Political and economic headwinds can rock an organization without capsizing it. While larger companies have the resilience to withstand the pressures of downturns in the economy, it is often the smaller businesses that wilt under the pressures of a turbulent business environment. Many business founders come up with great ideas, yet they are unable to scale their companies successfully. There are 5 levers that are needed to ensure consistent business performance that can weather the storm to eventually reach success.
The organizations that succeed do so with a strong purpose or “why we do what we do” that drives achievement. They ensure business objectives and goals that are aligned with this purpose.
Successful enterprises create business aspiration goals that are future focused, challenging and inspiring using the popular Balanced Scorecard Tool that describes the Customer, Financial, Process and Learning Centric Dimensions. Goals are typically specific and time-bound ensuring that there are milestones/ measures (quantitative or qualitative) to review whether a progress has been made on a goal. In order to achieve these goals, an organization needs to be supported by the next three aspects: the right structures to conceptualize and implement the business model, the right people and the right enablers.
For a majority of businesses, attracting and retaining clients is a big challenge. Marketing is — getting someone who has a need to become aware of us and trust us enough to buy. To gain awareness and trust we need a process. If the marketing function is weak and we only depend on referrals, sales will be inconsistent resulting is a weak pipe-line of leads. This causes sales people to appear desperate in their interactions with clients who then squeeze them on price. Customer retention - is critical. Even with an amazing marketing plan, competitive prices, and a well-designed website, customers won’t come back if they don’t feel good after their experience with us.
While each function has a critical role to play in the business value chain it is also important to think about the interfaces between these functions and create the right kind of co-ordination and interaction mechanisms to have a cohesive delightful customer experience.
A key need for success is to recruit and train the best people — whether they’re full-time, part-time or outsourced members on our team. They’re our number one support in effectively growing our business and delivering excellence to our customers. Hiring is a time consuming process and we must not give into the pressure of being satisfied with a mediocre candidate. We need a role clarity document that describes the tasks, activities and deliverables along with the attitudes, skills and knowledge required for successful performance. The best people have lots of energy and enthusiasm. Don’t worry too much about their level of experience, as the right attitude almost always delivers much more than just experience.
enthusiasm. Don’t worry too much about their level of experience, as the right attitude almost always delivers much more than just experience.
As one ancient Eastern folk tale narrates – if you pull the string too tight, it will snap. If you leave it too loose, it will not make music. The outcomes of growth and productivity come from clarity on our purpose on goals, institution of the right organization structures and the selection of the right people to drive the organization goals. With the right combination of a positive culture, right amount of planning and system orientation complimented by our hard work, confidence and determination, we must feel sure that we will face the future with confidence and get onto the road to success and profitable growth.