Session 9: Entrepreneurial Execution

Session 9: Entrepreneurial Execution

Blurb: In this section we're going to talk about the idea of Execution. And no, I'm not talking about executing people. I'm talking about Execution as it's used in business. Peter Drucker said, "Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice." Execution is a practice too. What does this mean? Find out in this critical session.

Peter Drucker said, "Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice." What does that mean? It means it's about DOING. Edison said success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. It's more about doing than anything else. There's a fancy word we use in business to refer to doing things and getting things done. The word is Execution. When we're talking about Entrepreneurial Execution, we're talking about getting the business to take the actions it needs to take every day. Over the long term, Execution is really the thing that makes the difference. It separates the Winners from the Losers. And it's the thing that most Entrepreneurs do not do consistently. The smart business people that I know don't worry that much about competition - what they worry about is their business not Executing. They know as long as they keep Executing they'll be fine, because most other businesses won't.

Execution is about making sure that all of the key things in your business are getting done every day. It's about doing the things that leads to innovation, productivity, and making money. Most human beings allow themselves to be distracted from their important work. I think we're wired this way through millions of years of evolution - we're always on the lookout for something new that might be dangerous or important. But if you're distracted, your business will be distracted too. One expert said that any business is an operating version of the mind of the Entrepreneur. If our business is a mess it's probably because our thinking is a mess.

Execution is about action. So it's important to develop the action of creating products and develop the action of creating marketing... and innovating in these areas. It's also important to break down your marketing into different chunks, including finding new prospects, converting them into paying customers, delivering your product, tracking what's going on inside your business, setting up business rituals, and much more. If you don't make sure your business isn't going out getting new customer every day, for example, you'll go through a cyclical up and down kind of thing. Take real estate agents. They often go through a 90 day cycle. They go out and meet a bunch of new prospects, and then they stop prospecting because they have their fill of new clients. They start showing homes to the clients and putting homes on the market. Then when escrows open and their commission checks are in the pipeline, they devote all their attention to making sure the deals close and they get paid... so they stop focusing on getting new prospects. Then the deals start closing, but they realize they don't have any new prospects coming in from the next month. The same thing happens in business.

So how do you set it up so your business is Executing every day? The answer is to create a culture of Execution. Putting conditions and rituals in place becomes very important.

When you do that, the business has Execution as part of its values - it's wired in right from the beginning.

As yourself - what do I need to put in place so the business gets its needs met and these things get done every day? For example, what do you need to do every day to make sure you're developing your product very day? You might set it up so a week after they purchase, each customer gets an email that takes them to a form where they tell you what they like and don't like about the product. Then once a day, you get all these responses sent to you and then you go and improve your product based on these ideas you get directly from your customers.