42. What’s Your Recipe for Success?
1. BLUF
Have you defined “how you do” what you do?
Think of what you offer as a three-layered cake.
Codifying your IP lays a foundation to scale & grow.
2. To Everything There is a Season
I love fall.
The air is crisp during morning workouts.
Kids are back on the soccer fields.
And there’s pumpkin spice everywhere…
Pumpkin spice lattes
Pumpkin spice candles
Pumpkin spice oatmeal
I even saw Wendy’s pumpkin spice Frosty, which doesn't seem quite right.
I love to try new recipes, especially during autumn, and tweak them until they’re just right.
Mastering our recipes for consistency, clarity, and repeatability works for baking and for business.
3. What’s Your Recipe for Success?
Think of what you offer as a three-layered cake.
First Layer: The hunger your prospective clients have. They have a specific need that you can solve.
One client wants a delectable treat? No problem, one slice of pumpkin pie coming up.
Another clearly defined priorities? Great, let’s hold a strategy session.
Second Layer: Your menu of offerings that seeks to fill your client’s hunger and meet their needs. There might only be one item, but it solves the problem.
Pumpkin pie – check.
Strategy session – check.
These are offerings your clients can buy as a package or a la carte.
Third Layer: Your recipes and ingredients are your Secret Sauce for how you do what you do. You might choose to share your overarching approach, but the details comprise your intellectual property (IP).
Document how you make that pumpkin pie. Pumpkin – check. Milk – check. Sugar – check. Clarify the order in which you mix them, for how long, and any tips for making the tastiest treat.
Much of this third layer might be in your mind – get it down on paper. Clearly defined “recipes” translate to a consistent and high-quality experience – for you and your clients.
This is particularly important if you want to scale and grow. It helps train new staff and avoid reinventing the wheel every time you start a new engagement. That said, you want to leave enough flexibility in what and how you deliver to enable creativity, innovation, and improvement.
In the Strategy Made Simple Method, these ‘recipes’ align under Implementation to embed your strategy into operations to drive impact.
4. Application
So, what does it look like for your business?
Have you codified “how you do” what you do?
What are your recipes for your success?
What is one thing you can do today to drive greater clarity?
To your success,
~Susan
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