HOW TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN TODAY’S CHALLENGING MARKETPLACE
Last week I was talking with an entrepreneur who, with his business partner, runs a successful company which they set up together six years ago.
The business now has several employees and the work they offer is much in demand at the present time.
Dreams Can Go Stale
But now both partners feel a certain staleness about what they are doing. They are making a living in a competitive marketplace but the fun has gone out of it. And they haven’t quite got where they wanted to be after this length of time.
I felt that these people needed to take some time to sit back and re-group. They need to recognise their achievements. They created a business which, at the time they launched, was on the leading edge of new developments. They built a reputation for their work and they can point to several leading brands to show what they have done for them and are continuing to do. They are in a people skills business and they have a conscientious team working alongside them.
A New Vision is Needed
It would be easy to carry on as they are doing. But if they don’t put a new strategic vision in place now which will carry them forward for the next few years, they will gradually see their current competitive edge slipping away.
The company’s founders need to decide what they want to achieve over the next three years. (Five years is really too long a period nowadays with so much change all around).
When they have done that, they need to look at the steps that they must put in place to reach their goals.
The company may need to re-organise or re-structure. They may need to give more attention to some clients and let go of others. They may need to re-assess how they are using their current working capital and they may decide to seek more investment in order to grow.
People Usually Know What They Want
There are hundreds of decisions they could make. When directors take the time out to think about these things, they usually know what they really want to do. And they often realise just how far off course they are gradually going.
Companies can either try to do this work on their own or with one or two of their most valued colleagues. Or they can call in an outside consultant to work with them to formulate their new vision and help develop a framework as to how to achieve it.
It is Essential to Plan Ahead
When the marketplace is as challenging as it is today, many businesspeople feel chained to their desks and their computers. They feel guilty about taking time out to think and plan for the future. They don’t always appreciate the value of regrouping and rethinking.
But companies that don’t take the time to do it are not going to be around in the future. It’s as simple as that.
You have to keep looking at your business strategy and your vision and be flexible enough to change it if necessary. You have to keep doing that so that all your employees know exactly where you are going and what part their job plays in the strategy of the company. You have to do it so you can recognise what priorities you need to focus on which will drive the business forward. You have to know what direction you are going in, in order to maximise your productivity.
One thing you can be sure of – all those successful entrepreneurs who you see and hear about in the media every day definitely work this way. Because without constant clarity about a company’s strategic vision, it is impossible to achieve the results that you want.
The marketplace may be changing fast but some things always stay the same. Future planning always matters – and there are always new opportunities opening up. It is up to each individual company to make time to evaluate what is working and what is not, to give themselves the time to look out for new opportunities and to make sure they are in the best position to be able to take advantage of them.
Judy Piatkus
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