The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines system analysis as “the process of studying a procedure or business in order to identify its goals and purposes and create systems and procedures that will achieve them in an efficient way”. Another view sees system analysis as a problem-solving technique that breaks down a system into its component pieces for the purpose of the studying how well those component parts work and interact to accomplish their purpose

Identify every function and process in the company, document their desired delivery versus their actual purpose, understand the lines of communication and interaction and normalise. Remove redundancy and duplication. Recover lost information and miscommunication. Optimise each function, each section, each role.

So, in case there is any confusion lets be sure we start by understanding that your company is your team. If you believe anything else then you are more than likely the problem.

Jim Collins in his 2001 book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t stated “First Who … Then What. We expected that good-to-great leaders would begin by setting a new vision and strategy. We found instead that they first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats—and then they figured out where to drive it. The old adage “People are your most important asset” turns out to be wrong. People are not your most important asset. The right people are.”

At DAISe we look to talk with all of the stakeholders, we model their day-to-day activities and we measure their version of their role against the company’s version. We align their vision with the company’s vision. We link their deliverables directly to the company’s desired deliverables. We confirm that they are the right people in the right seats heading for the same destination.

At DAISe we get excited by difficult problems and developing solution strategies. We like chess and “very very very difficult” Sudoko.

Developing long term strategic business and financial plans is our bread and butter.

To be able to develop a winning strategy in business, like in chess, requires a thorough understanding of the game. So we start by looking at the team. After your team you need to understand fully the market within which you compete, otherwise you are simply walking in the dark.

So that we can understand what we measure the company against we look at many things including customers, competitors, threats and the opportunities that may exist to ensure we secure a holistic view which will then facilitate optimal solution building.

When describing products or services business academics will break down the classifciation into three areas (1) The Core Product (2) The Actual Product and (3) The Augmented Product.

The Core Product is the need the customer is seeking to fulfill, i.e. when you buy a car you are buying the ability to get from A to B, when you buy a bed you are buying somewhere to sleep and when you buy a drill you are actually buying the ability to makes holes in walls.

The Actual Product is the business’s answer to their customer’s needs. Actual products have many characteristics including brand, quality, look and feel, features, usability and of course price.

Company’s will seek to differentiate their product / service in the market place by adding features that are not necessary for the core need. Cars and mobile phones are good examples of the extremes to which augmentation can be offered. Augmentation offers your company the opportunity to add to your customer’s experience and often the augmentation is the reason for the purchase choice, the car colour, the mobile phone camera’s megapixels levels, is the kettle retro.

Examples of augmented products features include wrapping, delivery, installation, ergonomics, services as after sale service, warranties, credit and many, many more. Augmentation potential is only limited by the imagination of the product / service developers.

By understanding your product, you can better satisfy your consumer and therefore add value to your business.

Successful goal setting requires a lot of investigation, a lot of analysis and a lot of planning.

Simply picking goals from thin air, which may make you shiver when you soon consider achieving them, does not work.

Goals should be motivational, inspirational even, but you must also believe they are achievable and indeed understand how they will be achieved, i.e. a detailed step-by-step, deliverable, measureable plan.

My personal favourite goal-setting quote is “Dream enormously big, Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” – Les Brown.

Yes, I have often thought of what Neil Armstrong answered when his Dad asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up?

In business the goal becomes the target against which a realistic, detailed, time-based and measureable plan is developed. If during the development of the plan no clear path can be derived then the goal must be revised until the plan is complete.

Remember, small steps first will add up to long journeys.

The analysis required for the Sales and Marketing plan will deliver the depth of knowledge needed of the market and the particular marketspace, including the Environmental Factors, the Target Customers and the Competitors. From this data/information a Marketing Strategy will be constructed which will deliver against the Product, the Price, The Place, the required Promotion and the proposed Customer Service.

To ensure that your company resources are used optimally and that you can effectively meet your customer’s product/service needs you will need to develop a Production or Service Delivery Plan.

The production plan will ensure that you have the required human resources, tools and materials and will ensure you understand exactly the sequence of development and time management. It will demand that you use your place of production space in a manner that considers the available space, the cost implications, the required machinery and most especially the needs, desires and expectations of your delivery team.

Properly designed these plans will not only save money, they will maximise your quality control, facilitate the monitoring of the manufacturing processes or the service delivery and provide the feedback data which can then be inputted into the other elements such as the marketing and sales parts of your business plan.

The production planning, the process maps, the process descriptions, the market forecasts, the standardisation, the time mapping, the risks analysis, the service culture, the service quality et al will then stand as the template and benchmark for future product and service design projects.

Everybody thinks “It’s all about the Money”. In fact it’s actually all about the people but we can argue that point again.

Besides the obvious need, the main deliverable of a Financial Plan is stress reduction.

Being an entrepreneur and running a business requires having to think about a lot of different strands. Nobody is capable of thinking of them all simultaneously so developing function specific plans facilitates ensuring that each element gets the level of specific focus required.

Developing each plan then acts like a list, the list becomes your memory and takes over as insurance that the individual elements have each been considered and thus removes the concern, or stress, that something has been missed or forgotten.

The financial plan is normally developed and finalised after the other business element plans have been developed. The financial plan will identify the required funds sources and arrange the funds according to the project needs and a time plan.

The financial plan will also facilitate long term business development and prepare the business against risk.

Accurate financial planning will also provide the business with a competitive edge.

Without control businesses tend towards chaos and failure.

One of the most important developments in Engineering is what is known as the Feedback Loop. Feedback loops are used when developing control systems. Feedback loops consider all aspects of a system or process including the systems’ output thus enabling the system to adjust its performance to meet a desired output response.

Businesses must develop these “Feedback Loops” into their processes to facilitate monitoring and thus deliver the required level of control.

Doing business is all about developing relationships, relationships with your team and with your customers, relationships with your suppliers, relationships with your competitors, your banks, etc, etc.

Communications is the foundation on which every relationship is built.