When you are running a business, it’s easy to lose sight of your goals. This is more so when you are turning over between $1m and $5m, or what we call the red-zone.
It is at these points that businesses can become less productive and therefore less profitable, and owners can no longer rely on doing things the same way and hope for the similar returns or growth.
Paul Zahra Consulting work with small and medium sized businesses turning over more than $1m, which might be underperforming, breaking even, looking for growth, or what is next.
We apply our proven, unique and flexible 8 Element Framework to help you develop your direction, align your business with the strategy, and structure the delivery for success by delivering to manageable outcomes, or what we call, ‘horizons’.
We take a financial lens to performance, with the objective of first achieving a pre-tax net profit of greater than 10% so as to achieve stability and better position your business for growth.
“If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got.”
– Henry Ford
Overview
Businesses, big and small, old and new, will find at various times the need to revisit their strategic choices and ambitions. This may occur as part of a business cycle, when a strategy has delivered success, when the business has outgrown itself, or frankly when the business is underperforming. It may occur when the business is under new ownership, or simply when the business just does not know what is next.
Despite best intentions, we see businesses limit their potential by:
- Owners continuing to manage all elements of their business.
- Wanting to grow but with financial performance that puts the business and the owners livelihood at risk.
- Poor labour efficiency.
- Simply running day-to-day without clear direction or goals.
- Failing to change and align the business with the strategy.
- Poor planning and execution of the strategy.
At Paul Zahra Consulting we believe these are the reasons why strategies fail, and the investments do not provide the return on value that owners and leaders want.
Paul Zahra Business Consulting sees success when:
- There is clarity on where the business will play and what it wants to achieve.
- Growth is underpinned by having financial stability.
- The entire business is aligned and galvanised around its choices.
- There are clear targets and ongoing measurement of performance.
- Execution is planned around achievable and manageable change horizons.
“When you are paying yourself at a market rate and achieving a pre-tax profit greater than 10%, you have a good business. Anything above 15% and you are achieving great things”
How We Help
Paul Zahra Consulting has established a unique 8 Element Framework, developed over 20 years within corporate businesses and successfully adopted by our clients, to achieve growth, signincantly improved financial performance and sustained outcomes.
We focus first on understanding your financials, and positioning your business for improved profit so as to reduce any pressure on the business and create capital to fund growth. We then apply our 8 Element Framework to make strategic choices; to develop a business blueprint; and align the business, the people and any new capability with the choices. We then develop a manageable plan to deliver on the ambition.
8 Element Framework
We take a simple and holistic proven approach to help set up businesses for success, and for improved and sustained performance by partnering with you to:
- Complete a financial analysis to determine your underlying profit and go forward targets.
- Develop a strategic plan and the delivery horizons.
- Design the operating model to be organised around the strategy.
- Develop the business functions and their key services and accountabilities.
- Design the supporting processes and systems to deliver the services and/or products.
- Identify and shape any new or existing capability that might be necessary to enable the strategy.
- Align the right people, doing the right things, with the right capability around the core values and culture.
- Establish performance goals and metrics supported by ongoing reporting.
- Leverage data to drive learning and continuous improvement.
Implementation is pragmatic, and planned around achievable and manageable horizons to ensure your business can execute and adopt the change.
Our model and approach is flexible, and we can complete an financial assessment, or help shape, articulate or reset your strategy and go from there. If you are clear on your choices, we can support you in designing the organisational blueprint around your choices, and with the execution.
Who We Work With
Paul Zahra Business Consulting partner with businesses who are turning over greater than $1m in income, irrespective of the number of employees or the industry.
Underperforming business
Running day-to-day and just breaking even
Fast Growth
Unsure about what is next
Our goal is to be there for you throughout your business life cycle, help you build a real asset, and make you and your business financially successful.
Our rates are competitive, and we measure our success on your performance.
Business owners need to spend 70% of their time looking ahead and planning and executing what they want to achieve, and the rest understanding performance.
High Level Design and Delivery Road Map
- Strategy implementation against agreed horizons to build confidence, deliver at preferred speed, and deliver momentum and value sooner
- Change Management Process underpinned by good governance to deliver the preferred future state
- Agile delivery methodology, including test and learn through firing bullets, sprints and quick win delivery
- Led and owned by the business to deliver sustainable change
- Progressive report in sessions to ensure progress, removal of any obstacles, present findings and approvals
Testimonials
Our Clients
Contact
For more information or to make an enquiry, please contact us by completing the form below.