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Business Knowledge

12/22/2014

New Cool Business Thinking
Benefit from global realities

Here’s an old story retold:

OLD SCHOOL THINKING
John got up at 6am, woken by his alarm clock (made in Vietnam), the coffee filtered through in his coffeepot (made in China), while he shaved with his razor (made in Hong Kong). He put on a shirt (made in Sri Lanka), jeans (made in Indonesia), and shoes (made in Korea)

… and so his day went by with him using the following addition products; a watch (made in Thailand), a radio (made in Taiwan), a car (made in Korea).

He wondered why it was so difficult to find a good paying North American job in manufacturing.

Fortunately John got the right advice on how to switch to, “the new cool thinking” that taps into the opportunities offered by today’s global reality.

NEW COOL THINKING
John realised that many of those appliances made all over the world, were designed and invented in North America. The goods manufactured were sold by marketing teams knowledgeable in the local market. Gaining knowledge is the key to success in our global information economy.

Sign up for online business programs to gain knowledge that lead to business opportunities.

Chill out at a café while learning online about product design, outsourcing of manufacturing and market development.

Investors are always interested in funding the commercialization of business plans that have a high growth potential and a good return on investments.

Prepare a high growth business and marketing plan for your business with input from consultants who can offer objective advice.

Seek out information, knowledge and independent advice to help you achieve high business growth.

Knowledge combined with good planning and decisive action leads to success!

Siddha Param
International Business Consultant

Reboot your business plan for sustained high growth

Do share this article on social media and with those interested

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Entrepreneurial spirit

12/17/2014

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Embrace The Entrepreneurial Spirit
Success and sustained performance

Do you have the entrepreneurial drive to sustain performance?

Are your business action plans realistic and achievable?

Recently, a friend asked me if I had noticed those huge advertising billboards by the roadside between my home and our meeting place. Quite frankly I had not noticed any of those giant advertisements as I was focused on safe driving under current icy road conditions.

“In your face marketing” doesn’t seem to be reaching consumers. It is not just the medium that needs to be changed. In a world where consumers have choices the content of your marketing becomes important.

A realtor has to be aware that there are many others offering similar services. A pizza place has to compete not just with other pizza businesses but also all the other food businesses out there.

Know your customers and their needs
Today’s markets are in constant flux. Your customer’s needs may change or new market demands may emerge as competitors innovate and offer new products and services.

The big box stores find that they now have to compete with small online stores for the year end festivity spending on gifts and foods. An internet e-commerce portal cuts out the rush to the mall. Consumers can shop from the comfort of their home with payment online and delivery made right to their doorstep. But those who shop online tend to turn to familiar websites.

Whether yours is a business that offers services or products online or traditionally through meetings with customers you need to get to know your customers and their needs. Just as important is making sure your prospective customers know enough about you and your offerings to want to buy from you.

Building trust is the key. This takes time. You have to be able to sustain your performance over a long enough period of time for prospects to get to know you and what you offer.

Remain Competitive and relevant
It is critical to have the entrepreneurial spirit. This means being genuine and passionate about your business.

Passion means being interested enough to master the knowledge of your business. It means keeping in touch with developments in the market and the innovations that competitors bring to the market.

Keep reading and talking to those more knowledgeable then you so you remain relevant and excited about your field of expertise. Share your knowledge with prospects and long-time customers.

A successful realtor still sends calendars to clients who purchase a home through him 20 years ago! Why? Perhaps it may now be time for them to buy a bigger home or their children may now be looking for a home to buy.

The conversations the calendar creates keeps him top of mind. He even encloses useful home maintenance and industry tips and advice in an accompanying newsletter.

Widen your circle of contacts
The entrepreneurial spirit can be kept alive by constantly seeking out new people to meet and develop new relationships. Sticking to a small pool of customers may mean missing out on opportunities that arise from establishing new relationships with new people.

It is important to grow your circle of contacts while maintaining and even deepening existing relationships.

Too many businesses rely on a small group of long term customers. Turn these customers into your advocates by providing them with useful information in an interesting manner. Engage with your suppliers, team members and customers and help them spread the word about your business.

Every individual you meet is potentially a customers or a promoter of your business.

Focus on a return on investments
Business is about sales and paying customers. But to be sustainable, your business must give you personal satisfaction while generating financial returns.

Success is not just measured by the money you earn. Ultimately success is measured by the quality of living you experience.

The secret then is to invest your time in learning and appreciating the business you are in. Seek out the advice of consultants and industry experts. These are the essentials you need to be knowledgeable and convincing with prospects. Knowledge, passion and being genuine builds trusted relationships. This sustains the entrepreneurial spirit and promotes business success.

Siddha Param
International Business Consultant

Reboot your business plan for sustained high growth

Do share this article on social media and with those interested

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December 10th, 2014

12/10/2014

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Profit From Providing Free Solutions
Marketing as a community service

Here is how you can make money! Share your knowledge for free!

Build Consumer Confidence
You are probably wondering how you will make money from sharing for free. Well, the more people get to know about how your products or services benefit them the more confident they will be in either doing business with you or referring others to you.

Do market research on the needs of your target market. Identify the market segment and your niche in that segment. Reach out and provide your knowledge for free.

The personal computer market grew rapidly worldwide because it was so easy for bootleggers selling unlicensed copies of software to create the market which was then captured through a combination of education and enforcement of intellectual property law. People became aware through free information on the benefits of paying for software licences that provided updates and upgrades.

Create A Market
Sharing for free may initially create a market that benefits others more then you. However, once prospects realize that you can give them added value they will turn to you for premium quality.

Sharing knowledge for free creates consumer awareness and familiarity. Sharing freely also establishes trust in your brand. Consumers will pay more for high quality products and services. Successful businesses know that to be competitive they must hire the best and deliver high quality. Multinational businesses succeed by hiring the best consultants from the leading business schools to give them a competitive edge.

Seek Advise on Latest Developments
Corporate leaders are willing to pay thousands of dollars for a weekend retreat with top business professors even though the book may be cheaper. Leaders of small and medium sized businesses too can acquire a competitive edge by seeking out consulting advice.

Yes! Most of the information is available for free on the internet. But it is the human to human interaction with consultants that leads to deep insights and competitive advantages in the market place.

Benefit From Giving
Giving away free samples as a marketing tool has been around for quite a long time. Now you have the opportunity to give knowledge away to a wider market through the internet. This can help you to grow your market share. Once consumers experience a benefit from your knowledge they will be willing to pay for added benefits.

A young entrepreneurial student was successful in selling to customers worldwide. When asked, “How did she get customers? The reply was, “Well, there are lots of people on social media”. She gives free advice and that builds trust. This young entrepreneur is growing her business while still attending business school.

Rework your marketing plan and business modal to grow your market by becoming a trusted adviser to the community you serve.

Siddha Param
International Business Consultant

Reboot your business plan for sustained high growth

Do share this article on social media and with those interested

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Online marketing

12/3/2014

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The Online Marketing Opportunity
Profiting from internet connections

The internet has created a worldwide community of people continually sharing information on their consumer experiences. Marketing specialists are experiencing a tremendous challenge keeping pace with information on market response to their company’s products and services.

Increasingly consumer networks are sharing information across the world instantly. This is shaping consumer sentiments even before a product reaches a particular country. The movie industry finds that it is now more profitable to release a movie practically in all countries simultaneously. This is to avoid negative publicity by critics in one country dampening movie attendance in other countries.

This dissemination of information by consumers and critics through the internet is happening with greater and greater volume and speed. The result is an ever widening gap between the rapidly evolving market demands and an ability of businesses to respond to these demands.

Local consumer taste and expectations are being shaped as much by information on the internet as by traditional media like television, radio and newspapers.

At a very small cost, a small business can now broadcast a video on the internet reaching targeted local audiences through social media campaigns in direct competition with large corporations utilizing large marketing budgets over traditional media.

To be effective in utilising the internet for business requires investment into understanding market information on the internet. Timely knowledgeable responses to market feedback is critical in a 24/7 information cycle.

The twenty first century consumer is getting information from both online and offline social networks. Those who are not online are kept in the loop at group meets about what is trending on the internet. A product failure can go viral and spread worldwide within seconds.

Recently, a smart phone company released a bigger, thinner phone and very quickly the message went out that the phone can bend when placed in the back pocket. Seeing is believing, and so videos of individuals testing this out were posted onto video sites. The professionals finally came out advising those who were concerned to get a strong smart phone casing to solve the problem.

Businesses need to engage with online consumer communities to provide the right information for consumers to make informed buying decisions.

Businesses need to get feedback about consumer perceptions of their brand.

Increasingly it is consumers who are defining what a brand represents. Businesses therefore need to engage with consumers and develop strategies to guide brand perception through the release of factual information in a timely manner to consumers through traditional and online media.

The internet has now created a level playing field for big and small businesses. But to be competitive all businesses have to engage consumers and the wider community in conversations that allow all parties to shape brand perception through informed decision making based on facts.

The business that adopts an open communication strategy with all stakeholders from suppliers to employees, consumers and the communities they operate in will have a competitive edge that can translate into high growth and greater profit.

Siddha Param
International Business Consultant

Reboot your business plan for sustained high growth

Do share this article on social media and with those interested

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Business Knowledge

Entrepreneurial spirit

December 10th, 2014

Online marketing

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