Description
Traction by Gino Wickman — Building a Stronger Chimney Business
In this video, we take a deep dive into the business principles from Traction by Gino Wickman and discuss how they can be applied to a chimney sweep company.
The goal is simple: turn the vision in the owner's head into a clear, organized system that the entire company can understand and execute.
We start with Vision. Where do you want your company to go? A business needs a clear and powerful vision so everyone understands what the company is trying to accomplish.
Next are Core Values. These are the 3 to 7 fundamental principles that guide how your company operates, how employees make decisions, how customers are treated, and the type of people you want on your team.
Your Core Focus defines what your company ultimately seeks to provide. For a chimney company, our focus is providing great chimney inspections and quality repairs at quality prices.
We then look into the future by developing a 10-Year Goal. Where do you want your company to be ten years from now? From there, we develop a 3-Year Picture that makes the long-term vision easier to see and understand.
The next step is creating a 1-Year Plan. What specifically needs to happen during the next 365 days to move the company toward that three-year and ten-year vision?
That annual plan is broken down even further into Quarterly Rocks. Rocks are the major goals that must be accomplished during each 90-day period. Instead of trying to accomplish everything at once, the company concentrates on a small number of important objectives and gets them completed.
We also discuss defining your Target Market. Who are your ideal customers? Where are they located? What services do they need? Understanding exactly who you are trying to serve allows your marketing dollars and efforts to become much more focused.
Another major concept is having the Right People in the Right Seats. We want employees who believe in the company's core values and are placed in positions where they have the greatest opportunity to succeed.
We discuss GWC: Get It, Want It, and Capacity to Do It. Does the employee truly understand the position? Do they actually want the position and its responsibilities? Do they have the time, ability, knowledge, and capacity necessary to perform the job successfully?
We also discuss Employee Scorecards. Instead of guessing how employees are performing, establish measurable numbers that show performance. Scorecards create accountability, identify problems early, recognize top performers, and can create healthy competition among employees.
When problems arise, we use IDS: Identify, Discuss, Solve. First, identify what is actually happening. Second, discuss the problem openly with the appropriate members of the team. Third, determine the solution, assign responsibility, and correct the problem.
Finally, we discuss Processes. Identify and document the important processes within the company. Review those processes regularly. Simplify them whenever possible. Eliminate unnecessary steps and make sure the processes line up with the company's core values and overall vision.
A successful company should not depend entirely on the owner remembering everything, making every decision, and solving every problem.
The objective is to build a company where the vision is clear, the right people are in the right positions, goals are measurable, problems are solved quickly, employees understand what is expected of them, and repeatable processes keep the entire organization moving forward.
For a chimney company, that ultimately means creating a system capable of consistently delivering great chimney inspections, quality repairs, excellent customer service, fair pricing, well-trained employees, and profitable long-term growth.
ChimneySweeps.com
833-CHIMNEY
Vision → People → Goals → Scorecards → Processes → Execution → Traction
