Without a defined strategy, businesses drift away from their customers, ultimately becoming less competitive and less profitable – a problem known as Strategic Drift. Having a strategy is the way to remain competitive or a way of forcing a strategic change when an organisation is starting to fail.
A complex strategy or business plan isn’t necessary to achieve success. A simple one-page document will do, but it should be well thought out and well-executed. A good business plan defines and drives the activities and behaviours of the entire organisation.
Without it, the business becomes a ship without a rudder; it simply can’t be steered and ends up going around in circles. A sound strategy should include a financial plan, marketing differentiators, and product strategy as well as a plan for employee retention. An effective strategy is deeply understood and shared by the organisation.
We’ve put together the top 7 traits of a successful business:
1. Management
Successful business management teams know the company’s goals, objectives and vision at their fingertips; and they are focused on the pursuit of the company’s objectives. They know their specific role in the company and they concentrate on this role to make sure that the business objectives are met. And they understand their industries.
A competent corporate manager in the food industry may not perform excellently when assigned to a business operating in the oil and gas sector. Why? The reason is that the industrial intricacies and the market are entirely different.
At the core of every successful business management team is the “business mission.” This keeps them together as a team; take the mission away and the centre will not hold any longer for the entire business.
2. People
Without exception, the most successful business owners understand that it’s all about people: hiring and retaining the right people, eliminating ineffective people and providing the necessary resources for employees to master their tasks.
Yours is a small business. So your people will be action-oriented. Hire employees who make decisions and take chances. While chances may lead to failure, they will more often lead to success and mould confidence while generating new ideas.
3. Culture
Businesses that possess well-defined cultures stand out from the crowd because they’re a joy to interact with. Customer points of contact at the front desk, retail areas, and service departments – everything throughout the business feels natural yet orchestrated.
Culture is about attracting and hiring the people who would be most successful in that specific organisation. And it’s about driving the behaviour that makes the company successful.
A culture can be defined as the norms, practices, history and values of an organisation — in other words: “how things are done around here.”
Successful business leaders understand that being in business is about managing and responding to change. Companies that succeed embrace change and respond to challenges presented by the market, the competition or business conditions in general.
4. Technology
Effective technology is probably the most important enabler for change that a company can introduce.
A relatively modern phenomenon that has dramatically changed the daily lives of individuals and businesses throughout the world, running the gamut from personal computers and computer software to production robotics to communications technology. Leveraging information technology for business success is key to survival in the modern business world.
5. Processes
Lack of structure and the absence of systems all but ensure inconsistency in how work is done, conflicting agendas, dissension and confusion. Structure supports success.
A frequently credited attribute of success is the streamlining of business processes. We call this “creating predictability.” Unfortunately, this is probably the least understood task a small-business owner can take accomplish.
Business processes are how things are done within a business. Every company has some processes; some are clearly defined, others are implicit. The intention here is to increase productivity and reduce costs while generating the same (or better) outcomes. Successful businesses understand the need to continuously improve their business processes: to become more efficient and productive, and to respond to market changes faster while providing better service to customers.
Put simply, a process is a set of defined tasks needed to complete a given business activity, including who is responsible for completing each step, when, and how they do so.
Though processes can seem mundane, their importance to your successful business cannot be overstated. They benefit a business in several ways including making a business competitive and enabling growth.
6. Marketing
Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or a one-person shop, to be successful, you must have a marketing strategy and you must implement it consistently. However, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune and you don’t have to be a creative genius.
The key is developing a marketing strategy that forms a solid foundation for your promotional efforts.
Effective marketing starts with a considered, well-informed marketing strategy. A good marketing strategy helps you define your vision, mission and business goals, and outlines the steps you need to take to achieve these goals.
7. Market Segmentation
Little of what is best in marketing theory and practice works without correct market segmentation. It is one of the most fundamental concepts in marketing and your choice of which approach to adopt will directly affect the impact of segmentation on your business.
Market segmentation, correctly applied, is about understanding the needs of customers and, therefore, how they decide between one offer and another. This insight is used to form groups of customers who share the same or very similar value criteria. A company is then able to determine which groups of customers it is best suited to serve and which product and service offers will both meet the needs of its selected segments and outperform the competition. The primary objective of segmentation, therefore, must be how to win and retain the customers you want to serve.
Article is taken from Growth Business
