Peter Sage Interview with Business Magazine

Following a recent interview, Peter was asked the following questions about successful enterprise. His answers are printed below and may provide a useful source of reference to would-be or current business owners:

Business Magazine: Why become an Entrepreneur?

Peter Sage: The world of business offers so many opportunities for people to fulfill their dreams. I see the world of the Entrepreneur not as one full of uncertainty but one full of exciting promise that provides the greatest amount of certainty possible. After all, the so-called 'job security' that people hold dear is only as strong as the ability of the owner of that business to run his or her venture successfully.

BM: In businesses that are struggling, what is the most common cause of downturn and what can you do about it?

PS: There are many businesses that never get close to their potential and that's a real shame. The sad fact is that in most of the businesses I have looked at over the years the default question that drives most of them is "What's in it for me?" The day that changes to "How can I add value?" you will see a fundamental shift in results virtually overnight. This is usually given away by their commitment to customer service which I see as a great indicator of any business's focus. Quite simply I believe that if you concentrate on impressing the hell of your customers (I call it the WOW factor) then sales seem to take care of themselves.

BM: A lot of business owners work so many hours and have fewer holidays and less quality time to spend with their families, why is that?

PS: Unfortunately my experience in working with many CEO's around the world has revealed a distinct pattern whereby most business owners design themselves firmly INTO the running of their businesses. To me this is a mistake and imprisons the boss in an enterprise that relies totally upon their input to produce results. This means that they have a generally ordinary business model with ordinary systems that relies on quality people (which are hard to find and keep) instead of producing a business that has quality systems that enables the owner to leverage average people with far higher results. A great example of this is McDonalds. One of the largest businesses in the world ran almost exclusively by adolescents that are controlled by quality systems. Contrast that with most businesses and you see why the owner has to be there all the time. What I teach business owners to do is to successfully design themselves OUT of the equation whilst improving results.

BM: Apart from your coaching, is their anything else that you can recommend?

PS: Yes, find time to study and model success. Read the autobiographies of people like Branson, Gates, Perot, Pena etc. Also get a business coach. Someone who has demonstrated they can produce results and comes from experience, not coaching school. I would also go and look not only at the industry that you work in (which, by the way is all doing pretty much the same thing plus or minus 10%) but instead have the courage to go outside of your industry and bring back ideas for sales, marketing and innovation that unrelated sectors are using successfully. You'd be amazed at what happens when you organize the time to do that.