Strategies
to Make a MarkConsulting and Helping Small to Mid-sized Business
Owners To Grow and Prosper
Many business owners focus on working "in" their business, neglecting the necessary time to work "on" their business.
How would you rate the health of your business on a scale of 1 - 10 for its ability to acquire new customers and increase profit per customer?
Some of this message is common sense, which is not all that common.
Irrespective of your current or future organization being a for-profit, non-profit, or governmental, there must be a positive cash flow to stay viable. Customers need to be given a proposition that either solves a problem or adds extra value in-house.
One way to accomplish this is to have a steady stream of customers willing to pay you more for your offerings than it takes you to provide those offerings.
If we cannot find customers willing to pay us for that value, we need to alter our value proposition or find different customers.
We have heard the phrase - with no bucks; there will be no Buck Rogers!
For any organization to stay viable, a positive cash flow is essential, either by maximizing their share of the customer's wallets or minimizing the costs of offerings sold.
All businesses define success with specific numbers. However, some figures, like profit, are universal. Every business must make more than it spends, so an argument could be made that "profit" is a critical number and a driving force for every business. However, it is not the only necessary parameter to track.
Your company's critical number is the one metric, either operational or financial, representing weakness or vulnerability that will negatively impact the business's overall performance and long-term security if not addressed and corrected.
It serves as a common and well-defined goal that directs employee focus towards progress and success.
Your critical number should ideally relate to your value estimation. How many of your organizations' employees could explain what that critical number is and their contribution to meeting the number?
Through a few exercises, your organization will identify your most compelling value proposition, who your ideal customers are, and help determine if your current operations are on the right track to meet your goals.
To figure out the means to validate your business model, rely on my expertise. Your business model is directly related to your strategic planning initiative, which includes matching your strengths as a company to trends in the market.
The teams that do this successfully leave a mark in the industry every time, while others indicate a slow decline into obsolescence. Think Netflix versus Blockbuster.
