I have been fortunate to consult for companies such as Abbey, FedEx, GE Capital, Belron and Walkers, and also for a number of smaller companies, and there is a common thread that runs throughout business; they exist purely to generate money. It is true that businesses sometimes get to the stage where they need to “reduce costs”, but this is inevitably the by-product of them not making as much money as they had planned; in other words the gap between the bottom-line and top-line is too small.

The challenges that each business faces are essentially the same, it’s just that the scales are different. They revolve around people, process and products, or the 3Ps as I call them. People account for about 60% of what the organisation is about (culture, knowledge, etc.), processes account for about 20% and are there to support and guide the people, and products (the other 20%) facilitate the processes.

Unfortunately, many businesses fall into the trap that they think they can solve their problems with the application of technology (ie more products) where they should be looking at the bigger picture, starting with the company vision and making sure that the people are aligned with it, the processes are aligned with the people and the vision, and that any products finally selected align with all three. I like to think of this as the organisational behaviour model, and it is how Emissary Consulting prides itself in being different to other Internet or consulting companies.

Only by doing business smarter - thinking of new or different ways to do the business we do - are we able to grow our businesses, reduce costs and ultimately generate more of that money we are all here to make. As an operational specialist - especially business process optimisation, automation and the intelligent application of Internet technologies to business problems - I passionately believe there are opportunities for every company to succeed in today’s business world. And with the emergence of new business models built on cooperation, there is space for smaller players to successfully coexist alongside larger players.

I would like to thank you for taking the time to read the information on our website and look forward to being able to discuss any business or Internet issues you may have in the future.

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Edward Terry
Co-founder of Emissary Ltd
Director of Emissary Consulting