Business Coaching: Improve the Design of Your Business

How can we help you? We are designers. We think differently. We approach life from a design mindset. Together Kathy and I have 27 years of collective design experience which has refined the skills necessary for the relentless pursuit of the best possible way to Create and Discover, while achieving functional and meaningful solutions. Our design process is directed toward the human condition. Our design and coaching approach is to solve human problems through this process, we strive to make complicated things simple. The role of a designer is to extend the boundaries of thought, to generate new options, and ultimately enhance the lives of others by creating value for their clients. This requires the ability “see” that which does not yet exists.

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Design Based Business Coaching

For us design is not only a process or application of formal skills, but a holistic way of thinking. For us design is integral to the quality of life. What we do with our design based business coaching is to take the structured approach of the design process and lay it over the make up of your business. We take you through the creative process of design as we look at both the internal workings of your business and the external experience of your clients. Our design process provides the framework for making better decisions and guiding your business efforts. Design based business coaching helps you arrange the elements of your business in such a way to accomplish a business purpose and reach your goals. Design, in the end, is about creating better results for people.

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"(Business)Design is the application of intent - the opposite of happenstance, and an antidote to accident."
Robert L. Peters

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Design = Creative Problem Solving

Design is both the process and the result of giving form to your idea. Design is an in-depth experience that identifies new ideas while making connections to existing conditions. Design requires you to be open to what might be…not just what is. Design is the combination of utility and significance. Frequently businesses have sound ideas, but may not have the creative design skills to convert them into better products or services. Design is the go-between, the synthesizing of ideas, making complicated things simple.

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"Designing a product (or service) is designing a relationship."
Steve Rogers

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Why Business Design Matters

It connects people to what they care about and to their aspirations, whether it is a product or a service. Design can connect you with your customers on a personal level by designing your customer's experience through your meaningful brand narrative.   Design whether “good” or “bad” permeates every aspect of daily life. We remember and connect with both really good and bad design and forget about what is in the middle. Don't believe us?  Try to name the  top 5 MP3 players. You can't because one company (Apple) has so clearly establish itself with the design of both its product and their brand. The problem and the danger for most small businesses is that they find themselves somewhere in the middle. That is why “good” business design matters to your business. Don’t let your business be forgotten.  Good business design is looking at both the internal and the external sides of your business to provide a product/service that is both memorable and meaningful.

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“(Your Business) Design must attract, shape, and perhaps more importantly, evoke an emotional response”
April Greiman

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Business Design is Your Unique Advantage

While each business is unique by definition, this fact alone is no longer enough. In today’s market place there is no scarcity. The market place is crowded. Plus anything that is repetitive, procedural and inherently left-brain driven, is on its way to being outsourced or completed by software.  If the only differentiator is price, this is a downward spiral. Systems are good. Yet, things that can be standardized, franchised, or economized, while predictable and scalable, are in danger of becoming meaningless. As consumers we have too many choices, nothing is scarce. Consumers are demanding more now. Where does that leave you? To remain competitive you must design for and provide significance. Our ideation sessions can help you understand your brand significance. The design of your business from both the owner and end user perspective becomes your competitive advantage.  

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"Good design helps build and sustain competitive advantage."
Brian Gillespie

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Design Yields Authentic Brand Architecture

Branding should not be an afterthought. All too often it is thought of as one attribute, or one small part of the overall plan. The brand architecture is the "Plan." A great brand experience is designed into the DNA of the business. A great brand should be a 360° degree experience. Your brand should not be something you apply to your business at the end. Your brand should embody you. Your brand = You. You are the authentic brand at the core of your business. It is the foundation of your business. We can help you take look at “you” and your “business” to help you see, shape and design your business and your brand. Your Authentic Brand Architecture not only conveys the message, it is the message. It is why you are in business and it is the difference you are making.

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"(Business) Design that moves others comes from issues that move you."
Jennifer Morla, Principal, Morla Design


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What We Do

1. Work with interesting and meaningful businesses
2. Solve Interesting challenges and provide meaningful solutions
3. Lead & Equip you to do the same

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"Don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don't hesitate to make it beautiful."

Shaker Design Philosophy

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How we do it

As your team of coaches, we provide the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas to create something new. How? Ideation. During your ideation sessions we will help you move from uncertainty/lack of direction to clarity and focus about the direction and message of your business. You will gain greater appreciation of your purpose and the meaning of your business. We create value by helping you see new opportunities, make decisions that work, and understand the connections that allow you to invest in creating your own meaningful design.

How Business Design Ideation Can Help You?

Ideation is the process of forming and connecting ideas together. A process where we work side-by-side with you generating new ideas and solutions. Our ideation is a creative process for discovering new Solutions/Brand Narrative/Products/Services for you business. The art of ideation is the inventive approach to discovering new ideas and then isolating the best ones.

 

Sample Ideation Topics

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Niche Finding	New Features	Creating Brand Value
Target Markets	New Products	Your Brand Message
Business Modeling	New Services	Idea Storming

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Ideation Session Results

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