The Mystery of Business Growth
How does one grow their company without losing sight of where they began? A good friend of mine started out with his business many years ago with the goal of making a positive impact in his industry. This is one of those idealist dreams many new business owners have before they get hit with the "Real World." His industry is known for curruption, under-handed deals, stuff "falling off the back of the truck," etc. Believe me…it was as dirty as dirty comes. Despite his knowledge of all of this, he pursued, and started out the business with high hopes. He created great value statements, paid everyone what they were worth, provided paid internships for students. Basically did all of the "right things" for several years…until he got burned. Repeatedly. Then he was offered a deal…it was 'slightly' shady, but not completely off the charts. It was something that would be a short term fix to some financial issues he was having. It would be a one-time deal and no one would know. Well, no one found out. It was quick, easy, and the benefits could not be denied. But then, there was another deal and the money was good. You can see where this was going. Is this common? Sure. It happens every day. What could have prevented it? What would prevent it in your business? If I were to say, he should have a sense of character and ethics and stand by it, I would say that he had it. Problem was, he lost his focus. He forgot the reason he was in business to begin with. He compromised his standards. He had no accountability. In your business, who do you report to? While your pride may say that you are the only one, you are the boss and report to no one, we all do, be it our customers, our industry, our staff. While we have a job to do in our business, we have a bigger job to do for our communities, our families and our sense of purpose. If you want to grow your business, don't get off the track. Have focus. Set goals. Get a mentor or someone you can be accountable to. Maintain your ethics and your character. Have a sense of business beliefs and never, never, never give up! At Aepiphanni Business Solutions, we are dedicated to serving the needs of small business owners. We specialize in helping you develop strategies for your organization, and are committed to your success. If you have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give me, Rick Meekins, a call at 678-265-3908, or email us at info@aepiphanni.com.
 Labels: Business Growth Strategies, Business Path
Well, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!
 I have made an interesting observation. There are many business professionals in the marketplace that are going along, every day, with the same problems doing the same things over and over and getting the same results. I believe, however, that the expectation that they have is that the results will one day be different. My understanding is that doing the same things over, repeatedly, and expecting different results, is the definition of insanity.
Of course, there is the other extreme: there are other professionals that try to do a number of different things to solve a problem, however, without having particular aim or direction or followthrough, they never put enough energy into one area to make a difference anywhere. It is like preparing a pot of spaghetti, and checking to see if it is done by taking handfuls of pasta out of the pot and throwing at the wall, the goal being that the ones that are done will stick. Sthat seems like there is a lot of energy is being dispensed for what will ultimately be minimal results.
I’ve heard other people say that the business owner should have planned for the incumbent siutaion, no matter what the situation was. First of all, should haves don't fix anything. Secondly, no one really wants to hear that. So it is said, yes, that would be ideal. However, given the (lack of) success rate of new businesses in the country, it is very likely that isn't the norm. In fact, I would bet that many entrepreneurs are likened to people wnho would jump off a bridge with a rope tied around their back hoping for the best. It’s the nature of what they do – they look at an opportunity, scan the environment, do some level of research and jump, sometimes without even knowing the target.
Of course, there are those who come to the rescue and say things along the line of having a single solution that works for every business and every business owner. I think we are all pretty certain that there is no fix-all solution for every situation and that you get out of anything what you put into it. It's like competitive sports- you've got to move and shift and observe and aim and shoot. Someone said to me, once, that as soon as you fully understand the situation, the situation changes - a quip that shold appeal to every business owner and professional.
So the question becomes, How DO we get through the struggles of ANY change in the marketplace or environment? How do we remain agile to be able to adapt to upcoming changes? Well, like I’ve said, there is no quick, easy, follow these five-steps-and-you-will-have-guaranteed-overnight-success answer. I suggest that there is direction you will want to take.
1) Find someone to help you evaluate what you are doing – looking at your business from the inside out, then from the outside in. This might be a mentor, a consultant, some clients (using surveys), a panel or a board of some sort. DO NOT USE PEOPLE THAT HAVE SOMETHING TO GAIN OR LOSE BY HELPING YOU OUT.
2) Identify areas that you can strengthen and others that you can shed. Consider the 80/20 rule, suggesting that your organization’s time is best spent doing the things that it does best. If your not an accounting firm, it may be in your best interest to drop about $225 per month for tax, payroll, bill pay and bookkeeping services.
3) Evaluate your products and services versus marketplace needs. If you are a consultant, for example, it might be good to look at business valuations or mergers & acquisitions. Show your client how they cannot be without your product or service (easier said then done!) and determine what types of changes you can make that will make your client feel that you are that much more interested in their personal success or happiness. Yes – this is packaged into your goods and services and transparent through the culture and operations of your business.
4) What is your sales process? How are you generating leads? Are you having your sales team search through websites, industry books, etc., or are you going directly to the Hoovers and infoUSA’s of the world? Tell me, if you could bring 1,000 new leads into your office per week and manage to manage them all, versus bringing in 200 by using your sales team to do your research for you, which is more cost effective? Consider sales automation to keep your sales process moving forward.
5) What is your marketing process? How many new contacts do you intend to make per week? How many hands do you intend to shake? What do you do with those folks once you’ve done this? In your one-on-one with these people, what is your goal? What type of follow-up process do you participate in? How do you know how well you are doing in any particular area and how do you track it?
Business takes work - a lot of hard work, but it doesn’t take the same type of work for everyone and every business. (I was actually chastised by some wonderful marketers the other day for suggesting that there was a grassroots-marketing tool I could put together and use for all of my grassroots small business clients with a little tweaking here and there.) What it takes, in every case, is knowing yourself, knowing your market, matching your products to your market needs and having a systematic way of telling people about it in a clear, concise manner.
So, here is my one-step plan to getting it done.
1) Don’t complain. DO SOMETHING!
At Aepiphanni Business Solutions, we are dedicated to serving the needs of small business owners. We specialize in helping you develop strategies for your organization, and are committed to your success. If you have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give me, Rick Meekins, a call at 678-265-3908, or email us at info@aepiphanni.com.
Labels: Business Development Strategies, Business Growth Strategies, Recession Buster
If it Ain't Broke...
...Now there's an interesting quip if I've ever heard one. As one who embraces innovation and growth, that's donwright scary when I think about it from the persepctive of a business. When running a small business, it is vital for you to remain aware of your business, how it is positioned in the marketplace, and what other players exist in the market. This about it, if you are selling mugs for $3.25 as a specialty item, and someone down the street from you sells a nearly identical mug for $2.99, what do you think will happen? Well, if you're Macy's, maybe nothing - you offer brand recognition, people come to you because they want the latest and greatest of everything in the world and great service. The mugs are an impulse buy item, like the apple pies at McDonalds. What if you are a corner retailer...how does that change your thinking? What will drive people to your store to buy the mugs at $3.24, regardless of paying more? What other items might the store offer that are competitive with what you are selling? Can you possibly purchase a larger quantity of the same mug, at a lower price and match their price? What it comes down to is that you only know what you know. If you never survey your environment, and continue blindly selling your widgets, despite changing market condition, you won't know what you might want to consider changing. If you don't know what to consider changing, you may suddenly find yourself in a leaky boat. So, despite the old saying, you might want to periodically check your old boat for weak spots and stay afloat. At Aepiphanni Business Solutions, we are dedicated to serving the needs of small business owners. We specialize in helping you develop strategies for your organization, and are committed to your success. If you have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give me, Rick Meekins, a call at 678-265-3908, or email us at info@aepiphanni.com.
Labels: Business Development Strategies, Business Growth Strategies
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