Business Planning & Space Shuttles – Common Factors

Running a business is very much akin to flying a Space Shuttle – it can be thrilling and terrifying at the same time; there are all sorts of risks involved; and there’s a very real possibility that you could crash – with devastating consequences.

That said, astronauts are usually a lot better prepared for their mission into space than the average new owner is for their mission into business, and so space missions have a much higher success rate than new businesses.

While most of us will never get to experience actual control of a space shuttle, none of us could imagine flying one without first doing a lot of study and training and having very space-worthy vehicle carrying some very sophisticated instruments that could tell us:

Speed
Altitude
Position relative to launch site and destination
Location of objects that could damage or destroy us
Time to destination
Fuel load and burn rate
Oxygen, food & water status – and more

You might like to spend a moment or two thinking about what the equivalent data would be in a business context.

You might also like to ask yourself why do so many people decide to go into business without first doing some training on the basics of business. Followed by putting an instrument package together for their business that would help them maintain safe flight.

Business Pilot Training

If you were designing a “Basic Training for Flying a Business”, you might want to look at these candidates for skills content:

Qualify Yourself – Take a Business Readiness Diagnostic such as is offered by many Government Departments and small business advisory bodies to determine whether you know what business involves, and whether this is for you. Not everyone is suited or ready for outer space – or for business.
Basic Bookkeeping – Numbers are the language of business, and to go into business without having at least the basics well understood, is akin to going into space without navigation skills. Learn how to read a Trading Account, Profit & Loss Statement, and Balance Sheet. Understand what they are telling you about your performance and use this constantly to navigate a safe and profitable passage.
Benchmarking – Know the Gross Profit and Net Profit for the top 10% of performers in your industry, and aim to achieve these so that you can pay yourself a commercial wage; meet your taxes as required; and still have something left over with which to provide a return on your investment, and to grow your business. Not knowing what is possible in your industry is a bit like a shuttle pilot not knowing what velocity she has to reach to break free of gravity (poverty) and reach space (profit).
Basic Recordkeeping – Business is about paperwork – no way out of that – and a failure to manage paperwork and to be able to retrieve it is a major cause of business failure. Without good record keeping systems you’ll struggle with Accounting, Taxation, Compliance, Contractual and Legal issues. Poor record keeping costs big money – good record keeping minimises risk.
Basic Tax – You’re in partnership with the Government – they provide a stable society and economy in which you can operate profitably; you pay around 30% or so of your profits to them in return. There is no way around that. Understanding PAYG (Pay As You Go tax), GST (Goods and Services Tax) and the BAS (Business Activity Statement) is essential, and FBT (Fringe Benefits Tax) and Payroll Tax may also be part of the picture for you. Ignoring tax is like the shuttle pilot ignoring the 5-tonne elephant in the hold when calculating fuel load and thrust. The oversight is likely to bring you to earth with a mighty thump – or worse.
Compliance – Business comes with legal obligations that include licenses, permits, registrations, lodgements and various forms of reporting – as well as taxation at three levels of government – national, State and local. Ignoring these at the outset creates an inflated sense of performance and profitability and, when caught up, usually entails massive backtracking, huge distraction from business and wasting of time, and probable penalties (which can include suspension of business).
Leadership – “What’s leadership got to do with it?” you might say. Well, you are planning on piloting this shuttle aren’t you? If you plan to employ, you’ll need to have some skills in organising yourself before you’ll be capable of organising others; of motivating yourself, before motivating others; and of delegating if you are going to achieve more than you could on your own. Henry Ford said, “In business for yourself, not by yourself.” He was right.

Coaching Business Pilots

Many of our best clients are (in Michael Gerber’s words) “technicians who’ve suffered an entrepreneurial seizure” but who recognise that, while they might have the training and experience to be excellent technicians, now they have a business around them they need to acquire the equivalent training and skills to become an excellent manager.

The safest and most time-effective way we know of doing that, while still working in the business, is to go coaching with a skilled business Coach – to take The Fast Track To Success.

If you’d like more information on just what that entails, please email me and we can have a chat about how and why that option could offer benefits for you.

Peter Rowe