Whatever you want to call this economic period of time: The Great Recession, A Big Economic Downturn, Economy on The Skids…. regardless of the name of these times, succeeding as a business leader requires a few new skills that you may not have needed just 5 years ago.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of running a business today is keeping a positive, hopeful attitude in the midst of the constant assault of bad news. Every day turning on the TV or opening the paper means hearing about more layoffs, higher unemployment rates, slower consumer spending, more businesses failing, more government cutbacks and just general hard times everywhere. As business leaders, we first have to manage ourselves; and a big part of self-management is looking for hope and success, even in these tough times.
There are some businesses that are not just surviving, but thriving. As a small business owner myself, I’ve spent the last few years studying the businesses that are thriving and trying to distill down some indicators of success that I’ve noticed in those successful businesses. Additionally, I’ve tapped in the genius of my network of thought leaders, entrepreneurs and other wise-folk. What follows is a list of 5 traits we’ve noticed most small businesses that are thriving have in common.
1. Commit to Strategy - But Don’t Marry It. It is essential that every single small business, entrepreneur, solo-preneur and organization have a very clear strategy and mission. As a small business leader, the key questions you need to answer are: What do we do, what do we do better than anyone else in our niche? Why do we do it? How do we do it? That’s really all there is to it; but without a clear strategy and mission, it is easy to spend time and financial resources on activities that don’t directly contribute to the success of your business.
2. Travel Light – But Do Take Several Suitcases. Review your entire operation; every product or service you sell, every program, process, piece of infrastructure or employee needs to be analyzed. Then release every single thing in your business that does not directly contribute to the success of your business. Tough economic conditions are not the times to compromising your overall businesses success to allocate resources to anything non-essential. This is not the time to add programs, products or services that are not your core expertise. Instead, diversify by figuring out how to up-sell or offer add-ons to your current customers. It is much easier to sell 10% more to your existing customers than find, land and nurture 10% more new customers.
3. Listening is The New Marketing – We’re in the Age of Sharing Experiences instead of the Age of Shared Experiences. Mass marketing is over for all but a few giant corporations. We’ve emerged into the age of customized marketing, targeting your exact clients and building a loyal tribe. Businesses that build an interactive, loyal experience with their customers are those that are succeeding today. Take advantage of the ease of social marketing, the plethora of information on the internet and the enthusiasm of your loyal customers!
4. Get Out of The Middle of The Road – That’s where you get run over! It used to be common wisdom that the best path to success entailed creating middle of the road products and services, marketing them to middle of the road consumers and reaping the benefits of being average – but – good -enough. That’s no longer true. Today’s savvy consumers expect each purchase to either be low-cost, great value or a customized, unique solution to their specific needs. Figure out where you’re going to compete and go after it, but stay out of the middle.
5. Constant Questioning and Review – Pretend You’re a Two Year Old. Ask ‘Why’ about every single process, program, product, service, customer, employee, transaction you have. Some key questions for canoodling might include: “what if you last your top 5 customers tomorrow?”. “What if your biggest competitor called you offering to sell her business this week?”. “What if your suppliers raise prices 50%?” Use the answers to your constant questioning to develop multiple scenario planning.
These topics will all be explored in more detail in blog posts over the following weeks ahead; but this overview should get you started on reviewing your own business to see if you’re set up for success in this “New Economy”.
Suzanne Andrew is a Business Consultant, Trainer who specializes in helping small and medium-sized organizations thrive through change. Contact her directly to schedule an initial consultation about your business. SuzanneMAndrew@gmail.com or 727-641-6941.
