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 Business
Architect
Businesses, like homes, must be built from a blueprint for success.
Anyone who has built or remodelled a home knows the importance of
translating the vision into practical blueprints from which working
drawings and construction plans are created. Your dream home is not
the product of random chance.
Your business
success comes from working with an architect using a disciplined
process that defines and declares the intricacies of function,
design, structure, utility and budget and translates them into a
detailed blueprint. A business requires a similar blueprint produced
by a new breed of professional: the business architect.
A business
architect uses a disciplined approach and proven techniques to
define, design, deliver a blueprint for success and a plan for
transforming the design into reality. The result is a strategic
document that, within the context in which the business will
operate, translates a business owner’s ideas and goals into an
achievable and actionable foundation.
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Working with a Business Architect to
achieve a blueprint for success
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There are five key
steps.
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Definition of Good.
Specific techniques are used to create a statement that
simultaneously becomes the vision for and the yardstick by which
business success is measured. All key stakeholders define the
results they want the business to achieve. Arguably this is the
most important task to accomplish in the initial business
planning process. It will guide all other planning efforts.
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Discovery Process. This step
inventories available resources and confirms market realities.
Emphasis is placed on creating a Readiness Assessment, which
identifies the gap between the business’ readiness and the
definition of good. This step assesses the gap, confirms the
state of the market (e.g., competition, demand) and
substantiates the value propositions assumed by the business’
definition of good.
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Strategic Assessment. This step’s goal
is to use market and customer-based information to identify
opportunities that hold the potential for meeting the results
specified in the definition of good. The business’ realities are
laid alongside the various opportunities to determine how likely
it is that the business can be successful in capitalizing on the
opportunities. A plan is drafted that identifies how existing
assets can be leveraged for success, what existing gaps need to
be filled and what the likelihood of success might be related to
each strategy.
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Game Plan. This step identifies the
actual operational activities that will be required for success.
It defines all of the resources required to operate the business
in a way that produces results, and it answers the basic
question “How can the business operate to effectively implement
the strategy selected to create success?”
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Implementation Plan. This culminating
step identifies a plan for translating the Game Plan into daily
operations. It creates a timeline, assignments, priorities and
responsibilities. It defines the steps that would need to be
implemented if the overall business plan was put into operation.
A point to
remember: a good business architect provides perspective to the
entrepreneur and long standing businessman alike. Most importantly
for the entrepreneur, this reduces the start-up learning curve and
creates a sound foundation for moving forward. A blueprint for
success is not an option for any business person – it’s a
requirement.
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