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Four Things Your Company Needs To Stay Alive

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article|Startups|Four Things Your Company Needs To Stay AliveThere is so much more to business today than just money, charm and good looks, which means that there is more for you to do to stay successful. There are new startup that are emerging into the business world every minute, and staying up to date with them is not always easy. Only 50% of those new startups are going to survive, which means you need to make sure that you’re in that 50%.

There is a lot of pressure for you to stay relevant, and you need to communicate to others how valuable you are as a business. If you don’t know your value, you’re not going to be able to do better for others, and you’re not going to be able to keep your business thriving and alive for others. So, let’s take a look at four things that your business needs to stay alive.

A Purpose. More than anything, you need to know what you’re doing it all for. Your business should be a solid one, and it can be if you are careful about how you treat people. You need to be able to offer something to society, whether that’s a business that has a good handle on its technology (read more about this here) or a good handle on its finances. What do you have to offer? Ask yourself this again and again. If you can’t come up with an answer, you’re in trouble.

Exploration. You want to make a difference to the world and the only way that you’re going to be able to do that is to keep educating yourself, keep learning and keep exploring what you can offer other people. You want to be able to connect to others and learn from them all in one go, and you can do that when you are open to diversification. Diversifying is going to keep you alive!

Sociability. Are you online? No? It’s a problem. You need to be on social media in the same way you need to save money – your business depends on it. You need to be out there and sharing your ideas with your customers, and you need to get as much engagement going as possible. Without it? Well, you’re going to fail. We don’t mean to sound doom and gloom, honestly. It’s just that your business depends on you – so don’t let the side down.

Feedback. If you are asking your audience what they need from you, then they’re going to give you the feedback that you need to stay current. Always check online forums and review sites to know that you are doing enough for your customers – without them, you wouldn’t have a business at all. Feedback and reviews are what keep your business alive and kicking, and you shouldn’t discount even the negative ones. There is always something to learn, and customers need to feel heard by you. This is the way to do that!

Three Reasons Why You Need a Tech Consultant

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Tech Consultant|Three Reasons Why You Need a Tech ConsultantThere are many things that you’re good at in your business. You know you’re product inside and out, you’ve got a track record at driving through sales and you’re a great manager.

While you can be great at many things, there are some things that you’ll always lack and one of those might be an in depth knowledge of IT. You know what you company needs, but how to put it in place? That’s one for the experts. In this blog we take a look at three reasons why you need to get a Technology Consulting Company on board and how they can help you.

Getting Outside Help Gives You the Competitive Edge

You’re talking to teams who have a great deal of experience in helping businesses like yours and if you’re serious about investing some money in your technological and IT infrastructure then this is where the best advice is going to be found.

Yes, you could talk to your local internet provider about setting you up some business broadband but a consulting company goes much further than this and gives you IT solutions that put you ahead of the game.

The only thing you’ll be limited by is your vision and your budget.

Integrated Systems

Your consultant takes the time to look at your business needs as a whole. While it’s often cheaper to provide piecemeal solutions to the various IT problems that arise while setting up a business, having someone who sees the bigger picture is, in the long run, a more efficient and cost effective solution.

Integrated systems also mean that your team works better together, that mistakes are less likely to happen and that you can offer your customers a seamless experience when they deal with you.

Future Proofing Your Business

Having an IT strategy in place means that while your business continues to grow and succeed, your IT systems can support that growth and contribute to it. By setting out your growth forecasts with your consultant you can put in place the kind of technology that helps support an increase in sales, more visits to your websites and so on.

No need to panic as your software struggles to cope with the growing demand on its functionality. Instead you can rest assured that your technology is running exactly as it should be with the capability of handling much, much more.

It’s time to let the experts work their magic on your business and get in place tech that will help drive your business and your profits forward. You’re not an IT expert and you don’t have to be, just find a consultant that comes with a stellar reputation and the experience to know exactly what it is that your business needs.

Do your research, take a look around and give your business the edge over the competition. Your tech should support and help your business to grow so get it doing just that.

Improving The Workflow Of Your Factory Operation

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Workflow |Improving The Workflow Of Your Factory OperationOne of the most important aspects of building up your business is understanding the areas of productivity where you need to improve. Workflow is vital, and in the manufacturing industry where there is a focus on the practical aspects of production, the workflow can be a concept open to interpretation. But with this in mind, are there any ways for you to improve manufacturing productivity? Is it all about changing the layout, is it minimizing the processes, or a combination?

Examine The Current Workflow

To solve any problem, we have got to see if there is a problem and admit to it. We need to look at the workflow of our factory, and gauge the current state. Examine individual components such as workbenches, and see if there are individual components that are holding up the entire process. If, for example, workers are too busy fiddling with air fittings, when it can be achieved by automating this process, putting the stops in place to make this a reality can take some time. But when you look at how much effort will be saved, so workers can focus on other tasks, it becomes necessary. The current workflow needs a stringent examination. Only then can you improve.

Acknowledgement Of Your Employees

Collaboration is a difficult process to implement in a factory environment. After all, people are working individually, but when we look at the bigger picture, this can encourage collaboration. But we also have to remember that we need to collaborate with our employees to get their opinions. Ultimately, they are on the floor, not you. They will have better insights than you on developing a more efficient workflow. This could very well be to do with something like the culture, working practices, or it could be something to do with the technology. A lot of workers are reticent of automation because they may feel they are being put out of a job. This is your responsibility to highlight that automation is designed to aid the employee rather than to take over them.

Invest In Preventative Maintenance

If technology is a barrier to increased workflow, is it because the equipment keeps breaking down? Preventative maintenance could very well cause issues in the short-term, but when you look at the impacts of workflow over time, it may be essential to invest in planned maintenance, despite downtime, to ensure that the equipment does its job. We only have to look at how a manufacturing operation can falter when one piece of equipment breaks down. It could very well shut down operations for the entire day.

Improving the workflow can also be done by encouraging accountability, as well as managing expectations. In a factory setting, where people feel like they are pieces of a puzzle rather than a whole unit, employees need to be encouraged to have more accountability so they are taking more responsibility for their work. But this means we have to implement a culture that can encourage people’s ability to speak up when they see inefficient actions. This is easier said than done in an environment that is perpetually noisy.

How Digital Marketing Impacts Business Growth

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There were an estimated 3.9 billion Internet users in 2017, according to data compiled by Statista. Indeed, the vast majority of people no longer get their information from traditional media, but instead search for information on the Internet using various devices, including desktop computers, tablets, and mobile devices.

If your business isn’t implementing the latest and most cutting-edge digital marketing methods (such as search engine optimization, content marketing, influencer marketing, and social media marketing), then you’ll lose out to business competitors who’re more adept at adopting — and harnessing — the best practices.

Listed below are some of the reasons why your company should adopt some of the latest digital marketing practices to stay ahead of the competition.

4 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Dynamic Digital Marketing Strategy

Google Search is the way of the future

Google’s search engine now represents 90.46% of the global search engine market, and the site receives over 63,000 searches each second on any given day. Even if your company has an official website, if it isn’t showing up on Google’s search results, you will be losing out in terms of revenue, customer acquisition, and business growth.

Coupled with the fact that Google’s search algorithm is getting better at understanding the nuances, intent, and context of its users’ searches means that it’s getting better at serving accurate and relevant results to its users.

But how do these developments impact your business? Well, for starters, if your site lacks the information that users are searching for, then Google is highly unlikely to rank your web pages in its search results. And even if your site is updated with the right business information and contains great content, if it isn’t optimized correctly, it’s not going to attain the rankings and traffic that will positively impact your business growth.

SEO helps drive traffic and conversions to your site

Now more than ever, a dynamic and cohesive SEO strategy is needed to keep your website positioned strategically on Google’s unpaid (or organic) search results. But what exactly is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. The discipline consists of multiple strategies, best practices, and actions that are utilized with the end goal of improving your website’s position on the search engine results pages (also known as SERPs). There are two types of SEO: on-page and off-page. The former consists of elements you can control on your site to improve your position on the SERPs, while the latter consists of actions done on other websites to boost your site’s position on the SERPs and overall authority.

If your business lacks the expertise to devise and implement a viable SEO strategy, then you’ll need to hire a great SEO specialist or outsource the task to a reputable digital marketing firm.

Content marketing drives profitable customer action

According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing “is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

The practices and objectives of content marketing are closely aligned with inbound marketing, which is a business methodology that aims to attract customers to products and services by serving them useful and actionable content at every stage of their journey to becoming loyal customers.

Great content comes in the form of blog posts, white papers, downloadable reports, videos, and other types of consumer media that prospective customers will need to educate themselves to make informed decisions—one of which is opting to become loyal customers and advocates of your brand.

An effective content marketing strategy will require the expertise of seasoned editors, writers, and content strategists. And these professionals will need to align their goals with those of SEO specialists to drive targeted traffic to your site and web assets. As with SEO, if your organization lacks the expertise or bandwidth to accommodate a content marketing strategy, then it’s best to hire specialists or outsource to the right digital marketing firm.

Social media marketing strengthens your brand

Billions of people around the world now use social media platforms to connect with others, reach out to brands, and consume media. Facebook—the world’s largest social media website—now attracts 2.41 billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2019, according to Statista. Facebook users harness this platform not just to connect with others in their circle, but also to discover and engage with brands and companies, and consume entertainment and other media.

Instagram, another popular social media site that deals with pictorial and video content sharing, has one billion monthly active users, making it the third most popular social media site after Facebook and YouTube. Considering the sheer number of eyeballs that can be found on these platforms, your brand or company cannot afford to remain anonymous on them.

A strong and engaging presence on social media can help your company achieve the following:

  • Boosted brand awareness
  • More inbound traffic
  • Improved conversion rates
  • Increased brand loyalty and authority
  • Improved search engine rankings

The immense rewards aside, social media marketing requires great ingenuity, creativity, and dedication to drive results. You’ll need to hire the right specialists or outsource the work to an awesome digital marketing or social media management company if you want this done right.

Other Business Benefits of Digital Marketing

Improves Lead Generation

A cohesive and dynamic digital marketing strategy that utilizes the right methodology and marketing methods will result in improved lead generation for your business. What’s more, most digital marketing methods are far cheaper than more traditional marketing outlets, such as buying ads in magazines or booking TV airtime for commercials. The rewards, on the other hand, are considerable, as you could potentially reach a global audience of thousands or even millions.

Improved Conversion Rates

If you’re using digital marketing to successfully guide your leads down the conversion funnel, the end result should be improved conversion rates. Another great thing about digital marketing is that you can use data and analytics tools — such as Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Kissmetrics — to better understand your website users. By objectively analyzing your traffic information, you can make adjustments to your conversion funnel and better understand what makes your target audience tick.

Strategy Is a Process

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StrategyDriven Strategic Planning Article | Strategy Is a ProcessFor as long as the word “strategy” has been in use it has been represented as something mythical. Many seminal articles have been written that describe what business strategy is, what it’s not, how to know if you have a strategy, how to test your strategy – and the list goes on. Even for those companies that understand the process, some do it very well and some do it very poorly.

Why has the process of developing and implementing a business strategy been so hard for businesses to utilize? Foremost is that, because the concept has been so misunderstood, many companies believe they have a strategy or — even more dangerously — they’re implementing a strategy by relying on erroneous ideas about what constitutes strategy. These include such persistent myths as:

  • Our people are our strategy
  • Customer service is our strategy
  • Our brand is our strategy
  • International growth is our strategy

None of these is a strategy! Some represent unfocused hopes, while others are just platitudes.

For example, having employees implement a strategy to provide customer service is simply the orthodox (table stakes) element that organizations must deliver to remain viable. Providing standard customer service doesn’t separate an organization from its competitors in the eyes of the customers. Furthermore, absent very carefully designed guardrails, each employee will decide what constitutes ‘good’ customer service.

Strategy is a process that, at its core, consists of designing and implementing elements of the organization that will draw customers past your competitors, allow you to charge more than your competitors and/or provide you with a cost advantage.

Regardless of how you decide to approach strategy in your organization, do it with an understanding of what really works. This means taking a logical, research- and practice-based approach to defining, crafting and executing organizational strategy.

Strategy is still mostly art, but by remaining disciplined and analytical about the elements, your company will be far ahead of your competitors.

Apply these guidelines in your process-oriented approach to strategy:

1. Strategy starts external to the organization. A winning business strategy must focus on why customers really buy a product or service from an organization, and what distinguishes that purchase in the eye of the customer. This requires taking the perspective of the customer.

2. Bring conventional operations up to the median expectation. Assess what is orthodox, or the table stakes, for the organization in the eyes of the customer. Focus on those parts of the organization that are below the median expectations and are frustrating to customers. This may involve ensuring that employees are doing their jobs and doing them well. Exceeding the median expectation for standard elements of business is simply wasted money.

3. Identify the organization’s competitive advantages. While half of business strategy is maintaining conventional operations at or slightly above the median customer expectations, the other half is focusing the entire organization around true competitive advantages. To identify your competitive advantages, list all current and potential elements of the business that will encourage customers to go past your competitors and buy from you. Analyze each of them with some version of Resource-Based Analysis to determine those that constitute a true advantage. A business needs to have two or three true competitive advantages.

4. Optimize organizational structure. The next step is to develop operational plans that address every element that survives your resource-based analysis, along with every orthodox element that’s determined to be below median expectations. Implementation of strategy is difficult and often frustrating, particularly when employees don’t understand why a structure has been put in place or how it will work. Strategy can only be implemented by the employees of the organization, therefore it’s best to have employee participation in the process so that they embrace the approach.

5. Rework the mission around the strategy. Aligning the entire company around the strategy requires a unifying mission. An effective mission statement must be short, simple, specific to the organization and able to focus everyone’s energy. A great check on the quality of the mission statement is the leadership’s ability to design metrics that measure each part.

Strategy is not magic, it’s not wishful thinking and it’s not platitudes. Strategy is hard work that requires significant thought by organizational leaders. Utilizing a real process to craft strategy allows the organization to win over new customers and more easily retain current ones.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Chuck BamfordChuck Bamford, Ph.D., is the Managing Partner of Bamford Associates, LLC, a strategy consulting firm that has worked with hundreds of organizations as they develop and implement a compelling strategy. He is an Adjunct Professor of Strategy at Duke University (Fuqua) and the University of Notre Dame (Mendoza), and was previously a professor at Texas Christian University and the University of Richmond among others. He has written seven books. His latest book is The Strategy Mindset 2.0: A Practical Guide to the Design and Implementation of Strategy. Learn more at bamfordassociates.com.

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