Marcus Lemonis is CEO of Camping World and a serial entrepreneur. He also hosts CNBC’s reality television show “The Profit,” where he buys up stakes in small, struggling businesses and helps them turn around and succeed. He also invests his own cash in these businesses, which he selects because of his belief in them.
Lemonis believes that business owners are more willing to listen to a genuine investor rather than a consultant, and the fact that he actually buys a stake in businesses he helps turn around boosts business owners’ confidence and motivation.
According to Lemonis, businesses of every type succeed based on fundamentals, and if those fundamentals aren’t in place, failure is almost inevitable. But when they’re present and coupled with plain hard work, success is likely. He boils these fundamentals down to what he calls the three “P”s. Marcus Lemonis believes that the three “P”s successful businesses need to manage are People, Process, and Product.
People
Of the three “P”s, “people” are the most important. Without good people, good processes and good products only do so much. Simply put, the “right” people are effective while the “wrong” people can destroy a business. And what’s “right” for one business may not be for another. Furthermore, you can’t just look at someone’s résumé or college transcripts and tell that he or she is the right person. Sure, you can judge qualifications, but effectiveness is something businesses will pick up on (or not) in person, when they interview a job candidate interview and see how he or she interacts.
Process
How well does a business develop and deliver the processes that make it run? Assuming a business has hired the right people, the second element necessary for success is having processes that make sense. Neither should they be needlessly complicated. Suppose you’re in the publishing business. Your product may be books, but the processes that go into turning outlines into drafts into manuscripts into proof copies have an enormous bearing on how efficient and effective creation of those books is. In most businesses, processes must adapt with the times, or the business risks being left behind by competitors.
Product
In many cases, a company’s product is a tangible item: a tool, software package, article of clothing, or food product. But sometimes the product is a service, such as tax accounting, legal advice, or cleaning services. A great product alone isn’t enough to make a business successful, but it is essential, because people simply won’t buy irrelevant or inadequate products (or services).
But with efficient, well-engineered processes for delivering those products or services, and a team of outstanding people to make sure it all gets done and that customers are taken care of, a great product can transform a business from struggling to thriving.
Great Tools Help You Manage All Three
Every business has people, processes, and products, and ones that succeed have tools that make managing the three “P”s better and simpler. For example, flexible, powerful software that allows for workflow and electronic form creation can affect all three. Forms and workflows for timekeeping, expense reporting, and requesting paid time off help ensure harmony among a company’s people. The same software can take needlessly complicated manual processes and automate some or all of them, saving time and money and reducing errors. Additionally, workflow software can ensure products ship correctly and that customer experiences are outstanding.
PerfectApps is workflow management software designed so non-programmers can create pixel-perfect electronic survey forms, and then connect them into sleek workflows that are fast and that can lay down an audit trail as steps are accomplished. It can help your people use more of their time on core business functions and less on administrative busy-work. PerfectApps takes clunky, manual workflows and automates them, saving everyone time and money. Finally, it can be used to ensure that products meet consistency and quality standards, are shipped correctly and on time, and that the people who buy them can enjoy outstanding customer service.
Watch the PerfectApps demo, and you’ll see how this exceptional software can improve the state of the three “P”s in your business. It’s flexible enough, powerful enough, and easy enough to use that you can be confident your people, processes, and products all do their part to ensure your company’s ongoing success.
