‘My way or the highway’ — rightly or wrongly, this is the slogan of many small business owners.

And sure, this mentality may prove the downfall of many businesses as business owners hell bent on their ‘way’ refuse to listen to new ideas or heed innovations.

But if you’re a savvy business operator, your ‘way’ may prove the point of difference that helps you do business better.

There’s no doubt that all successful businesses have systems. But when it comes to how your business works, don’t do something just because that’s the way it has always been done.

Let me prove my point by looking at one of these business operators.
Meet Mike O’Hagan — the man who built a multi-million dollar business from scratch and the brains behind the brawn of removalist company, MiniMovers.

So, how did it all start?

MiniMovers was no accident, but rather a calculated move.

“I was looking for an opportunity,” O’Hagan told me. “I started in business as a second-hand dealer. I was working 90 hours a week, seven days a week and earning the same amount of money as my staff, who were only working 40 hours a week.”

This is a scenario, no doubt, that will be close to home for many of you!

“That was crazy. And I was looking for an opportunity, for something I could grow. And that’s one of the secrets of MiniMovers — from day one, it was designed to grow.”
The problem was, as a second hand dealer, he had little or no experience in the removalist industry. For many, this would have proved a deterrent, but O’Hagan used this to his advantage.

“It was a major asset because we just used common sense to deal with each thing as it came along,” he explained. “And what I’ve worked out is you don’t grow a business from a plan or a strategy, you grow a business by coming up with new ideas, testing them in an affordable way. If they work, do them more.”

This proved a simple yet incredibly effective strategy.

“Most things I try don’t work, but every now and then I find one that does. Then I systemise it and duplicate it and that’s how I grow my business.”

The truth is this: putting systems into your business isn’t rocket science, but the right systems can propel your business’s potential.

Many of O’Hagan’s common sense innovations have worked out brilliantly. A case in point — and one of my favourite examples of a simple business solution — is the following story:

“I employ guys in their 20s, and a lot of them don’t have breakfast when they come to work and our guys work really, really hard and they used to fall over during the day.

“We tried all sorts of things — we got people to give them lectures about nutrition and everything else and it was just a waste of space. One day, one of my lovely ladies said, why don’t we just feed them? So ever since then, every morning in 14 different locations around Australia, we have a fully cooked breakfast for our staff every morning.”

O’Hagan strives to be different in all he does — and it’s made a big difference to his bottom line! The cost of providing breakfast for his workers pales in comparison to their increased productivity. In fact, he likes his ‘way’ so much, he refuses to take on someone who’s done time in the removalist game.

“There’s only one way to do it, the MiniMovers way. We bring them in, clean skins, without any experience. Even the operators on the trucks, we bring them in without licences, we give them their own licences and everybody says to me, how do you get all these young guys to do it your way? Well, it’s easy, I create them.”

This, said O’Hagan, has afforded him a competitive advantage. He describes the business as “ever moving and ever changing” making it difficult for competitors to keep up.
“We’ve got lots of copy cats now, but they’re all copying stuff that we used to do a year, two years ago.”

Once these systems are in place, it isn’t a matter of case closed — O’Hagan told me he is always on the lookout for a better MiniMovers way, making it even harder for the competition to keep up.

A business owner like O’Hagan proves it’s important to subscribe to the Japanese concept of kaizen — that is, continuous improvement. After all, if you don’t continue to innovate, it’s a safe bet your copycat competitors will win your customer’s dollars.

So, it may be your way or the highway, but make sure your way is the right way for your business.