How to get more out of your business
Whether a business is big or small, you own it, manage it, or are the owner-manager, you’re always on the lookout for ways to increase its profitability. The consensus among respected writers in the field of business growth and profitability is that there are ways to get more out of a business—to make it grow and prosper. Here are some of those strategies...
1. Know what business you’re in.
Even though the importance of knowing the nature of your business sounds straightforward, a significantly large proportion of businesses have never addressed this important issue. Even seemingly similar businesses may vary when it comes to defining their nature. Boeing makes planes, Qantas is in the transport and travel businesses, and Virgin Blue is in the hospitality business transporting people to their tourist and business destinations. The Ford family of the Ford Motor Company and its then CEO Jacques Nasser disagreed on the nature of its business, which led to a parting of ways for the CEO and the Company. And these descriptions may change, which makes it essential that businesses revisit their descriptions at least every two years. And as part of this process businesses will answer the question: ‘Are we offering a product or service that people want and are prepared to pay for?’
2. Develop plans.
Given the product or services you have to offer,
you need to plan how to create a demand and how to satisfy it. Even a simple, straightforward marketing plan can achieve that – a plan specific enough to provide focus and flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances. No one person can hope to know your product or service better than you. Consult with outside marketing gurus if your strength is not in this area, but you must be the final arbiter in any decisions made.
3. Attract more customers.
Your customers are those people who buy from
you at least once and they are the lifeblood of any organization—traditional or online. So one way to grow your business is to get more and more people
to buy from you or use your services—at least once. (Another aim, of course, will be to convert ‘customers’ to ‘clients’—those who buy from you, only.) To attract more customers, try different approaches – but the one thing any approach must have is that it must satisfy an existing demand for what you have to offer or create a new one. It may sound like ‘Economics 101’ but the issue of attracting an increasing number of customers comes down to supply and demand.
