Does Your Small Business Have WIngs?

Moving forward comes from desire.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck wishing theory states; ‘Birds do not fly because they have wings, but they have wings because they wanted to fly’.

Are your desires bringing you wings?

As a small business owner, I oftentimes find myself asking, will my business ever take flight?  I visualize my goals, yet I fail to recognize whether or not I have provided my small business with the essential “tools” for success. So what might those tools for success be?

The answer is:  tools for success f any small business will vary according to the type of small business. Below are 8 constants, for any type of small business, toward achieving it’s wings:

Theory of a successful small business evolution:

1. Hiring the right people

The strength of your services is chiefly based on the work done by your staff. A person with a deep industry knowledge, strong network skills, and emotionally invested in your small business is essential. Three ways to weed out that individual are as follows:

• Scouting: The earliest stage of a hiring process.  Perform your market research on this individual by checking references and conducting your own online search about your person of interest.
• Testing: Extend an 90 day offer of employment to all new hires. Use your analytical skills to set up your expectations for this individual. Measure productivity results and examine his/her work performance to determine if and where to permanently hire this individual.
• Scaling: After gathering feedback from customers, clients and personal observations, assign job duties according to strengths and weaknesses of your new hire.

2. Business Development is not sales

 Sales is focused almost exclusively on driving revenue. Oftentimes, business owners tend to gravitate toward the bottom line as a measure of success.  Remember, most small businesses do not run a profit within the first three years.  Your business was not created to merely drive revenue, but to offer a customer experience. Your business was created with a vision in mind.  Integrate that vision into your mission. Focus on the customer experience. Financial reward, and a sense of accomplishment, will soon follow.

3. Customer service is crucial

Successful transactions are a result of accountability and proactive management. A strong customer relations management program is KEY to long-term success.  Survey’s, online questionnaires, email blasts are great ways to encourage feedback from your customers.  Pay attention to the feedback being received.  Reinforce those elements favorably reviewed by your customers and make adjustments where needed.  Acknowledge the feedback with an offer of an additional service at no cost (for a service industry) or some free products (for a product industry). Offer gift certificates in monetary allotments to other small businesses you collaborate.  This is a gesture of good will on your part to both your consumer and your fellow small business owners. Such an act will further reinforce your alliance to local businesses in your area.

4. Qualitative versus Quantitative

Companies sometimes try to build a business purely around a qualitative value proposition, which is difficult and has a higher likelihood of failure. The market is less willing to pay for a better user experience or the promise of increased engagement, even if they like the product and find it useful. A quantitative value (lowers costs, drives revenue, more customers, etc.) dramatically increases the odds of success. One way to remember this rule is the pacemaker versus the hearing aid analogy: If you could only have one, which one would you choose?

5. Utilize the Push and Pull Theory

You need to use a combination of both “push” and “pull” business strategies to help your business grow from it’s strengths. You should “push” sales to increase the number of clients and you should “pull” clients by winning them over through your commitment to your work. In order to push sales, give your services an edge over your competitors. Being a small business, you may not have the kind of infrastructure and history that larger companies have. However, you can offer cost effective services that have the potential to attract new clients. Do not operate on a loss by offering services at a lesser price. Instead, devise a means to make your services cost effective.

6. Open Book Management & Transparency creates a team

A good business owner will engage internal resources along the way to ensure the company can meet the goals and expectations of a partnership. A lack of support will almost certainly lead to finger pointing and blaming when things go south. Everyone should own part of the success or failure from the start.

In order to gain support from your team, everyone needs to understand why you make certain decisions for your company. Does it drive revenue, lead to new customers or enable the company to enter a new market? Identify your small business strengths and focus on finding the best methods for emphasizing those strengths rather than employing techniques similar to those employed by your competitors. When goals are clear and measurable, it makes it easier to address issues like, “Why are we changing our policies, menu, services?” . . . whatever the change may be.

7. Make Deals Carefully

There is a difference between doing deals and doing the right deals. Many companies have been weighed down by a bad deal they later regretted -– this is where you want to develop a level of understanding and trust with those you choose to conduct business.  There is such a thing as a bad client or customer, especially when their expectation level is unreasonable.  Be sure that you clearly define exactly what product or service you will be performing.  Set reasonable time-frames for the work to be performed. Finally, do not make any unrealistic guarantees.  It is best to offer less, yet provide more. Meaning, do not just meet expectations, but exceed them.

8. Document so there are no legal issues

Legal agreements validate all business transactions and should include terms for when things do not work out. I have learned, the hard way, the costs of failing to have signed agreements for work performed, prior to performing the work!  It is an expensive lesson to learn, as it cost me in both time and money.  Do your homework.  Speak with others in your line of work to learn of their own experiences or employ the likes of  legal counsel to assist with drafting contractual agreements.

Building a company is hard and requires a lot of things to go well, including having a great product and team.

Watching an idea become a product or service that generate revenue and becomes a successful company – makes it all worthwhile. Starting with these basic principles will keep your company on the right track.

For more business development and marketing strategies contact INVOKE MEDIA GROUP