Infrastructure is the collection of basic, underlying physical, technical, and organizational structures and systems needed to operate and function in a reliable and effective manner. Establishing the right infrastructure is the cornerstone for any business, organization, building, city, etc. to build upon. It is the first step in Origamic Solution’s IMPACT Methodology™️, because it establishes the framework and foundation necessary for the subsequent steps to even be feasible.
What is the right mix of infrastructure necessary to support your business today and in the future, as you grow? Like a city or house, a business must have interconnected infrastructure components that work together to meet a desired outcome. There isn’t a one-size fits all 
model. Each entity has its own set of infrastructure requirements. A great parallel to evaluating business infrastructure is to look at building a home. It all depends on what is needed to bring the homeowner’s (or business owner’s) specific vision to life. As a business owner, it is critical that you evaluate the types of infrastructure that you need to create systems that will provide consistent, repeatable, and optimized results.
Key infrastructure every business should have:
The diagram below provides a visual of the key infrastructure components and how they build on each other. Every business should have these components in place if they want to grow and expand over time. Remember you must build from the ground up. The foundation must be solid, or the structure above will be at risk. The roof cannot go on before the supports, and the interior, where the life of the business is executed, must be covered and protected to ensure health, growth and prosperity. The structural supports will need to be periodically inspected and fortified over time.
The Foundation:
The legal, tax, and financial infrastructure components are critical for establishing a solid foundation. Below are some tactical steps every business owner/leader needs to take to ensure separation of business and personal assets for better protection.
- Set up the legal entity (Sole Proprietorship, LLC, Corporation, etc.) for your business properly. Additionally, you may also need to get a business license, depending on your local and state regulations, and establish an operating agreement, if you have partners or other equity holders. The operating agreement may also be a requirement for registering with your state’s State Corporation Commission (SCC).
Tip – Every locality and state have different rules and requirements. I recommend you engage legal support. There are cheaper on-line options, however if you are serious about building a business, this is a critical foundational component to establish properly.
- Get your Employer Identification Number (EIN) – This is the unique identifier (like a SSN) for your business used for taxes and business transaction purposes.
- Set up your business bank account.
- Establish your business accounting system.
Structural Supports:
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” - Benjamin Franklin
Like that of a home, city, businesses also have blueprints or plans. These blueprints/plans enable consistent communication between the team(s) within the business. Additionally, the structural supports help all the people involved understand connection points, expectations, rules and regulations, requirements and expected outputs. If you are thinking about franchising or licensing your product, service or business, then the structural supports must be reliable, repeatable, comprehensive and in a format that is easily and effectively communicated.
The next critical pieces of infrastructure are the structural supports, and they function much like the support beams in your home. They provide a framework and stability for the current structure and future growth. They include:
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Vision, Mission, Values, and Culture Definition – these elements establish a clearly articulated understanding of your purpose (why), vision & mission (what), and values define (how) your business will operate and deliver products and services.
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Brand Strategy & Culture Definition – defines the persona of your business and how you want your community and customers to see and understand your business.
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Business Plan – communicates that you, as the owner, have done your due diligence: shows that you can organize and communicate ideas, strategies, identify risk and perceive threats. This is important when convincing others to support/invest in you and your business. Additionally, your business plan should be reviewed and revised on a periodic basis. The level of depth and completeness will also evolve as your business matures. You can start out with a one-page plan and then continue to expand.
- Operations Manual – serves as the single comprehensive reference document for how your business is structured and functions to fulfill its purpose and mission driven by its culture and values. It is your company’s document of record and should be accessible by all team members and updated regularly and the company matures, evolves, and grows. Similar to the Business plan, the level of depth and completeness will also evolve as your business matures. Start with the framework and regularly populate and refine it.
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Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Plans – identifies the appropriate actions to be taken in the event of a natural disaster or outage of a critical system.
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Succession Plan – identifies who will take lead the business in the event of a planned extended leave or retirement, or how the access to assets and decision-making authority / ownership are transitioned unplanned death of key leadership. This applies to businesses of all sizes and will require the engagement of legal and banking professionals when proactively preparing for a critical unplanned event.
The Roof:
Once the structural supports are established, the leadership team needs to ensure the managerial oversight tools, analytics and reporting, continuous quality assurance and ongoing improvement cultures are developed so that the leadership team can ensure the business continues to fulfill your vision and mission. The key executive infrastructure components include:
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Strategic Plans
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Core Operating Systems
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Performance Measurements Systems
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Continuous Improvement Plan
In conclusion, it is critical as a business owner that you evaluate the types of infrastructure that you need to create systems that will provide consistent, repeatable and optimized results. Your infrastructure will establish the foundation and framework for successful systems execution and enable your business to grow. You will know you have the right mix of infrastructure components to support your business today and in the future if your infrastructure:
- Meets your business’ need to create systems that will provide consistent, repeatable and optimized results.
- Helps the people involved understand connection points, expectations, rules and regulations, requirements and expected outputs.
- Enables consistent internal and external communication. .
- Enables the ongoing evaluation of the business’s performance and ensures the business is aligned with the strategic and business plans.
- Enables the business to mature and grow as desired.
