SpiritBank Business Resource Center
Creating a Business Model that Goes Beyond Banking
The banking industry has seen many changes over the last decade. Internet banking has reduced the need to physically visit a bank, product offerings have become commoditized and the traditional relationships held by businesses with their bankers have become a thing of the past.
Beyond Traditional Banking
The challenge and need for banks to differentiate themselves in a market place with little to no differentiation of real meaning is great. In 2004 SpiritBank had the seed of an idea and a vision to create a business resource center that would act as a one-stop-shop where small businesses in need of help could come and gain the connections with the right resource to solve their challenge. A wonderful vision but where to start and how to go about creating the business model that will create the success desired?
SpiritBank has a long history of supporting small and large businesses in Oklahoma not just with their banking needs but with connecting them with what ever business critical need they might have. Over the last hundred years their reputation has grown as a place to get help. The opportunity for SpiritBank was to take this personalized banking style and formalize it into a more dynamic and focused effort.
Creating the Business Resource Center Business Model
The greatest challenge to any new business endeavor is putting together the right team, developing a powerful yet flexible business model and knowing the steps to move the effort forward as fast as possible. Ted Cundiff, President of the Business Resource Center the owner of the fresh vision engaged Sean Griffin with Vizalution to graphically facilitate Ted and his team of three, including Sean, through his Starting Your Start-Up business model development process.
Phase I – Foundation Development
Once engaged to facilitate the development of The Business Resource Center business model, Sean created a large 4’ x 14’ time-line outlining the critical steps, milestones, and actions required over the first six months to create a foundation from which to start building the Business Resource Center. This included the following elements which were graphically facilitated:
Vision
Core Offerings
Strategy
Team
Business Solution Series
Strategic Partner Network
Website Strategy & Development
Marketing & PR Strategy
Business Development Goals
Financial Targets
Milestones & Success Factors
Phase II – Execution
With all the key strategic business model pieces in place and tied to a visual plan the team started working the plan. The result in 2005 as stated by Kell Kelly, CEO of SpiritBank, “The Business Resource Center is two years ahead of where we have projected it to be.”
Ongoing Business Resource Center Development
Now five years old the SpiritBank Business Resource Center has grown into two resource centers the first in Tulsa and now in Oklahoma City. The Business Resource Center has been a critical element to SpiritBank’s ongoing success playing key differentiator in supporting growing from a half billion dollar bank to an over $1.2 billion bank.
Since those first days of graphically facilitating the vision into reality the Business Resource Center has conducted over 50 Business Solution Series events, supported over 250 small businesses and governmental organizations with non-banking services, and inspired an army of SpiritBank involuntary evangelists.
“The success of the Business Resource Center would not have been possible without the support, graphic facilitation and strategic business model planning Sean has brought to the endeavor.” Ted Cundiff, President of Metro Markets and the Business Resource Center. The Business Resource Center is innovating how banking is conducted.
Into the Future
Utilizing Sean’s graphically facilitated business model development methods working with Ted Cundiff and Mary Smith, Vice President Aerospace Development for SpiritBank they are creating an Aerospace Business Resource Center focused division. This new non-banking center is being designed to support Aerospace companies in Oklahoma to gain the resources and talent necessary to grow an industry that is vital to Oklahoma’s future.
With the integration of graphically facilitated programs to support goal setting, problem solving, partnership development, business evaluation, and the creation of new business models along with a strong team of entrepreneurial minded bankers the SpiritBank Business Resource Center is leading the way into a new banking frontier.