What You Need to Know about Your Company’s Development
In today’s economy, businesses need to be constantly ‘on the ball’, ‘going the extra mile’ and maintaining ‘the edge’ over their competition.
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When financial results are low, invest in advertising
The first thing that almost all CEO’s do when the budget is off, is to cut back considerably on all costs.
At one time, one of my mistakes that I paid dearly for, was that among all the costs I also reduced the cost of marketing and advertising.
This was a major mistake because things turned worst and after a while I had to borrow some money in order to do some advertising, after which the situation improved.
If I had a one and only rule for bad financial periods it would be “don’t think of anything else, invest in advertising like if there is no tomorrow and be ready to deliver products or services.”
The reasoning behind this rule is that the most substantial way to improve numbers, is by increasing sales. And the easiest and safest way to create awareness and raise your sales is (based on thorough research) through the right advertisement.
When the financial results are good, change nothing.
This may sound relatively obvious; however, it cannot be emphasized enough.
In the past, I had the tendency to make constant changes and to experiment all the time, aiming at my company’s optimal function.
Experience has taught me that when things go well, I should change nothing. You never change a winning team.
The only thing I do now, is to find out what exactly I had done when things went well and then I add it to my list of successful actions. (I have a notebook where I note the actions that led to a good result and thus I do not need to look for what my actions should be every time I would like to have a result that I had achieved in the past)
Create an ideal scene.
What would it have been like, if you had succeeded in your goals?
What would have been a perfect image of your business?
How much money would you have liked to make?
The ideal scene is the final result of feasible goals that each one of us sets. The most important part of this thinking process is to know where they you to go & what to achieve. People who achieve their goals, always record their ideal scene and then spot each deviation from it. This way, they are aware of everything that stands in the way of their ideal scene and thus start to handle each matter separately without complacency.
The sense of complacency is one of the most disastrous feelings a person could nurture. Somewhere in there nests the possibility to stop progressing towards your ideal scene.
Look after your staff
The most well-known & essential thing businessmen must do if they want to see their company thrive.
If you put your staff first, they will put your customers first. Take good care of them by ensuring that they all feel they have a voice, that they are appreciated and that they are achieving their own personal goals, as well as the goals of the company.
Create a pleasant atmosphere in the company, encourage everyone to feel like home and do not allow people to provoke any kind of tension. All this and much more would prove to your staff that you really care and look after theme.
According to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristoteles, a part of man’s happiness is created through communication with pleasant friends. He who really cares about another person, wants them to be happy, isn’t that so?
Create simple and clear procedures
Procedures show us the way things should be done within a company. Your team should be aware of what path to take. There must be a specific direction. A team without a direction is like a car without a driver or a ship without a captain. Directions are given by the policies and the procedures of each team. This way each member knows exactly what to do and how to do it.
When there are no directions, a “high traffic” is caused in the company, which means that the realization of each task takes much more time than what is really needed and the consequences of this is extreme fatigue and confusion of employees.
Procedures are created in order to give precise instructions about how things should be done, to describe previous successful actions and to clarify who does what. Policies are created to keep everything in order, to increase the speed of realization of each task and to establish agreements within the team.
Deal only with your real work
From personal experience, I have ascertained that there are still companies who deal with matters that have nothing to do directly with their real work.
They waste their means on nonproductive tasks that bring no revenues and cause complexity and expenses to their mechanisms. Act like the big companies, assign to contractors whatever does not bring profit and get rid of the weight that disorientates you from your goals.
For example, many companies aside from their work, take in charge the huge work of their company’s facility management. If you want to dedicate more time to your clients, your employees and your productivity, it is a great idea to invest in a reliable facilities management company that can provide you with a flexible range of services to suit your needs and budget constraints, like Manifest. Our company takes over the maintenance and the operational responsibilities of your company so that you have peace of mind that your business is running as its best.
And believe me, this is very important.
In conclusion, despite being in a period of financial crisis, some companies continue to grow and develop. There are no secret formulas or special actions, they just follow the simple rules of common sense.
My favorite hobby is to discover and copy (if possibly to upgrade) all these features that lead to a company’s development and growth. If I wanted to give a title to all these things that I discover it would be “Use common sense”. No exceptional innovation is required for development, just do what is self-evident, the things that others (the ones you address to) expect from you and the development is in your pocket.