Simple things you need to do to keep your business going are not always far from reach. Most times they may be hidden in the business itself.
MOST times business owners seem to find it difficult improving on the performance of their business because of the huge financial implication involved. Added to this fact is the limitation encountered when using the simplest networking system to increase customer base and patronage. But this notwithstanding, it is possible to spend less in acquiring the best skills for improving our business performance.
We need to acquire mere resources, attend more courses; improve our knowledge of our businesses, as well as the economic, social and political environment from which we operate.
Human resources – It is possible to partner with suppliers in training our staff to use their raw materials in our products and to deliver services better to end users. There is a cadre of highly skilled final year university students or fresh graduates that need work experience, they can work with us to meet our human resource need, while we meet their need for work experience. We can encourage our staff to pursue part time professional courses that will benefit the company while we give financial aid to assist their goals.
Capital resources – We should convince our suppliers to back us up with credit. Clients should be encouraged to pay upfront for more discounts (collecting cash upfront is better than cash collected later), the company’s assets should be valued and used as collateral for loans from financial institutions, taking stock of our assets such as our premises- can we lease out some of our un-utilized space and underutilized production capacity for others as a means of raising cash. This can be done by advertising in newspapers. You will be amazed at those who are looking for these opportunities.
What additional experience can we harness to improve our position? We should actively seek retiree’s in our field that would not mind coming in for a few hours a week to interact with our staff and pass on some of the knowledge they acquired over the years. They could make some side income and a place to go, they would also be grateful to have people to share with and they value the fact that we see them as valuable. Find time to get the employees together for them to share experiences, it would surprise you to know that most challenges can be sorted out in-house, sharing information is helpful, problems diagnosed in-house are cheaper than bringing in a consultant. Bring back your old staff for events such as the end of year parties, the younger staff may use them as sounding boards and ask their opinion on issues they are facing that they may have occurred in the past. These could be invaluable resources for the company.
Control
We should reward sources of information that gives us an edge over others and encourage industry intelligence reports. Use to the best of your ability. We should strive to carve a niche and make a monopoly out of it. Use your rights to fight for issues that will benefit your sector, join associations that are specific to your business. When we buy from the same supplier we should encourage them to give us concessions in areas of price and payment mode, this can aid our bid for price advantages.
Develop ideas that are not easily duplicated and that are out of sync with the norm. An example that comes to mind is that of a newly recruited baby-food salesman in Florida, USA, he outsold all his peers “monthly by thousands of cases and was consistent, the trick behind his success was that he was selling the baby food to old people (Florida is the state with the highest proportion of the elderly in the USA), he identified the similarity between the needs for both the infants and the elderly – quality of production, high price and soft consistency, the idea to try this out was innovative and groundbreaking, this is all about thinking out of the box. You can take other products that you can bundle with yours and sell using the same distribution channel; banks now sell insurance and pension schemes etc. You can do the same.
Leadership can be reinforced. Set up a board or a group of advisors, their pay will be the products the company deals in, so they are at no additional cost. Encourage them to bring new customers, pick them from fields that are pertinent to the growth of your business, a lawyer, an accountant, a marketing person. If you are in a technical field an engineer and an IT person will be helpful. They will help you shape the future of your business, they will offer you services you probably cannot afford, they will save you money in fees, they have the ability to oversee certain areas of your business that are not part of your area of competence. They will aid you to keep on track and make sure you tow the business line. However, the advice you get is directly related to the quality of people you choose.