What Business Are You Really In? Who Are Your Bees?

During the course of business planning, did you or any of your advisers ask, “What business are you really in?”

A few years ago I was touring wineries in Eastern Washington. These weren’t “foo foo” wineries with beautiful buildings and perfectly tended rows of vines. This particular winery was down a dirt road, through the vineyard, that ended at a metal building with no signage.

There I met a young man, the wine maker. He was covered in dust as you would expect any farmer would be after a day in the fields. He explained to me that when the vines blossom, the flowers must be pollinated before any grapes would be produced.

To make the vineyard most productive, they imported bees by the thousands. When released, the concentration of bees, for a short time, was 50,000 times what would occur in nature. He told me, “We’re really in the bee business.”

His point was that the work done by the bees was where it all started. Without the bees, no grapes and no wine. And no wine business.

If you own a business, you probably offer a service, make something or sell something. Or maybe you do a combination of these things. You probably think you’re in the shoe business or architecture business or the manufacturing business. And I’m not saying you aren’t.

But try thinking about it differently. Who or what is the equivalent to the winemaker’s bees? Ask:

1. What gives you an advantage over your competitors?
2. What sets your business apart?
3. What most contributes to your success and profit?
4. Who really starts the process that leads to a successful business cycle?
5. And what makes your business sustainable?

Are you really in the people business? When many business owners really get down to the root cause of their success, it is their people that make the difference. If the business is successful mostly because of the owner, then the business is probably very limited in its potential.

But if the owner has made the leap from doer to manager, that’s good. If the owner has made the second leap from manager to manager of managers, then we’re really getting somewhere.

As a business owner, your job should be:

1. Setting the overall strategic direction.
2. Recruiting the best people.
3. Training and retaining those people.
4. Managing your managers.
5. Providing real leadership and communicating your vision.

When you think about it, what business are you really in?