Fortified Business

28. March 2010 by Noel Guilford.

If you ever wanna know what it feels like to be Chicken Little then just spend some time talking with a room full of business owners. Oh, don’t get me wrong, the blame is totally human nature. We struggle with planning what we are going to get when we go to the grocery store, so it’s no wonder how the day to day of a small business owner can consume all reason. This type of “business on the fly” can pass for common place until you realize that the lack of sleep has warped your sense of reality just a little bit.

Those few businesses outside this crazy world seem like an oasis but let me tell you that it was no accident.  You wonder how so and so is still doing so well, or what the big secret is right? Here it is, how to fortify your business.

Quality Product and/or Service

If you have something to sell make sure its worth you selling it, and make sure it’s worth buying. As tempting as it may be to tap the well of the latest fad you will find that well dries up very quickly. Stick with the oldies but goodies, give customers what they want, when they want it and how they like it.

*NOTE* address this area for difficulty with generating leads or traffic into the business 

Build a Reputation of Consistency - Earn consumers trust

Consumers/customers expect, no they “demand” that if they are required to pay a specific cost, that they will receive quality that matches, and most times exceeds their expectation. If  customers are provided with consistency, they will respond with consistency and that goes both ways.

*NOTE* address this area when dealing with the frequency of repeat business 

Customer Service/ Interaction that is remarkable

With any luck your customers are talking about you to someone who is a potential customer. The question is what are they saying as your spokesperson. If your business is strong in this area many customers will forgive your slips in consistency as people spend money at businesses they like. Equally if they are unimpressed or unsatisfied with your personnel and the service they provide, be sure they feel the same about the business and it’s owners.

*NOTE* address this area when dealing with the decline in customer counts/ lost customers

Business Economics with Priorities

I’m assuming that for those in business ownership, server boredom did not drive them to the decision. So with the objective of making a profit in mind let’s get our priorities strait. First in line is paying for the expense of doing business, next is paying your employee’s. Third is paying the business itself, and lastly you get paid. If you are an employee then you get paid a lot sooner. Lastly if there is very little wiggle room due to an enormous overhead you are in a losing battle and need to reformat your business model or call it quits as soon as possible.

*NOTE* address this area when there are problems showing a profit in spite of acceptable numbers in sales and customer counts.

Can you still run a business without building a foundation of these four things? I’m sure its possible. I’m also sure that its possible for a mule to win a horse race, but its not likely that I will see that either.

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