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One of the exercises I do with clients in a Visual Planning Retreat is called the Business Model Canvas (using the great book Business Model Generation by Alex Osterwalder as our starting point). In the centre of the Canvas is a box in which we write the core value proposition that the business delivers to customers. Around it, we identify the other parts of the business that make it possible and profitable to deliver that value proposition.

Ironically though, and probably because of the “shoemaker’s children go barefoot” phenomenon, I have yet to enjoy building the business model canvas for myself. Sometimes I wish somebody else was offering Visual Planning Retreats because I would totally pay a competitor to do this with me.

As I was sitting on the couch this evening, catching up on the 783 unread items in my Google Reader (I’m so far behind in most blogs that I’m just clicking “Mark All as Read”), I realized that this very activity I’m doing tonight is part of the value proposition that I deliver to customers as a small business consultant.

Business owners are exceedingly busy people. They have to worry about marketing, sales, product/service delivery, human resources, financial oversight, yadda yadda the list goes on. Let’s face it – they do not get spare time very often, and when they do it’s probably not going to be spent reading back issues of Inc.com or trolling the business section of Chapters for new and unheralded works of insightful genius. But for me, part of the value proposition I deliver to customers IS the fact that I HAVE done (and regularly do) this kind of research. When I’m in product/service delivery mode, part of my “purchasing” or inbound logistics is actually the sourcing, consuming and synthesizing of new ideas and knowledge about working ON a business. Or a non-profit association.

Sometimes it feels like I am on a constant learning curve. I worry sometimes, to be honest, at how much knowledge about entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, etc. etc is out there which I seem to be missing. But tonight it just finally twigged for me – the stream of knowledge is never-ending. I am more tapped into it than most if not all of my clients – and that represents a big part of the value that I bring to the table (well that, and the great markers).

Ironically, I have now come full circle to the mission statement I wrote for Directis Consulting in 2003 when I started up the business: Synthesizing the best practices and ideas in business being written about “out there” and then being able to apply it with context-specific insight to a client’s business.

Making change happen is subject to the rules of inertia just as everything else. A body in motion stays in motion, and a body at rest stays at rest until acted upon by some external force.

A group of people (say, a work team) will resist change not out of maliciousness or lack of motivation, but due to inertia. They are on a trajectory related to what is happening in the team (or not happening), so if you hope for change you must present a force stronger than inertia.

Fear is a common choice. A burning platform is a cliche for a situation in which people must choose between staying in a place of certain death, or jumping into a place of near-certain death or possible rescue. Imagine being on a burning oil-drilling platform in the North Sea. Dramatic, yes, but when a business is facing ultimate crisis, people will change to save their jobs.

But fear doesn’t always work, and it leaves scars. Deep ones. If you create a burning platform falsely, you will massacre any hope of trust in your people. So what is the alternative?

A sense of identity and hope is a good start. Seek out small wins and show people it can be done – each win is a small pebble rolling down the hill and this is how you build a different inertia. Pretty soon you have an avalanche.

Last week my father, who is a self-employed environmental engineer, suffered a serious life-threatening medical emergency. He is in hospital recovering now, and will slowly return to health with the help of many skilled caregivers and loved ones. For this, I feel extremely blessed. What it has reminded me is that as business people, we sometimes avoid thinking of the scary possibility of suddenly being cut off from our livelihood.

There are two major points that this family event has highlighted for me. The first is the utmost importance of having some kind of insurance in place for yourself, as a business owner, in case you are unable to work. I prefer and recommend disability insurance with a clause that covers you if you’re unable to work in your own industry again (otherwise you may be forced to seek a job wherever you can get one). Critical illness insurance is very popular with insurance companies and insurance salespeople these days, but it does not cover everything, and the money can eventually run out. Knowing that if you did have to stop working and sell your business due to illness or injury, you will still have some kind of regular income, is very important for those of us who don’t have employers’ benefits to rely on.

The second major point is to think of succession not in terms of “when I’m ready to leave my business” but also “what happens if I have to be away for a while?” It’s one thing to take a vacation for a few weeks (this is hard enough) but what happens if suddenly you’re unable to work when you have projects in the pipeline, or you can’t open the shop in the middle of your busy sales season? Whether you’re a solo businessperson or you have staff, you need to have a plan for emergencies. Somebody needs to be prepared to step in and check your email, pay your bills, communicate with customers about your expected return to business, and keep the fires lit while you get back on your feet.

I don’t have this person right now. It’s not a position that you post a job for, but it’s something I’m going to give some thought to. It’s dreary to think about, but I know that if I got hit by a bus and had to spend 3 weeks in the hospital, I would certainly want to have my customers looked after (not wondering what cliff I just disappeared off) and my banking done properly. It’s part of an emergency plan that every business owner should put in place, as unpleasant a task as it seems.

(A note – I think I’ve also seen a Business Interruption Insurance, and a Key Person Insurance. If anyone reading this is in the insurance biz, feel free to post a comment explaining whether these cover what I’ve talked about above).