This week is a savoury reminder of things to remember in business – however big or small – thanks to ‘Batter Week’ recently aired on The Great British Bake Off.

The challenge was simple: produce 24 identical looking Yorkshire puddings. 

The results?

I was astounded by the variety of flavours (curry, tapas, tofu…), by the range of cooking processes (timings, tin sizes, pouring or ladling…)  and the stories of how each recipe had originated, and why they had chosen this particular route.

But what amazed me the most was the end result (remember, they had all had a chance to practice, practice, practice beforehand):

“They’re not as good as I wanted them to be”

“They weren’t like this at home”

“I don’t know what has gone wrong”

 “My mind’s gone, I can’t think” 

“I’m going to have to cover this mistake up and hope the judges don’t notice” 

“They’re never going to allow me into Yorkshire ever again” 

And whilst we’re not all aiming for the perfect batter rise, the same happens in business with the same mistakes happening over and over again.

To grow a business successfully you need to let the system deliver the excellent result.  You may well have the right people, with the right will and in the right roles in place; but without the right processes and systems your business is never going to grow and you’ll always be firefighting.

Most companies build in so many inefficiencies that they struggle to identify where to focus their efforts.  Think of it as if you were making breakfast: how can you heat the pan quicker? What if you stir by machine rather than by hand? If frying the bacon is 5% quicker, and adding pepper is 10% quicker, this isn’t just a 15% increase – it has a compounding effect.

My SCALE challenge to you this week is to look at the processes and systems within your business – your INPUTS and OUTPUTS – as this will help you work out what your business looks like if 100% of what you do works.

My top tips to get your started:

• The first thing is to understand what.
• The second thing is to improve.

(MacDonald’s have nailed this; they make a terrible product (sorry) with average people – but they’re the masters in delivering on promise and service).

So, “ready, steady, bake” and don’t forget to let us know how you get on.

Image by Robert-Owen-Wahl from Pixabay