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Market Leadership

6/22/2016

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Consolidating And Growing Your Market
Give assurances and deliver satisfaction

 
The artisan café had a barista who knew how to make the perfect cup of coffee. He made sure the coffee grind was packed just right and the water was heated to the required temperature. It was a perfect cup of coffee every time. The regulars knew it and they kept coming back every day at the same time for more. It was a ritual enjoyed by both the regular customers and the barista. The customers found the confidence of the barista very reassuring. Here was a positive experience that never failed to satisfy. .
 
Invariably the café also enjoyed brisk sales of its pastries, especially of the “fire-cracker”. This was an extra spicy sausage baked in a flaky light pastry wrap.
 

Staying Focused
The leadership kept the business team continually focused on the identity of fresh baked pastries. The high growth strategy focused on growing the bakery capacity to serve even more customers. The business mindset was based on delivering global quality while staying responsive to local taste.
 
Keeping the customer reassured and satisfied builds a loyal following that can spread the word and grow your business.
 
Define Your Product Identity
The owners of the café understood that the coffee drew in the customers but the bakery was the real money earner. The customers bought the baked products to take away for a wider consumer consumption that included family, friends and work colleagues. The primary identity of the business was shaped around fresh baked pastries with the “fire cracker” being the principle draw. The coffee complimented the pastries for the customers.
 
However, it was the consumers for whom the customers bought the pastries who were driving sales. “Who are your customers? “Who are your consumers? These 2 may be separate groups that need different messages to trigger a connection to your products.  
 
Promote Your Product Benefits                           
The coffee was the ‘drug” that drew in the customers. But the promotion of pastries laid-out upfront with a large window offering customers a view of the bakery kitchen created a talking point that could be narrated to consumers. The stories told of pastry chefs making the delicious offerings with passion made the fresh bakes too tempting to resist.  This ensured that there was always a long line of customers buying bags of pastries. The customers got to enjoy the aroma of the fresh flaky light pastry while waiting in line. This was all part of the experience that kept them coming back.      
 
Produce Products People Want
The coffee was Italian but the pastries were made with recipes inspired by local flavours and traditions. This was done in response to local consumer taste. The café continually collected feedback from consumers and analysis was carried out of the data collected. Data crunching resulted in decisions for continual evolution of the varieties of pastries offered but the signature “fire cracker” remained a staple.
 
Businesses have to continually improve on their offerings but the challenge is in doing this without abandoning the passion, identity and focus of the business.
 
 Siddha Param
International Business Consultant

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Market Leadership

6/14/2016

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Business Benefits Of Digital Disruption
Build human relations with technology

 
The young man’s family owned a network of car dealerships. Joining the family business after studying business seemed the natural thing to do. But then a friend complained that when traveling to other cities the biggest frustration he had was getting a taxi. This got the young man into starting a business with a technology platform that connected passengers and taxi drivers directly. The business has grown rapidly to cover several cities. Connecting consumers to products and services is the essence of business.
 
Another interesting story is about a social media message link to an online video that led to a telephone conversation and negotiations for marketing of healthy snacks.
 

Setting up a social media account does not automatically draw customers to a business. For many businesses navigating social media to reach customers can be just too time-consuming. But increasingly we hear that if we are not present on social media we are going to lose customers to others who are on social media. Listing on a digital mall with a social media presence can create outreach to prospective customers.   
 
The old mantra that people prefer doing business with those they know, understand and trust still holds true. But in today’s world where digital technology can disrupt a traditional way of doing business, someone will do it. Going online to reach customers on their smart devises is now an important part of doing business. So, how do we establish ourselves as a trusted source of information online?
 
Guiding Customers To Your Business
When it was the norm for men to shave with a single blade there was no consumer demand for a closer shave using two or even more blades in a shaving stick. But when manufacturers guided men towards appreciating a closer, smoother shave with more blades added to the shaving stick demand increased and so did profits.
 
The same can be said about the multiple mobile devices we now have to access the internet. Technology companies guided consumers towards desiring, wanting and even needing these devises.
 
Television advertising has been a major source of outreach by major corporations seeking to guide customers to their products. For small and medium sized businesses social media can level the playing field. Establishing a 24/7 online video presence can build human connections and grow a customer base.
 
A single well-made video can be repeatedly promoted online 24/7 each time reaching a small group of individuals but over time adding up to a large audience. A video can guide them towards making a phone call at a time when their call will be answered by a human being who can assist them.  
 
Digital Niche Marketing
Mass marketing may draw a large audience but result in very few customers. The different social media platforms all cater to different consumer niches. Announcements of business promotions and events need to be tailored to the specific social media platform.
 
One platform may be good for a “breaking news” headline format to encourage trending. Another platform may be more formal with the audience accessing accounts at the work place and yet another platform may be more appropriate for sharing messages about the adventures of a cat.
 
Understand your product well and research the appropriateness of the platform for your product. You may tailor your messaging to a social media platform but always remember that in branding and promoting your product, you must always deliver what you promise.
 
Match The Image To Reality
Ensure that the message you put out on social media corresponds to what you deliver in the real world. By creating a video that shows what you actually deliver without hype you can prevent disappointing prospective customers. Testimonials from satisfied customers can establish your credentials more effectively than self-praise.
 
Business is always about making the customer feel good about the decisions they make. Send them a message that encourages them to make that call that will make them feel good.
 
Siddha Param
International Business Consultant

Reboot your business plan for sustained high growth

Click For Link To:

BUSINESS SERVICES

CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE

BUSINESS EXCHANGE MALL CONNECTIONS

Do share this article on social media and with those interested



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Business Leadership

6/8/2016

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Making Focused Leadership Decisions

Driving Action To Achieve Your  Vision

 
How did that innovator go from one product in a garage to multiple devices that now make the business one of the biggest in the world? A similar question can be asked of the founder of an exotic tea store that has grown into a chain of stores across the country. The following describes how such leaders succeed.
 
In making decisions leaders have to balance the different components of a business from product development to operations, finance, and marketing. The decision has to galvanize the team into productive action to achieve the business vision. There is also the need to balance financial allocations for acquiring internal and external resources. 
 
Business is about dealing with what the real world makes available to the organization. Seldom do leaders have the luxury of total information and unlimited resources. Yet business success is very much about responding to facts on the ground and not mere subjective opinion.
 
Evidence Based Decision Making
Are your business views supported by evidence within your business, the industry and the market?

Objectively consider all available options, then make the decision and take action. To make objective decisions it is necessary to have a detached unemotional analysis of all available data and information.
 
Leaders of large corporations can make objective evidence based decisions by seeking out feedback on management proposals from independent directors. These are directors who are not involved in the day to day operations of the business. But they have experience and knowledge that they can contribute. .
 
Leaders of small and medium sized businesses can achieve this advantage of objective evidence based decision making by getting advice from independent business consultants.
 
Staying Focused Under Pressure
We may adapt our tactics to changes in the market but, we should remain focused on achieving our business vision.
 
A Vancouver, BC couple who run a design consultancy in a trendy part of the city responded to the high property prices by living in a rental home. They are focused on investing their money into their business and retirement portfolio. Their plan is to grow their business and retirement fund while fulfilling their business vision of serving clients who want out-of-the-box thinking in design.
 
The exotic tea store focused on carving out a niche market that attracted professional advisers and financial investors who planned a high growth strategy that enabled listing on the stock exchange. The result was a chain of stores that target a defined segment of the population.
 
Team Diversity And Unity of Action
Leaders often have to make decisions under the pressure of limited information and economic uncertainty. In such situations it is a good idea to get the diverse views of the different specialist in your team.
 
We all have a point of view based on our specialist viewing point. But at the end of the day, the vision of the business should encourage the team to remain focused on planning a course of action that everyone can work on to achieve attainable goals.  
 
Unity of action is critical for businesses that want to continue succeeding. This unity has to be based on a collective wisdom of the majority based on facts.
 
As a leader you should work towards establishing the facts so you can inspire your team to act in unity to achieve the business vision.
 
Siddha Param
International Business Consultant

Reboot your business plan for sustained high growth

Click For Link To:

BUSINESS SERVICES

CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE

BUSINESS EXCHANGE MALL CONNECTIONS

Do share this article on social media and with those interested




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Business Leadership

6/1/2016

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Human Driven Business Success
Establish a dynamic eco-system
 
Chef Wilson who worked at an Ontario fine dining restaurant decided he had enough of the winters. He headed out to tropical Southeast Asia to set up a successful Mediterranean style restaurant.
 
Since last year Southeast Asian cuisine has been gaining popularity in North America. Chef Wilson has decided to look at exporting to North America, delicious bottled Southeast Asian meat curry mixes for easy cooking. His philosophy is, when humans are offered a refreshingly new exotic taste we keep returning for more of that unique experience.
 
The food industry appears to be coming full circle with more and more bottled and frozen foods focusing on the healthy living consumer with products that contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

Bottling grandma’s traditional recipes can turn a local small food business into a global player. This happened when a teenager in the United Kingdom decided to bottle jams made using his grandma's recipe. Managers at a supermarket chain spotted his website and were impressed with the reviews. An offer was made that grew this teenager’s jam business into an international business.       
 
A small business with a dynamic eco-system can evolve to serve the global market. 
 
What is it that made these two individuals succeed in the food industry?
The simple answer lies in the ability of us humans to:
1. Visualize a different future for ourselves;
2. Make plans to achieve our vision; and,
3. Utilise our deeply held values to stay focused on our plan until success is achieved.
 
Chef Wilson saw an opportunity to apply his knowledge and skills in a tropical country and he worked on a business plan that created a business eco-system that enabled him to both apply his skills in Mediterranean cooking locally and to learn about Southeast Asian cooking. His new knowledge in cooking with spices has enabled him to plan a second business exporting curry mixes to North America.  
 
Our teenage jam maker too created an online business eco-system around the recipes he learnt from his grandma. His willingness to learn enabled him to evolve his business to fit into the corporate eco-system of the supermarket chain.
 
Both Chef Wilson and our teenage entrepreneur have one thing in common. The ability to create a business eco-system that delivers satisfaction while evolving through learning to benefit from changes in the market.
 
Visualising and Building A Better Future
The ability of humans as a species to visualise a better future and to work towards achieving this vision is what makes us so successful. All of us have this ability to plan and to take action. In creating our business eco-system we must assemble a team with a variety of skills and knowledge to undertake the necessary task.
 
But what transforms a business eco-system into a dynamic productive unit that is driven to succeed is leadership that remains focused on the vision. Staying focused on a plan of action can mean the difference between success and failure.
 
A Learning Business Environment     
In today’s knowledge driven world the business eco-system must encourage continual learning. Bottling curry mixes and jams for export require learning about automation technology. This is necessary for scaling up the business while keeping the cost of production low enough to sustain a pricing that builds a large base of repeat customers.
 
Effective leaders keep learning from team members, suppliers, customers and those who are more knowledgeable. They make time to reflect on their daily experiences while remaining focused on the big picture of their vision.
 
Promote A Culture of Innovation
A culture of innovation enabled a 19th century horse and carriage shop to grow into a national dealership for German luxury cars while remaining focused on selling vehicles with the ultimate comfort.     
 
A business has the capacity to attain immortality. It can through a culture of innovation remain relevant and outlive the founder.
 
A culture of innovation can help you to build the capacity to serve a wider market. Even a small business can sell globally by using the internet for marketing, sales and receiving payment.
 
It is important to remember that today’s economy pays a premium for the latest in knowledge.
 
Siddha Param
International Business Consultant

Reboot your business plan for sustained high growth

Click For Link To:

BUSINESS SERVICES

CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE

BUSINESS EXCHANGE MALL CONNECTIONS

Do share this article on social media and with those interested


 



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