I had the chance to go to 5 Guys Burgers and Fries over the long weekend (the closest one for me is over in Olathe on 119th and Blackbob.

If you haven’t been to 5 Guys, it’s a burger franchise originally started in Washington D.C. about 20 years ago and it’s growing really fast.  They do one thing really well – and that’s more than enough reason to make a 25 minute trip to pick up a really good burger! 

Although they’re fast food, you will wait a while to get your food – generally there are some lines and more importantly, they don’t start cooking your burger until you order it, so it comes out fresh and custom made with your fixins.

As I was waiting for my burger this weekend, I thought about what really made this an excellent operation – and how that could apply to any business.

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©2004 Martin Ouellet

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Vegas, but one of the things I really enjoy there is the game of craps.  It’s a fast moving game that the players and the crowd get excited about.  You can win (and lose) a lot of money very quickly, but if you play correctly, your odds of walking away a winner are better than any other game in the casino (except maybe blackjack if  you can count cards…). 

Because the game moves so fast and requires some math to bet correctly, it can be overwhelming, but once you’ve got it figured out it’s a lot of fun (especially if you’re winning)!

The proper strategy of craps can also teach you a lot about successfully running a small business (it’s my blog, I get to use what ever analogies I want!).

Read on and let me know what you think – it won’t take me long to reach the point.  (pun intended). 

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   photo by thrig 

Imagine you’re playing a game like chess.  Your goal is to win the game, but instead of looking ahead several moves, trying to drive your opponent’s moves, setting up situations that benefit you – you start brand new on every move and react only to the move that just happened.

If you’ve played chess or similar types of games, you’d know that the approach outlined above will quickly lead to a major loss against almost anyone.

If you’re not a chess player, here’s another analogy:  Imagine that you decide you’re going to travel to Albuquerque (first place I thought of…).  You’ve got your goal in mind when you get in your car, you know the general direction you need to head (Southwest, East, etc.), but once you’re underway you make navigational choices based on what’s in front of you.  Turn left onto a less crowded road, turn right towards a scenic view, left towards an advertised gas station, etc.  You might make it to your destination, but it would likely be as much luck as anything else.

Although these are clearly silly examples, the reality is that a lot of small businesses (and frankly a lot of large businesses) operate in a very similar way, they react to the firedrills that are in front of them and don’t have time to keep looking at the bigger picture.

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picture by NCinDC 

I’m a big fan of models or metaphors as a way to discuss complicated ideas.  Anytime you can give someone a visual representation for a complex idea you’re a lot more likely to get your point across.

One model that I stole ran across recently is called the 8 Pillars of a Profitable Enterprise.  As a business coach, I’m always trying to figure out ways to focus (and get my clients to focus) on what the real constraints to their business are.  “We don’t have enough customers.” might be a true statement and could be a problem, but as a business owner you don’t have control over your customers.  You have control over your marketing message, how you deliver your product, how you handle your customers during their transactions – all of which could lead to a result of not having enough customers.

Enter the 8 Pillars model.

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photo by padraic woods

One of the common themes I’m getting from business owners is that they are doing too much.  A major reason for their stress is that they’ve got too many balls in the air and they are constantly juggling priorities, commitments to themselves and other people and things they’d like to be doing.

As the business owner, you ultimately have responsibility for the overall success of your business, so it makes sense that you’ve got a lot of stuff going on, but the reality is that model isn’t sustainable in the long run and it may very well be causing you a lot of problems in the short run as well.

Considering all of that, what if you were to start doing less?

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