Be the Best Little Guy!

.

How many ways is you company different than your competitors? What are the things that customers love about your service? How do you measure how much people like your company?

.

In working with businesses on their customer loyalty ratings, it’s always eye-opening to see how many ways the average small-mid business forfeits its natural advantages. You see, most smaller companies mistakenly adopt the strategies of a company ten times its size. This might seem all fine and good in regard to self-esteem and perceived excellence, but in reality, it negates the competitive edge that larger companies are always trying to gain; that is the ability to come across as an intimate partner in your business and life. Our country has an inherent dislike for the monopoly/impersonal big-guy and small-mid level businesses can sincerely come across as an intimate partner because of the smaller number of staff and fewer interaction points between a customer and the business.

.

With that being said, every small business needs to know exactly how it is more personal and friendly than its larger competitors and to leverage that knowledge into an unstoppable referral stream of business and repeat customers. It also needs to figure-out a way to consistently measure how it is performing in the eyes of loyal customers.

.

So right now, spend twenty minutes writing down the advantages that a customer gains in working with your business versus a larger company (i.e. better knowledge of your needs, remembering people’s names, easier to understand pricing, honest feedback, higher quality of conversation, etc). Then take another five minutes and come-up with at least two ways to measure how much people like doing business with you. Finally, make a commitment to do continue to do the little things that your customers say they like about you.

.

Customer loyalty is the basic advantage that any small business has over a larger company so don’t let that competitive edge slip through your finger tips! If you would like some assistance in firming-up your competitive advantage as a small business, please don’t hesitate to contact us via phone or e-mail. Hey, if it was easy, every small business would be doing it habitually and successfully. I hope you find yourself in that category soon… Talk to you next week!

..

.

Defy the Odds… Have a Plan

What was the last trip you took? Where did you stay? How did you get around once you were there? Lots of details go into planning something even as small as a weekend trip and a pleasant trip is often the product of a sound plan.

Switching gears a little bit; when was the last time we put the same type of thought/effort into planning something as significant as our business? How about our life?

Why do I ask? Well for starters, California was ranked 50th (out of 51) in regard to small business survivability in the nation (1). This means that it’s imperative to have a strategic plan in order to survive in business, even more so to thrive here in our location of choice. However, the numbers of small businesses that have some sort of written (or even mostly written) plan is at a mere 2-15% (2). Whoa! Considering that small businesses make-up 99.7% of all U.S. employers (3), there is a lot at stake here. Perhaps this is why roughly 5 out of 10 small businesses don’t make it to their one year anniversary and even less (8 out of 10) celebrate their fifth anniversary (4).

So what can we do to defy these odds today? We should all have a plan to guide us to where we’re going. It makes sense in every other facet of life, why neglect it in our business!

First, avoid making any huge financial commitments until we have a strategic plan that includes what to do in regards to equipment, marketing, etc. This should force our hand in getting this done sooner than later. Secondly, either revisit our initial business plan (if you can’t find yours, it’s probably the most official looking, yet very dusty binder on the bookshelf) or complete the outline below as the beginning of our new business plan. Most importantly, start to do it today or else we will sink back into the swamp with the 90% of business owners who don’t have one.

.

Strategic Business Plan Outline:

.

Step One: Write down a compelling Vision

What is the future that we want to create? This is where we dream of our business being 30 years from now. This is the fuel for all of the sacrifices we make daily for our organizations

.

Step Two: Decide on a Mission

This is what we will accomplish in 18 months - 2 years. If we have a board of directors, etc, the timeframe should match the length of their term with the board recruiting the right mix of people for the next mission on their way out. If we’re a smaller unit of a larger organization, this is how we will accomplish the larger vision that was handed to us. Our mission needs to factor-in market research, business landscape, profit margins, trends, etc.

.

Step Three: Establish Critical Goal Categories/Strategy

We create no more than 8 areas of action needed that now form our strategy to accomplish the given mission. We find our top 3 priorities based on the categories that most affect the others.

.

Step Four: Set and Achieve Specific Goals

This is obviously much easier said than done! We tackle our top 3 critical goal categories by creating as many specific, measurable goals it takes to address each category. Each goal must have a target date attached to it to be of any use to us.

.

Step Five: Become a Habitual Achiever

We are all goal seekers by nature but very few of us are consistent goal achievers. Those who achieve instead of just setting goals, end-up having a track record of success. This takes focus, energy and accountability. If we can set and achieve goals for twenty-one days in a row, we are well on our way to become habitual at it!

 

For more general info on business start-up and planning, visit: http://www.sba.gov/library/pubs.html or contact the various business consultants in our chamber who specialize in business planning for small-mid businesses. Hey, if it was easy, every small business would be doing it habitually and successfully. I hope you find yourself in that category soon… Talk to you next week! For more information on Better San Diego please click here.

.

.

Great 2007 is Just 2 Steps Away!

What are you going to do in the next two months to increase the success of your business in 2007? What system are you using to grade yourself for this past year? What kind of goals are you aiming for in 2007 and when will your check-points take place?

.

If you’re like most business owners, you have a vague idea of how the last year went based on how much you paid yourself after fulfilling all of your other financial obligations. If this is your situation; are you sure there aren’t any issues brewing that might take you by surprise next year? Are your operations fine-tuned enough that you can spot any money-leaking out of your operations?

.

At this point in the year, I recommend two things if you’ve never done a thorough annual evaluation of your business. The first is to determine some categories of evaluation to use now, and then every month or so as you go along in the year. The second is to set some annual goals for the business to achieve in the coming years (personal goals are a good idea too!)

.

I’ll borrow from common organizational practices in suggesting four effective categories of evaluation for your business (known as the ‘balanced scorecard’):

.

.

For your annual goals:

.

.

2007 can be an very exciting year for your business, don’t walk into it without a plan for success!

Go ahead and contact us with any questions about the process above or to set-up a meeting/retreat to help build a foundation for your successful 2007! Hey, if it was easy, every small business would be doing it habitually and successfully. I hope you find yourself in that category soon… Talk to you next week!

.

.

.

Make Money Out of Nothing!

What new ways will you generate revenue in 2007? What are your most effective no/low cost marketing strategies to date?

.

It surprises me how often business owners fail to capitalize on one of their primary and most cost effective strengths- relationships! You see, with the right perspective on relationships/relationship building, even a small or obscure business can grow by leaps and bounds. This happens when every relationship is seen as a strategic alliance instead of just someone you know. Strategic alliances are important in that they can become very powerful sales and marketing channels in a very short amount of time. However, the proper utilization of these channels requires that a business owner be able to work effectively with a two-tiered strategy; one immediate and the other long term (I’ll touch on these in a later tip).

.

For now though, it’s an easy step to go ahead and spend ten minutes right now to develop an initial list of good strategic alliances. In brainstorming a list of potential alliances use these five simple criteria:

.
1) High overlap of same type of clientele
2) Non-competing industries
3) Mutually reinforcing products/services
4) Similar values, ethics or strategy
5) Easy to work with

.

And when forming these strategic relationships, be very mindful of what you are trying to accomplish; that is, are you forging a sales or marketing channel?

.

A sales channel is an entity that is either going to sell your product/service outright or most likely, build it into what they are selling while providing you a fair slice of the revenue. This is a great way for businesses to mutually benefit each other in an immediate and long term strategy as these types of relationships provide differentiation and better value-add to your customers (which inevitably leads to higher customer loyalty).

.

A marketing channel is an entity that provides positive brand/benefit-awareness to their customers, thus allowing you a stronger position in a given market compared to your competitors. This is also very helpful when the product/service yo offer is so innovative that just not that many folks know about it. A marketing channel will best serve a long-term strategy as it most likely won’t generate immediate sales.

.

Regardless of which channel you are developing, a strong set of strategic alliances allow you to grow yours business in a no/low cost and effective manner. Just make sure you have a strong filter/set of criteria as to what kind of companies with which you will create an alliance. Feel free to contact us for a breakfast/lunch sit-down and we can discuss possible alliances that might have been overlooked or to run one complimentary effective brainstorming session for your company. Hey, if it was easy, every small business would be doing it habitually and successfully. I hope you find yourself in that category soon… Talk to you next week!
.