Happy 12th Birthday… Wow 12 already! How did that happen?

Happy Birthday… Wow 12 already!  How did that happen?

On 1st March 2022, my business Roaring Success Pty Ltd turned 12 years old. I pinch myself and wonder how that even happened?
Well, um, the answer is… we stayed in business!
There is no particular magic to it, apart from the old trick of getting up every day and doing something constructive on the business and with clients.
I used to joke with our early teammates, that there were only four things that anyone should be working on. If you are not working on any of those… well, you are not working.
1. Finding, winning and keeping customers.
2. Delivering customer projects.
3. Creating new Intellectual Property (IP) to be able to win customers and deliver projects.
4. Finding ways to deliver the projects faster, better, more easily and more efficiently.

So, what are you working on?

Looking back over the last 12 years, these points still hold true.

1. Finding, winning and keeping customers.

We all know the basic truth… No customers means no cash equals no business.
But not all customers are made equally.
Some are fantastic, and some are quite a challenge.
I am pleased to say but the lessons from the ABCDrop Matrix™ are well remembered.

We all want to work with A-Class customers, so as the business started to grow up, we became much clearer about what a good customer looks like. That helped with marketing, segmenting and winning more of our ideal customers.

2. Delivering customer projects.

Looking at the stats I keep, the number of customer projects Roaring Success has worked on since 1st March 2010 is just under 220, and the number of unique customers is fast approaching 150. I personally have helped on 165 client projects.

However, when I started consulting, way before Roaring Success, I was happy to take the AAAAA projects. Institute of Management Consultants Member, Dave Staughton explained this to me. At the start we are willing to help Any customer for Any project Anywhere at Any price. It was okay to start with, but not tenable in the longer run. Burning effort on too wide a spectrum was not a good strategy.

Then I narrowed the focus. There are many players out there who simply tell you to cut costs. Costs are relatively easy. You just stop doing things and reduce the workforce. Job done!

However, the much more difficult part of making a profit is the revenue side of the equation.

Narrowing the focus down to Strategy, Marketing and Performance really helped.
Strategy is helping clients figure out why and where to lead the business over the next few years.
Marketing is all about finding, attracting, winning and satisfying customers.
Performance is being able to meet your promises not just once, but every time.

I’ve boiled that down even more – “helping you to achieve your own roaring success”… covers all three areas very nicely.

3. Creating new Intellectual Property (IP) to be able to win customers and deliver projects.

When we started out, we had a hotch potch of ideas, tools, techniques and methods which were a/ aimed at helping customers to get better results, and b/ allowed us to do that work efficiently.
We documented these ideas, refined them and used them to help our customers. These ideas, tools and techniques have developed over time, so now I have many free articles to download on the website, as well as five business books which capture my IP.
How to Make More Money Than You Know How to Spend – Roaring Success
The Money Tree – Roaring Success
Tell Us Where It Hurts – Roaring Success
Dominating Your Niche – Roaring Success
Success Know How – Roaring Success

4. Finding ways to deliver the projects faster, better, more easily and more efficiently.

This has been an ongoing journey.

Q. What does a good proposal look like?
A. That has changed and become more focussed over time, so that we are now writing fewer, better targeted proposals at higher prices and achieving improved win rates.

Q. How do you put less effort into managing projects?
A. The best projects run to process. Over the years we have figured out what is needed to start a project, and how to manage the day to day, week to week elements of the project, and fortunately, we have worked out how to keep them on track.

For me now, the secret is to be very clear about the scope of work at the start and then helping customers avoid scope creep.

Q. How do become more efficient and help more people?
A. Good time management helps significantly. Design once, use multiple times is the focus. I am always asking “what is the best use of my time, right now?”

A big thank you to you all.
I feel truly blessed, that I have been able to help so many people to move your businesses forward over the years.
Thank you for the implicit trust and allowing me to help you.

Steve Wood is a management consultant – helping you to achieve your own roaring success.