Live Your Dream: Build a Business, Not Just a Revenue Stream with Dr. Keita Demming
Discover what it takes to build a business, and not just a revenue stream. Live your dream and build a strong business with Dr. Keita Demming. Keita is the Head of Innovation and Development at The Covenant Group in Toronto where he coaches business owners full time. Along with his esteemed colleagues, he has designed an online coaching platform which helps entrepreneurs virtually. At Covenant Group, entrepreneurs are given the strategies they need to succeed and thrive in their industries.
Keita has always been into learning and development in some way. While completing his undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia, he worked on an organizational change initiative. Afterwards, he moved to England to do his master’s degree in Organizational Change, before completing his PhD at the University of Toronto. His introduction to Organizational Change at the University of British Columbia began a career of working with organizations, in a variety of capacities, to implement change and innovation initiatives.
Having started a couple of businesses and having been involved in the sale of a few others, Keita knows first-hand the tactics needed to succeed. His life’s work is now helping entrepreneurs grow and live their dreams, enabling them to reach their highest potential. Keita has guided so many in their entrepreneurial journeys that we couldn’t wait any longer to introduce him to our WellnessLiving community.
Five Tactics for Building a Business, not Just a Revenue Stream
On the third episode of WellnessLiving’s Live Your Dream show, Keita Demming highlights the must-have elements of any successful business. With his expert advice, you’ll be able to build a business, and not simply a revenue stream.
1. Set your vision
“Everything starts with your vision which you have to take time to set,” Keita explains. “Because entrepreneurs see the world as opportunity rich, you have to decide what to say no to because it’s not meeting your vision, goals, or objectives.”
Keita describes the process he asks his clients to go through when determining the projects and ventures they want to tackle. “Rate every single project on a scale of 1-10 using a graph on two axes,” he says. “One axis measures how this project will help you achieve your vision and the other is dedicated to your revenue potential for this particular venture on a scale of 1-10. This creates a grid. If your business is at the top right quadrant of your graph, with high revenue potential and vision, then it’s something you should pursue. If both factors are low, then you should drop the project.”
It’s also important to note that you must have a very clear understanding of what your purpose is for the business, in order to engage both your team and target audience. To help clearly define your business, Keita suggests you challenge yourself to meaningfully complete statements such as We are the go-to firm for… and We are passionate about...
“Your vision must be widely shared, known, and believed,” says Keita. “You have to engage all of your stakeholders and maintain a radical focus on your clients. If people and staff fall in love with your vision, they’ll bring their passion and intelligence to all that they do for you.” When your team goes the extra mile for your business, that truly sets you apart from your competition.
2. Determine your methodology
“Once you have set your vision, think about your intention, process, and how you will measure your results,” according to Keita Demming. This helps you establish a clear plan and foundation for your business.
“Be very intentional about what you’re doing and add discipline to everything you do in your business,” explains Keita. “Once you’ve set that intention, build a process around it to help you achieve it. Then measure it to track your activity and results. This will keep you focused every month, week, and day.”
This framework is used by Keita to help entrepreneurs and business owners look to the future and build a strong plan of action. He invites our listeners to do a simple exercise where they pick one intention and write it down. He then asks them to think of a process they can implement to achieve the intention they just set. He concludes by asking them how they will measure and track this activity. These questions are just a warm-up, to get you focused and ready for action.
3. Understand your role
As an entrepreneur, you must decide what part you are going to play in your business. When you have the answers to three questions posed by Keita, together with knowing which are your strongest traits, you’ll have what you need to determine where you fit into your company.
Keita breaks down the three important questions all business owners must ask themselves. “First, consider what role you want to play in your business,” he says. “Then determine how big you want to become. Finally, ask yourself which is the organizational structure that best supports how big you want to become and the role you want to play?”
Keita tells the story of a client he coached in the past. “This person realized he wasn’t a good CEO and that he was better suited for business development and marketing. He’s still the founder of the company, but now he’s the head of marketing.” Once you know who you are, you can start to find your place.
“Really successful entrepreneurs toggle between being a raven and a fox,” says Keita Demming. Many years ago, Keita attended a talk at the University of British Columbia, where an elder explained that in their culture, “the raven represents knowledge and wisdom, while the fox represents curiosity and exploration.” This lesson stood out to Keita. He explained, “In business, the raven represents strategy, foresight, and your vision, whereas the fox represents implementation and execution.” Keita goes on to explain that as an entrepreneur, though you must be able to shape-shift between the two, most entrepreneurs are strongest in just one of the two forms. This means you need to hire what’s missing from your business.
4. Write an effective mission statement
It’s now time to think about your mission. Keita describes four essential elements that go into creating an effective mission statement.
“You have to start with benefits to clients. The focus should always be on your clients and what benefits they derive from what you’re doing.” The second most important element is defining yourself. “You have to articulate what you do and why you matter to your clients,” explains Keita. “The third element,’ he adds, “is determining what sets you apart from the competition and the final element is to keep it simple.”
The mission statement should be included in your business plan. After visiting and speaking to several entrepreneurs throughout North America, WellnessLiving knows that having a solid business plan helps you build a strong foundation for your business.
5. Build your entire business around these four cornerstones
Once you know what you are trying to achieve, these four cornerstones are what you need to build your entire business around. What are these pivotal factors? Let’s find out.
“The first is strategy”, says Keita. “This is the alignment of capabilities and resources, outputs and objectives, with the opportunities and challenges the environment provides. For instance, knowing that a certain demographic needs a particular product may be a challenge for them, but an opportunity for you.”
“Next, you have to think about structure,” Keita tells us. “How do you structure your business to scale? Is this a place where people come to work every day or will staff members work remotely? Having proper job descriptions is another thing that you, as a business owner, must consider.” According to Keita, having definite roles can create structure and be very freeing at the same time. Most importantly, he tells entrepreneurs to develop a structure that meets their dreams and vision.
Systems and processes is the third cornerstone. This goes back to the process that we mentioned earlier in determining your methodology. A system and process refers to the method you choose to help fulfill your intention, whether it’s through email, social media, or another marketing platform. “Take time to understand who your ideal clients are and go after those people,” says Keita. Make sure the process you choose matches your key demographic.
Finally, proper financial management will help you scale your business. Think about how you will increase revenue and what you will do with the profits you make. Will they go into enhancing your marketing plan, perfecting your product or service, or opening a second or third location? Take your business to new heights by coming up with a solid financial plan.
“If you’re not doing this explicitly, you’re doing it implicitly,” Keita tells us. “But, once you get explicit, you can see where you need improvement.” It’s important to write all these things down so you can clearly pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses.
Dr. Keita Demming’s Final Words of Wisdom…
“We are no longer in a product or commoditized economy,” Keita tells us. “We’re in a transformative one. This is especially true for people in fitness, as you’re transforming lives. Transformation should be your focus.” Using the strategies and tactics that Keita provides, you can live your dream and help change more lives. To get more coaching, check out Keita Demming at The Convenant Group.
WellnessLiving would love to be of assistance as well. Our dynamic software helps you manage your everyday tasks so you can focus on your clients and the growth of your business. Explore our automated marketing options, extensive reporting tools, client and staff apps, and so much more by booking a free, no-commitment demo today. Get ready to live your dream!
