People

Having a staff is a big part of building a scalable business. You as the owner can never do it all. As soon as things start to move, grow and change, you will need to add people. Let me be blunt here. Adding people will create challenges for you. Some might even be called problems.

This is exactly why having a People category in your business framework is so vital. Identify the right people at the right time, do the right things, and VOILA! You see success. Yet that is far easier said than done. 

Process

A standard operating process is needed. This we call scalability. You cannot scale something that has no process. Your process may involve technology and equipment. That is fine. But the way you expect things done drives the quality of the output. It helps build your brand.

A process can be measured, evaluated, refined, and optimized. Optimization is where you create a profit margin for your business. But if you have no process at all, you’re just a bunch of people showing up to burn time and money.

The process category includes all processes like sales and marketing, fulfillment, customer service, R&D, manufacturing, production, etc.

Product

The “thing you do” fits here. You need to properly define what it is that you make or sell. The thing needs its own identity, we call it a brand. You then need to manage everything associated with selling the thing.

Markets will change. Today your idea may be an automatic homerun. But tomorrow the market can change and run away from your product/service.

On occasion owners create products that ultimately serve no meaningful value to the market. If your product does that, think again. You have to stay ever-aware of how the market is perceiving and receiving your product offering. What once was a great idea may have lived its meaningful life.

Performance

We cannot talk about business success without knowing how to keep score, watch profits, and follow plans. Performance includes the financial aspects of the company (cash flows and income statements), KPI/OKR, periodic plan reviews to see how things are tracked, budgets, and planning.

Goals, targets, objectives, and expectations must be known so that decisions can be made that are financially and operationally effective.

Like all of the other areas, performance encompasses many aspects of the business. Knowing what to track to gauge your success allows for course corrections and adjustments so that you can maximize the opportunities that come to you.