By David Altena, The Better SMB Ltd
When we talk about high performance, people often assume we’re talking about our financial results, business growth or national productivity.
The reality is a bit different.
Most business owners don’t get out of bed in the morning thinking about national productivity. They think about creating a better future for themselves, their families, their team and their customers.
They want a business that works. A business they’re proud of. A business that gives them options.
That’s why the story of Drain Ninjas resonated with me.
When Director Sasha and the Drain Ninjas team received the High Performance Award at Business North West’s Business Awards last year, it would have been easy to see it as a finish line.
Recognition received.
Box ticked.
Move on to the next challenge.
Instead, it became the starting point for something bigger.
As part of the process, the business completed a diagnostic that highlighted opportunities for improvement, and behind the numbers, there was one area that stood out immediately.
Rework.
Like many growing businesses, Drain Ninjas was already doing a lot of things well, but that insight confirmed there were opportunities to improve how work flowed through the business and how consistently outcomes were being delivered.
What followed wasn’t a dramatic transformation. It was something much more powerful.
A commitment to continuous improvement.
Over the following months, Sasha began working with a Lean specialist to better understand waste, process design, documentation, team alignment and operational efficiency. Along the way, the business started analysing data more deeply, reviewing marketing performance, documenting processes and looking for opportunities to improve how the team worked together.
The biggest lesson, it turned out, had nothing to do with systems or spreadsheets. It came down to leadership.
During a recent conversation, Sasha told me that winning the award “lit a fire” in her. It gave her a renewed determination to build the best business she could, develop the best team she could and become the best leader she could be.
That mindset is what separates good businesses from great ones.
The most successful business owners I meet aren’t the ones who think they’ve arrived. They’re the ones who remain curious. They’re willing to ask questions, challenge assumptions, seek help and keep learning.
They understand that improvement isn’t an event. It’s a habit.
For Sasha, one of the key realisations has been that meaningful change doesn’t happen overnight. It happens through small improvements made consistently over time.
A better process here. A clearer expectation there. A conversation that helps a team member take ownership. A decision informed by better data.
Individually, those things can seem insignificant.
Collectively, they become transformational.
The Drain Ninjas story is a reminder that high performance isn’t about perfection. It isn’t about having all the answers.
It’s about having the courage to keep looking for better ones.
And sometimes, the most important thing an award can do is not to recognise how far you’ve come.
It’s to inspire you to see how much further you can still go.