Planing and mapping your business success.
Business success requires continual focus on the four key areas in business:
- customers
- costs
- sales
- profit
Looking at the four key areas in more detail we will be able to identify regular plans, self commitments activities and goals for thing we can improve in each of these areas.
- Customers - key here is to ask: "what do people want to buy?"
One needs to consider frequently:
- Why people buy ones product.
- Improve understanding of what customers value
- Learn more about and from customers daily
- Costs - regularly ask: "How can I control costs?"
One needs to consider frequently:
- How to lower costs
- Use many suppliers
- Fixed costs must incur profits or go
- Invest wisely
- Borrow wisely
- Sales - regularly ask: "How do I sell?"
One needs to consider frequently:
- Always sell
- Turn inventory frequently
- Ask, listen, say yes
- Make it easy to buy
- Close sales
- Profit - regularly ask: "How to create profits?"
One needs to consider frequently:
- Daily records
- Pay yourself
- Daily profits
- Buy low, sell high
- Don't steal from your business
- Use productive assets
We should be reviewing all of the aspects frequently, daily initially, untill they become ingrained in our thinking, second nature and instinctive.
As we constantly review these things potential for improvements will become glaringly obvious and we will have no shortage of activities to implement to improve our business and methods.
We should be working as hard on improving our business as we are at running it. With enough regular improvements it can grow sufficiently to employ others to perform day to day tasks while we continue to focus on making the business the best it can be.
Good overview. I've been setting up a consulting business for a few months but still lacking customers! I've been building and setting up the content (products) and focusing on digital marketing in the hope that 'if I build it they will come' but the realization is that I'm going to have to go and get my customers. This is going to require a more direct marketing strategy than I've been using to date.
Sometime we are in love with what we think our business could be instead of doing what it takes to make the business what it should be.
Especially early on we need to take a very practical and pragmatic approach, ruthlessly sticking to what makes regular profit.
Later on when we have regular profits we can work towards more of the overall vision.
Thanks for that. I haven't even got to profit yet! Still scraping around trying to find my first client. Who said setting up a business would be easy! But then I guess if it was easy it wouldn't be any fun! ;)
You're running a business, not building a baseball diamond in a corn field :D
That said, if you build your digital presence correctly, you can create inbound leads with relatively little effort... and depending on the nature of consulting you're doing, this could be highly lucrative.
For example, I'm an Identity and Access Management consultant where the average project engagement starts in the five figures, and the lifetime of a customer is usually several years at a minimum. I started running a blog about the field I worked in back in 2012 and within a year I'd been nominated for a coveted Microsoft award, and was getting leads from companies like Unilever... just from running a blog.
But there was a strategy there, that I sat down and worked out before I began.
Generally, I recommend finding out where your potential customers live online, go and be there, join in every discussion, and then give everything you know away for free. Establish yourself as an authority in your field. Be the person that gets recommended when someone is looking to hire a consultant in your niche.
And failing that, some strategic, non-spammy cold e-mailing can work too :)
Some great advice there ross, thank you. Perhaps one of my mistakes was writing an ebook and expecting people to pay for it, probably more to test out my website ecommerce software than to actually make much money. I may will start giving it away, or at least produce a few white papers and give them away in return for an email address.
I'm specialising in innovation so you would think I would have had a bit more interest, but it's a slower start than I would have liked. Thankfully I've got some savings to tide me over in the meantime.
Thanks again for your comment.
I think you'll find that innovation consulting is one of those fields where you really need to do something different to stand out.
In my case people were looking for articles on specific challenges like "how to create a drop-down in the Microsoft Identity Manager portal", and so they found my blog... but everyone and their dog is publishing thought leader articles at the moment.
And in general, innovation consulting has a low barrier-to-entry. I often compare it with being a doctor in the 1500s - to be one, you just hang a sign on your door saying you are one, and now you are. Combine that with the fact that it's a flavour of the month, and you're suddenly up against a ton of competition where it's difficult to distinguish who actually knows their stuff.
Aside from the fact that this is something everyone does (ie, not innovative), it's also technically not "giving it away", but "selling it for the cost of their e-mail address".
Giving it away is something like the comment I made on this post on reddit earlier. Sure, I had a little link drop at the end, but that's mainly because people are more likely to remember "Brutal Teardowns" than they are to remember "RossDCurrie"... how many of those do you think I'll need to do before people start recommending that site to people they meet at Startup events?
Anyway, if I were you I'd be focusing on LinkedIn. They've amped the organic engagement over the last 12 months to bring users back to the platform, so their network effect is 2 degrees of separation (if I like something, my connections see it).
Post the odd thought leader post, sure, but mainly focus on engaging with absolutely every post you see on there, in a meaningful way.
Hi Ross, Yes you are right on low barriers to entry which is infernally frustrating to me with over 15 years experience in innovation, and some people doing it with very little experience.
You make an extremely good point though relating to specificity of product. I think maybe my product is a bit too general at the moment and I need to look for a specific problem to fix, do it for free, and then take it from there. Given that I don't have any clients yet, and time on my hands, I've got little to lose by doing so.
Linkedin is already my core social marketing platform. On a more positive note, my website SEO seems to be performing reasonably well on certain search terms, not far behind the big boys, so I might start to generate some attention in 2018.
Right then. Back to the drawing board. Thanks so much for your valuable comments.
One of the best responses I've seen yet. Solid advice! nowing where your potential customers "live" is step one. Step two is figuring out how to get the to buy! Not all platforms are great for sales.... some simply build exposure (which can lead to sales later, but not at the time of posting.)
Great suggestions @sme!
I always find the Business Model Canvas (or the Lean Startup Canvas) as a great tool for any new business owner to sit down and develop
More concise than a business plan, it gives you a nice framework to establish the important strategic elements of your business... one that can constantly be referenced and refined as your business grows.
Business Model Canvas is a solid tool and really simple too. When I first wanted to get something off the ground I spun my wheels trying to build a formal business plan... Changes always happen. Keeping a plan generalized is key for responding to how your business evolves.
A really nice post on business strategies to progress..another thing there is that some of our business men and women don't know what it means to save the profit earned don't just put all back into the business ..with out sharing the profit made into two one to be saved the other added to bring in more product..this is the reason why some of the business men and women today can't own a car nor a house..but still leaving under rented house.
Pay yourself a salary but always be wise and circumspect about what the business can afford.
Yea thats the truth
I have been setting up a counseling business for a couple of months yet at the same time lacking clients!
I've been building and setting up the substance (items) and concentrating on computerized showcasing with the expectation that 'on the off chance that I fabricate it they will come'
however the acknowledgment is that I will need to go and get my clients. This will require a more straightforward showcasing methodology than I have been.
Carry on your activity ..And i wait for your new post..
This is a really good business strategy to start with.
Have you considered offering your services for free? You'll need to be selective about which clients you take on. Loom for ones who are positive and engaged with the broader business community. This will help get your name out there if they say you've helped them. It will also give you great material for case studies to show how you've generated sucess for your clients.
Very helpful post since i wanna open my own coffee shop. I just need to find the best location that fits to open a coffee shop.
Also producers should examine their the market in order to know the changes and the interest of their consumers
May be it is better to ask "What do people need?" to get the idea of customers needs? When you get the answer - you get the idea what you can offer them to buy.
You can use a questionnaire for that
Buying low and selling high is one of the main key to business
Nice post beautiful presented and explained. detail oriented with nice information. thank you for sharing sir @sme
Thank you for the insight into businesses. Your article is simply good. Enough information to build a multi billion dollar empire