrong can be costly and getting it right can actually be lucrative for your business. For every hire, we have put together a hiring committee of four people. We appoint a head of the committee that assembles a hiring packet for every candidate that they think should be hired. I get a hiring packet for every potential hire and within a few minutes I can get a sense of the candidate and their abilities.

Letting your teammates know that you will be involved in every single hire sends the message that it is really important to you. I know when I worked at other companies, when I knew or thought something was important to my boss, I wanted to make sure that I did the best job I possibly could with it. More importantly, it means that you’re likely to get people who are better fits for your company. 

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