Operations are often referred to as the ‘ugly stepchild’ of a business and it’s easy to understand why. There’s no instant gratification of a flashy marketing campaign, no rush of closing a big sale, and no big launch for the latest product. Operations are often invisible to the rest of the team. They rarely provide an immediate return on investment and can seem unnecessary to a product- or sales-driven founder. Operations cost money and the larger you grow, the greater the cost.
On the flip side, very few companies have neglected Operations and lived to tell the tale. Without a strong operational base, every corner of the company feels it—from the leadership team who haven’t aligned their goals and don’t have timely data on their progress, to frontline staff who feel like no one knows what they do. At a minimum, weak Operations are an inconvenience but sometimes, the consequences can be far worse (ransomware anyone?). If you choose to neglect your Operations, it will be at your own peril. After all, early investment is much less expensive—and less painful—than an overhaul further down the line.
If revenue and growth are the fuel that drives the business, then we believe that Operations is the engine and your operational and strategic plans are the roadmap. Operations provides the team with a common language and set of behaviours, tying the efforts of each department together to achieve a singular goal. Your Operations plan lets your team know exactly where they should be headed, and how to respond to the issues they may face along the way.
Without a strong Operations foundation, you’ll find yourself reacting to a multitude of distractions and minor issues that could be handled easily by specialized staff members whose purpose is to deal with them. In short, a strong Operations foundation will pay for itself by cutting down on wasted time and resources and empowering your organization to reach its goals.
How do you know if it’s time to scale up your company’s Operations? BeachHead can help.
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At BeachHead, we are passionate about helping businesses scale up from a strong Operations foundation. The BeachHead Organization Audit (BOA) helps founders evaluate their business through an objective lens. Our BOA scorecard allows us to evaluate all aspects of a growing business so we can recommend changes based on what the organization wants to accomplish in the next phase of growth.
If you’re ready to take your company to the next level, reach out and let’s start a conversation.
Email: rdrynan@beachheadstrategic.com
Phone: 416.888-4004
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