21 easy steps to greatly improve your chances

Succeeding in Business Part 2

11-21

Tony Morrison

Succeeding in Business

• This is the second of a two part series designed to give yourself the absolute best chance to succeed in the business of your choice. It doesn’t matter the size of your business venture, the same rules still apply.

Tony MorrisonCEO Harcourts Real estateTasmania

11-Stand out from the Crowd

How hard is it to stand our from the crowd?

• “The surplus society has a surplus of similar companies, employing similar people, with similar educational backgrounds, working in similar jobs, coming up with similar ideas, producing similar things, with similar prices and similar quality.” Kjell Nordstrom & Jonus Ridderstrale, Funky Business

• “Companies have defined so much “Best practice” that they are now more or less identical.” Jesper Kunde, A Unique Moment

11-Stand out from the Crowd

• To be successful in today’s business world you need to stand out from the crowd.

• You need to create meaningful points of difference.

• At times being memorable is just as important as being the best.

• If you don’t stand out from the crowd you will be judged on price and not product, service, skill, knowledge or expertise.

12-Be adaptable to change

Cause change and Lead, accept change and survive, resist change and die. Ray Norda

Be adaptable to change

• To be able to change with the times you need to: – Have flexibility to adapt– Respond quickly– Have ability to recognise new opportunities– Wear multiple hats at times – Develop new areas of expertise– Be able to admit that you were wrong or that there is a

better way– Analyse problems and come up with new strategies or

solutions

– If you want your business to change, you need to change.

What happens if you don’t change with the times?

Change is never easy, but it is inevitable

Whilst change is good

13-Success has a price

The Price of Success

• No matter how good the idea, how perfect the location or how financially sound you are success still requires lots of hard work.

• The ratio is usually 20% great business idea and 80% implementation (hard work)

• To achieve success you really need to want it • Too many people give up when the going gets tough• A successful business is never just 9 to 5• Failure or success, it’s all up to you

The main reason businesses fail

• It’s not the competition,• It’s not the product,• It’s not the economy,• It’s not a poor service level,• Poor cash flow is a sign of a failing business• but in the end the main reason business’s fail

is the Business owner themselves.• It is also the main reason they succeed.

Other common reasons businesses fail

• The owner going into business for the wrong reason• Poor advice from family and friends • Being in the wrong place at the wrong time• An entrepreneur wearing themselves out or

underestimating time requirements needed to achieve success

• Family pressure on time and money commitments• Pride getting in the way of making crucial decisions

• Lack of market awareness• An entrepreneur falling in love with the product/business

and losing touch with common sense/reality• Lack of financial responsibility and awareness, taking on

too much debt• Lack of clear focus• Too much money which sees the owner make foolish

decisions which someone on a tighter budget would never make

• Being too optimistic or pessimistic

Other common reasons businesses fail

• The skill set doesn’t matter • If the mindset is wrong.• The world is full of really smart skillful failures.

The right attitude goes a long way

I neverDreamedAbout Success.I worked For it.

Estee Lauder

Don’t give up when the going gets tough

14-Belief in yourself is paramount

“If you think you are beaten, you are, If you think you dare not, you don’tIf you like to win, but you think you can’t, It is almost certain you won’t.” If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lostFor out of the world we find,Success begins with a fellow’s will –It’s all in the state of mind.” If you think you are outclassed, you are.You’ve got to think high to rise,You’ve got to be sure of yourself beforeYou can ever win a prize.” “Life’s battles don’t always goTo the stronger or faster man,But soon or later the man who winsIs the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!” From “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill

15-Work on your business, not in it

15-Work on your business, not in it

16-Where you focus is important

Never focus on making lots of money, focusing on creating a great businessIf you succeed at creating a great business, the money will flow

17-Attention to detail

18-Survey your clients

• It is absolutely critical to survey your client base to see how you are performing.

• You may not be performing quite as well as you think are.

• Things that you think are important to your clients may not be and vice versa.

• Upon getting feedback make sure you act on it or the results can be worse than not doing the survey at all.

The process of surveying your clients

• There are many surveys in existence which you can use and I have tried most of them and have developed others myself.

• The survey I have had the most success with, the best rate of reply and gained the most valuable feedback from to help improve the performance of my business is ‘Net Promoter Score’.

• See next slide for a simplified explanation Google for detailed explanation

A simplified explanation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

On a scale of 0 –10, how likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?

Detractors Neutral Promoters

Ask your clients just one question

If they rate you 0 to 6 they are detractors of your business, detrimental to it’s growth.7 to 8 are neutral in the sense that they won’t say anything negative or positive aboutyour business. The only ones that will actively promote your business in a positivefashion to help it grow are the clients who rate you either a 9 or 10.

How to work out your Net Promoter score?

19-Never stop learning

It doesn’t matter how experienced or knowledgeable you are never stop the process of increasing your skill, knowledge or expertise. If you don’t someone will sail straight past you and take your successaway.

20-Never underestimate the power of a strong brand

• Work out what you want your brand to stand for.• Is it quality, speed of delivery or service, leaders in innovation,

value for money, etc.?• Then align all your marketing to sell the vision of what you want

your brand to say about your business.• Build and protect what your brand stands for at all costs• A strong brand sets you apart from your competitors.• It creates enduring relationships with clients, prospects and

influencers.• It motivates your staff to live what your brand stands for.• It allows you to charge more than your competitors for a product or

service without losing demand.

20-Never underestimate the power of a strong brand

The French Connection Story

In the early 90’s fashion brand French Connection was getting smashed by a range of inferior but cheaper competitors. It just couldn’t compete on price and even worse it was starting to lose it’s cool youthful edge which is so important in the fashion business. One night a creative director intercepted a fax from the Hong Kong branch (FCHK) to the UK branch (FCUK) and experienced a light bulb moment. Within weeks the letters fcuk appeared on every new item of clothing, in every shop window and on every ad.Some people were outraged but most, particularly the young loved the sexy new look and all of a sudden price was no longer an issue as people were prepared to pay more for something cool.CREATE A COOL BRAND AND PRICE BECOMES IRRELEVANT

How does brand response translate to Dollars?

• If your brand can create an emotional response you will always achieve a higher price than a brand that creates a rational one.

• Creating a brand that is based on quality of product or expertise of services is the simplest way to justify a higher retail price.

• A brand that delivers an established product or service in a new or innovative manner will always justify a higher price.

• Brands that have established a reputation for going the extra mile or delivering extra service will always give the public plenty of reason to pay more.

How does brand response translate to Dollars?

• Consumers will always pay a premium for a brand that has developed a sense of trust through their products or services.

• Creating a brand that represents a niche in the market will allow you to dictate price.

What is Brand?

21-Ignore the online business world and social media at your peril

21-Ignore the online business world and social media at your peril

• More and more consumers are looking to: – Buy online– Educate themselves online– Look for references and testimonials online

(through social media)– So if you are not interacting online, promoting and

protecting your brand online, educating your clients online, you are going backwards.

Success, What does it look like?

Conclusion

• Success in business is something to be proud of as it is not easy. There are so many things to think about before you begin and then again once you start to grow. I have outlined 21 lessons but there are many more I could add. The bottom line is that most people underestimate just how much is involved in running a business and this is why so many fail in the first few years.

• I hope these lessons, many of them which have been learn’t the hard way help make success come a little easier with your business.

21 Lessons of successful Businesses

11-Make sure you stand out from the crowd12-Be adaptable to change13-Success has a price that you will need to pay14-Belief in yourself is paramount15-Work on your business, not in it16-Where you focus is important17-Attention to detail is critical18-Survey your clients and act on their responses19-Never stop Learning20-Never underestimate the power of a strong brand21-Ignore the Online business world and social media at your peril1-10 (Follow Tony Morrison on Slideshare to view)