By Stanley El
Many small businesses build their companies to meet demand. Of course, when the demand slows down or is not there, we may have a problem. You must understand a few basic things. One is that you should build your business to meet the demand for your product or service. Two is that you should be a major part of creating that demand. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses start up because of demands that appeared to not be met. Others start because the idea seemed worthy of survival, or be your own boss.
Regardless of how you started your business, it is important to understand completely what it means to run and build a business. Too many business owners find themselves on top of the world without a roadmap for how they got there. Many times, the discovery is a surprise, especially when they find they weren’t really on top. How could you possibly believe you’re a success when you cannot account for how you gain that success? It’s very hard to stay on top of the world when you don’t know which way is up.
Is up when the money keeps rolling in, despite what you do? Or is it when you have consistent growth based on a plan you have? Well, both options appear to have appeal, depending on your reason for being in business. Granted, if you’re in business just for the money, you’re eventually going to have tough times.
Your customers and employees eventually will demand additional value to stay around. It is that added value that makes the difference between just making money and building a business that grows steadily.
The advantages to always looking for ways to add value to your business for customers and employees are very important.
If your business grew on your reputation or referrals, you have a good thing going. The only thing is you can only grow or get good referrals when someone is willing to mention your business. An added value is to educate any and everybody that thinks highly of your services. Don’t rely on them to tell your story their way. It may not be the right story. Educating people in a way that adds value to them and you, helps to generate word-of-mouth. It’s almost impossible to avoid talking about something you know a lot about and like talking about.
Another point about adding value is that people who appreciate value are typically less of a problem when it comes to paying for it. And they may just know people with the same type of appreciation. Of course, this is a problem if you don’t have a quality product or service. I don’t think you would want to educate too many people on that.
A lot of business owners are really mislead about what marketing can do for them. But it really is the way to build your business. It is its sole purpose.
You really need to understand what marketing is about. There’s a saying that “Unless you accept a thing as fact, how can you know its benefits.” I’d like to add that “You can guarantee success if you created the best possible conditions for success!” Isn’t that a fun thought? You can work every day on building more and more value into your business and might even succeed in finding customers who are willing to pay what you want for it. In addition to that, they might just tell someone else about your business. It would certainly be a whole lot easier to get them to talk about you. And with a little help, you might be able to create a demand for your products and services. You may even find that knowing which way is up is easy when you start off pointing in the right direction.
Look closely at your business. Talk to your customers and employees. Find out what can make your business the best talk in town. Think it out carefully. Then go ahead knowing what to expect.
Republished from the newspaper column “Building Business”
