What the average Hawick Group project does?

It is essential to obtain an independent 360 degree view because whilst the boss has his own views of the business, there are facts that he does not possess and cannot obtain. Our Researchers are skilled at extracting relevant information from all types of people in ways that ensure frankness and thoroughness and interviewees will always disclose much more if they receive an assurance of anonymity. The gold nuggets that we obtain for you include information from suppliers about what competitors are doing, evidence of wasteful buying practices and new opportunities that they could help you to exploit. Customers will provide valuable feedback to us on what could have been done better, what more they would be willing to buy from you and how they can introduce new customers to your business. Staff can tell us what things make your company a great place to work that can be highlighted in recruitment advertising, what changes would make them more committed and productive and what gaps they have in skills & knowledge that are holding the business back. Staff often see opportunities to obtain more business or make more profit but don’t know how to express themselves clearly.

Our Researches are expert at questionnaire design, interviewing people, drawing out their views, then cross checking to establish key facts that we need in order to build the right plan. They will also find out what you always wanted to know, but never before knew how to obtain.

In putting the report together our Researcher will consider all your issues in terms of Politics, the Economy, Social, Technology, Legal and Environmental (PESTLE) factors.

The detailed research work results in a unique report which is presented to you and discussed in great depth. During this long meeting we will exhaustively examine every piece of data with you in order to verify what is factual, what is contentious, what matters, what can be disregarded and what needs further research. At this meeting we guarantee at least one high value breakthrough to improve the business.

Following this long discussion with you and your partners (if appropriate) our Partner will select your key Strengths to build on. These might include for example your reputation, experience, quality of work or team loyalty. The significance here is that for any business plan to work well it must build on what you are already good at and use those things to best effect. For example, if the main objective for our project with you is to achieve Growth then we might use your high quality of workmanship to lead in a marketing campaign that demonstrates you are superior to your competitors which is why you are not cheapest.

The next step is to select your key Weaknesses to fix. These might include for example; lack of new business enquiries, late project delivery, stretched finances, lack of IT systems or unproductive people. The significance here is that for any business plan to work well it must fix what you are not good at, so the plan will not be spoiled by the things that have been getting in the way when you tried to make improvements in the past. For example, if the main objective for our project with you is to Recover from a setback or recession then we would decide to get more business coming in and stabilise your cashflow.

The third step is to select your one big Opportunity to exploit. We say one for a reason because so much upheaval is involved in developing a new product or a market that to tackle more one at a time invites failure. Indeed, usually the best Opportunity lies in making the core business work better than it does now and certainly we would insist that you do that first before attempting any Diversification at all. So we will agree the extent to which your core business can be made to work better before developing the new products and new markets that will follow and set milestones for that.

Finally, we select your key Threats to defend against. These might include for example recession, interest rates, new competitors, new technology, new contracting methods, supply chain alliances. The significance here is that for any business plan to work well it must anticipate what things beyond your control might happen that would damage the plan. Then we will develop strategies to be executed in the event that any of these happen or even build them in now on the assumption that they will happen.

For example, if the main objective for our project with you is to Exit the business then we need to know what to do if new technology makes your present way of doing business obsolete and develop the defence against it.

We follow a powerful but simple structure used by the world’s most successful businesses. This identifies why you are in business in the first place and want makes you special, perhaps you keep on working until your customers are 100% satisfied, for example. Then we identify the big thing you need the business to achieve by a certain time in the future. For example, to be the acknowledged leading business in your area that provides your particular service. Then we work out what objectives would need achieving in order to make that happen. There will be one for Marketing to ensure that you acquire the right numbers of new customers of the right type; and another for Operations to ensure that high levels of service are delivered in order to keep customers coming back. An Objective will be set for Finance to ensure that the business generates and manages sufficient funds to support the Business Plan and make a handsome return for the shareholders. This is followed by a Technology Objective to make sure that the business has good enough IT and processes to operate efficiently. Finally, we set an Objective for People management to make sure that you hire, develop and retain the best people that are capable of helping you achieve the Business Plan.

The Objectives will be allocated as job responsibilities to individuals and we will work with them to identify the ways of achieving them (Strategies) which will give us the Action Plan for making everything happen.

We will get your Business Plan working to direct effort where it belongs and support that by installing for you the classic methods used by big businesses. In practice, this means job descriptions, performance appraisals and personal development plans, where we link the business objectives to what everyone needs to do to ensure that everyone knows what is expected of them, how it will be measured and the development they need to have the right knowledge, skills and attitude for success.

We will organise a flow of key performance information (KPIs) so that you know how the business and its people are performing against the agreed objectives. Then we will set up management review meetings to analyse what is happening and to take actions where needed. In this phase, our Associate will be coaching the MD to manage the business and its people in highly effective ways borrowed from Big Business.

The whole point of the Business Improvement Programme is to achieve a set of goals that the Owner wants (and chooses at the outset). These usually amount to; Exiting with a capital gain; Recovering from a major setback, Growing to a certain size; developing a certain Lifestyle; becoming more Efficient in order to make the business easy to run and profitable; or Diversifying into new products or markets. Hawick Group works at these until they are tangibly achieved because we are hands on, not advisory.

The whole point of the project is to move the owner (and the business) from where they both are today to where he / she wants them to be tomorrow, or in 5 years time.

The Owner will now have an achieved solution to the discomfort that provoked his / her decision to do the project and it will have been done in a way that cost very little, took little time and is a sustainable new way of working.