Successful and Proven Strategies for Entrepreneurs
Building a business and becoming a successful Visionary can be a considerable challenge. On the one hand, it’s never been easier to become an entrepreneur. Digital technology and the internet have changed the game forever and lowered the bar to entry. Startup costs are lower than in past generations. The minimum wage is lower today than in the past - compared to the cost of living and inflation. Lower salaries have made it more affordable for companies to hire entry-level employees.But competition is fierce. Competitors are chomping at the bit, trying to penetrate new markets and grab their piece of the pie. As an entrepreneur today, you’ve got your work cut out for you.How can you get ahead? How can you survive and profitably push your business forward into 2019 and beyond? Despite the changes in technology and logistics, the basics of leadership and entrepreneurship are just as useful today as they’ve ever been.Here are five proven strategies you need to focus on to make your business continued success:
1. Focus on a Narrowly-Defined Niche
In a marketplace flooded with strong competitors with deep pockets, one of the best ways to get traction is to focus in on a narrowly-defined niche. You can always look at ways to broaden your customer base later on down the road. It’s best to zero in on a small slice of your target market. Focusing on bringing massive value to a narrow demographic will help you drive sales and differentiate yourself from your competitors.
2. Start Small and Grow Sustainably
If you’re a young startup or are planning on launching a new business soon, it’s tempting to feel like you have to dominate in every aspect of your business and do a massive launch. Perfectionism is excellent if you’re launching a human-crewed mission to Mars. But for just about everything else, it’s often better to pull the trigger sooner rather than later.Get your product to market first. Then you’ll get rapid feedback, which will allow you to make improvements and adapt to customer preferences. Don’t procrastinate about launching, start small and get your product to market as quickly as possible.
3. Crush Your Competition
A lot of entrepreneurs think that they have to be the best at everything to beat their competition, but that isn’t always the case. Find one competitive advantage and putting all of your efforts into positioning your product or service using that key advantage. Don’t exhaust your energy trying to be everything for everyone.For example, when your competitors are racing to the bottom in a bidding war, lowballing each other to get customers through the door, you might be able to dominate them all by taking the high road with a combination of premium pricing and relentless advertising. If the only way you can beat your competition is to cut pricing to the bone, then you’re in the wrong market. Instead, dominate the advertising space to explode your brand awareness and then make up for the expense by charging a premium.
4. Put Your Customers First
Customer service is another way to differentiate yourself and work for that premium pricing. Over the past few decades, you’ve probably noticed that many big companies have been caught up with cutting their expenses further and further, often to the point of compromising on customer service.You have probably had many frustrating experiences where the customer service you received wasn’t all that great due to poorly trained staff or even understaffing - or perhaps a combination of the two. If your competitors are providing poor experiences to their customers for this reason, then that’s an opportunity for you to give a better experience for your customers by merely investing more in your staffing needs.
5. Create a Company Culture That Prevents Employee Burnout
Employee burnout is a real problem that many organizations are struggling with today. Understaffing leads to the employees having to work that much harder to get the work done, which often leads them to feel underpaid and unappreciated. Throw in a strict system of rules and policies that make them think micromanaged, and you have a recipe for disaster on your hands. Leadership at all levels of an organization needs to foster a positive company culture that makes employees feel not only valued but empowered. It’s essential that you hear employees voices and that you address their concerns adequately.It’s often difficult for corporate leaders far away from the action to understand the business’ needs at the frontlines, so listening and acting on employee feedback can make a huge difference. These folks see what’s going on, as they are the ones who are face-to-face with the customers. It’s important to consider their opinions and empower them to address issues on the spot.Building a business and keeping it profitable isn’t easy. And with so many changes taking place with digital technology, e-commerce, and automation, it’s difficult for business owners to know what to do next. But success in business always comes back to the fundamentals. Nail down these five strategies, and your business will have a much easier time weathering the storms ahead.
About GCE Strategic Consulting
GCE Strategic Consulting's vision is to transform the EOS® community by empowering visionaries, implementers and integrators with the best people and resources. Are you are struggling with achieving full organization buy-in to EOS®? We help make sure you have the right people in the right seat on your Level 10 team. We'll help you strengthen your Visionary/Integrator relationship with our proven framework and experience.