Running a company can be very personal. Often the business you start and run is an extension of yourself, to the degree that the business might literally live and die with you. While we often discuss topics such as business development, marketing, products, finances, innovation and the like, we rarely talk about depression and other mental illnesses. As a matter of fact, I don’t think…

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As a business leader of a large company, there’s no shortage of responsibilities on your shoulders. This is the way you prefer it — you can maintain oversight to ensure everything is running smoothly. But when it comes to maintaining client relationships, you know you have to let your employees take the lead so every client gets the specialized attention they need to keep their…

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Innovation generally means creating more effective processes and products. For a business, it can mean the implementation of new ideas, creating dynamic products and improving current services and products. If handled correctly, innovation is a potential catalyst for business growth and success. It can also help your business adapt to and ultimately dominate a new market.

Question 8: Which customer organizations should we target first? We started the market assessment series to take a deeper look into the best ways to analyze a new market when entering it. From market size and segmentation to competition and profit margins we discussed many crucial aspects of market assessment. In this 8th and final part, we’ll discuss the importance of understanding your ideal customer.

Small and medium-sized businesses are often tempted into thinking that they don’t need to market their products or services. This complacency usually arises when the business has a loyal set of customers and growing revenues and profits. The company owner thinks that when the firm already has more customers than it can handle, it would be a waste to spend on business development.

According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, truly great companies don’t scramble to adapt to the future but instead adapt and work to create the future. This includes anticipating, adapting and reacting to new technologies and integrating one’s business model. The article also points to the case of Microsoft, where the CEO dismissed the iPhone and claimed it would never gain significant market share;…

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Question 7: What sort of margins are expected in the new market and how do these compare to the overall margins in our company? In the previous article we discussed the matter of sizing up competitors in the new market. In this seventh part of our market assessment series, we’ll look into another crucial aspect – profit margins.

Recommended Reading: How Small Business Owners Are Leading the Country in Innovation If you have been in business for a while, you and your staff probably have had some great ideas about how to improve your business. The interesting thing is, you are not alone. As a matter of fact, according to Patricia Greene, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Babson College in her article, “How Small Business…

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Every small business needs an easy to use and reliable accounting software that tracks the company’s finances accurately. Entrepreneurs cannot afford to spend a great deal of time on monitoring their firm’s accounting records. What they require is a robust software package that is capable of providing the reports and data needed to run the business efficiently. Fortunately, there are a number of high-quality small…

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Question 6: Who will our competitors be in the new market? Why do customers buy from these market players? And above all, what do we need to do to make them buy from us? In the sixth part of our market assessment series, we’ll discuss one of the most crucial aspects of entering any market – the competition. Who will your company, your products and…

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There has been plenty of conversation lately around outsourcing jobs, with the topic being a primary talking point during the recent presidential election. Moving jobs overseas has much-discussed benefits, not the least of which include lower costs. However, in our new geopolitical climate, research shows that there are plenty of reasons — profitability being a key motivator — for insourcing – to return these jobs to…

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Every business owner needs to monitor his company’s cash flow very closely. In large organizations, this task is usually delegated to the CFO. Even if there is an entire department handling a company’s cash resources, it is essential for the CEO to remain directly involved in this activity.

Question 5: What are the different market segments? Do we need to enter in all or just a few of these segments? Which segments are expanding and which are shrinking? Market segmentation is a crucial part of a marketing strategy, especially one being utilized when entering a new market. In this fifth part of our market assessment series, we’ll discuss the importance of market segmentation.

Every business needs to establish a strong emotional link with its customers. The best way to do this is to create a business brand that conveys those qualities that you want your product or service to represent. Companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft have built brands that embody their corporate values and which help them to attract new clients. A business with an effective brand…

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Question 4: What are the new market’s buying habits and how can these be exploited? Knowing the buying habits of a market is critical for any business hoping to sell in that market. This is what we’ll discuss in this post, the fourth in our market assessment series.

The ability to analyze and deploy business intelligence (BI) data is increasingly becoming a competitive differentiator in today’s marketplace. By 2018, most business users and analysts will have access to self-service BI tools, Gartner projects. Companies that use data are five times more likely to make decisions much faster than the competition, three times more likely to execute decisions as intended and twice as likely…

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