There's no such thing as a perfect business. That's especially true for small business. But, that's also part of the joy of being an entrepreneur, of being a small business owner. That you can always improve your business. Make it, better tomorrow than it was today. In short, your goal should not be perfection, but evolution. In this video what I want to do, is share with you a little process that I teach my clients called the Sam Cycle. And the Sam Cycle, will help you identify areas in which you can improve your business.
The SAM in SAM Cycle stands for Systems, Accountability, and Motivation. Let's talk about each of these in a little more depth. Systems has three parts to it. Results, documents and tools. Result, meaning we want to clearly define the result that we'll get at the end of following that system. We're going make customers happy and want to buy from us. Document, meaning we want to clearly document either in a written format or even an audio or video format. Format, what it is you want people to do? All too often business owners have this idea in their head of how employees should do things.
But, they don't document it. Your employees need some kind of documentation. And lastly we have tools. Tools, are something that help you or your employees follow a system. It can be something like software or hardware. Or even a hammer or a saw. A tool, is something that just helps people get the job done and you want to make sure your employees have the best tool available for the job. And now let's move onto accountability. Accountability, in my world means making yourself accountable to a third party.
Someone outside of you, who's helping you get the best results possible. As a business owner, you want to be accountable to someone else, a mentor or a coach. And, your employees should also be accountable to someone within your business. There are three parts to accountability. Trust, training, and follow up. Trust, meaning that that third party, that person I have a great relationship with them. I trust them and they trust me. Training, meaning that person should regularly provide me with ongoing training and development, to help me grow as a leader and a business owner.
And last, follow up. Follow up, means that when I delegate a task to someone else, I follow up with them and make sure that they do it. Or, if I commit to doing something, that person holds me accountable by following up with me and making sure that I do it. Now, motivation. Motivation, in my world is not necessarily some motivational speaker pumping you up on the stage. No. Motivation comes from within. People are already motivated. All we need to do is connect that internal motivation to what they're doing today.
Motivation also has three parts. Vision, values, and cause. By vision, I mean that we have a vision for the business that is very clear, and that we can describe to others in great detail. Also, that the individuals themselves have a vision for their career. Values, represent the things that we believe in. How, as a business, we want to go about doing business. Or, as an individual, how I go about living my life. And then, cause represents a cause that's greater than money.
This can be a charity, but, doesn't necessarily have to be. People are motivated by money, but, only to the point where their basic needs are taken care of. After that, they need to feel like they're supporting something bigger, than just increasing the business's profit margin. Now, you can tell. What areas in your business need to improve based upon symptoms? The symptoms, are a clue to which one of those three areas, systems accountability or motivation, are out of alignment.
For instance, let's say that my business has great documented systems and we have clear accountability. But, the individuals working in the business aren't motivated. The symptom is that, they'll be compliant. They'll go through the motions just enough to keep from getting out of trouble. If we have accountability and motivation and place, but not systems, we'll see erratic performance all over the place, because people don't clearly know what's expected of them.
And if we have systems and motivation, but no accountability, well you'll see performance that degrades over time, because no one's really following up and making sure that there's improvement. So, by looking at these three areas, systems, accountability, and motivation, you can clearly and quickly identify areas for improvement in your business. In the next video, I'm going to take you through a more detailed process where you can use the SAM Cycle, to clearly identify the next step to take to improving and evolving your business.
Author
Updated
3/31/2015Released
4/15/2014Skill Level Intermediate
Duration
Views
Related Courses
-
Management Tips
with Todd Dewett7h 50m Intermediate
-
Introduction
-
Welcome48s
-
-
1. Finding Your Most Valuable Customers
-
2. Setting Fees and Prices
-
3. Solving Problems
-
4. Working with Family and Friends
-
Managing family and friends2m 59s
-
5. Creating a Business Plan
-
6. Starting a Hobby Business
-
7. Discovering Your Most Valuable Service or Product
-
8. Bootstrapping Your Business
-
9. Creating Culture
-
Building company values2m 34s
-
10. Getting Organized
-
Managing your time4m 45s
-
-
11. Marketing with Social Media
-
Deciding on your channels3m 11s
-
-
12. Business Entities and Compensation
-
13. Small Business Accounting
-
14. Finding Your Marketing Message
-
Refining your message4m 56s
-
-
15. Documenting Business Systems
-
16. Balancing Work and Life
-
17. Increasing Sales in Your Business
-
Developing your sales system3m 15s
-
18. Testing Whether You Have an Idea or a Business
-
19. Hiring Service Providers
-
Selecting and hiring vendors2m 51s
-
20. Hiring Employees
-
Crafting a job and pay range3m 58s
-
Interviewing candidates7m 25s
-
-
21. Motivating Employees
-
Developing people and paths4m 24s
-
22. Seeking Capital
-
Crafting your pitch5m 40s
-
-
23. Working With Difficult Customers
-
Working through complaints6m 11s
-
-
24. Letting Employees Go
-
Making a smooth transition5m 58s
-
25. Generating New Sales Leads
-
26. Maintaining Focus as a Business Owner
-
Avoiding opportunity traps5m 26s
-
27. Thinking Like An Entrepreneur
-
Getting rich your own way4m 16s
-
28. Dealing with Competition in Business
-
29. Avoiding Blind Spots
-
30. Creating a Customer Experience
-
31. Networking for Small Business
-
32. Building Accountability into your Small Business Culture
-
33. Dealing with Business Failures
-
34. Improving Sales Systems
-
35. Giving Back
-
36. Setting Goals for Small Business
-
Measuring your success3m 31s
-
37. Channeling Your Motivation
-
Why you deserve success3m 8s
-
-
38. Building a Small Business Exit Strategy
-
Exit strategy options5m 7s
-
39. Building Customer Loyalty
-
The role of customer loyalty3m 47s
-
-
40. Building Employee Loyalty
-
41. Structuring a Small Business
-
42. Branding Your Small Business
-
Crafting your company story3m 39s
-
-
43. Dispelling Big-Business Illusions
-
44. Understanding if Entrepreneurship Is Right for You
-
45. Managing Remote Employees
-
Leading from a distance3m 11s
-
46. Crowdfunding Your Business
-
Understanding crowdfunding3m 29s
-
-
47. Cultivating Entrepreneurial Curiosity
-
48. Growing into a Mature Business
-
Putting it all together5m 50s
- Mark as unwatched
- Mark all as unwatched
Are you sure you want to mark all the videos in this course as unwatched?
This will not affect your course history, your reports, or your certificates of completion for this course.
CancelTake notes with your new membership!
Type in the entry box, then click Enter to save your note.
1:30Press on any video thumbnail to jump immediately to the timecode shown.
Notes are saved with you account but can also be exported as plain text, MS Word, PDF, Google Doc, or Evernote.
Share this video
Embed this video
Video: Identifying areas for improvement