4Solutions provides business to business software solutions designed to enable B2B e-commerce, in particular for the health industry. Owner Clifford Bunten went into business for financial independence and a chance to build something bigger than a career in IT. 4Solutions was formed in 2003 with a handful of customers and just two staff. They now provide solutions for most of the largest multi-national and national pharmaceutical wholesalers in Australia with around twenty staff in two countries.
The Context:
Before coming to 10X, 4Solutions was a technically competent business lacking clarity of vision and almost zero marketing profile. They were struggling with cashflow and cost control and there was little science behind their hiring practises. Clifford joined coaching in 2010 to help refocus on fundamentals and improve personal productivity, and to work on the basics and improve effectiveness through organisation, measurement and review.
Specific Wins
“Learning how to “slow down” in order to speed up was probably the most valuable insight that I gained from working with my 10X Business Coach. If I didn’t have clarity about my vision and focus for the company, how could I expect team members to have a clear understanding of our goals!
“Re-organising my diary and mapping specific areas of focus to specific time slots was another significant win, as was learning to pay attention to measurement and accountability - delegating the responsibility, not just the tasks. These changes led to a significant increase in my personal effectiveness and created the space for me to focus on fundamentals.”
More Wins!
“A specific focus on cashflow monitoring helped us reduce our aged receivables from three and a half times our monthly billing to just over half our monthly billing.
“A more measurable focus on outcomes took our marketing strategy from being a generalised ‘motherhood’ statement to a more refined and executable plan.
“Finally, the increase in my personal effectiveness enabled us to make a turnaround from loss to profit. In fact, we recorded close to 400% growth in profit, while at the same time achieving a 5% reduction in costs.”
Testimonials
“Working with a 10X Business Coach helps keep me focussed and concentrating on working on the business.
“The coaching process has also helped reduce my stress levels - through it I became reassured that I knew what I was doing! I learnt that I needed to spend more time getting things right, when I should be doing things, how long I should spend, and in some areas even how I should approach the tasks.
“Andrew, like all good coaches, knows which buttons to push to get me to hold myself accountable.”
The Future
“Coaching has helped me define key areas of growth for the business. By freeing up my headspace and improving effectiveness - the whole business is now more focused, more optimistic and in a position to pursue growth in every aspect with confidence that we are building on a solid foundation.”
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