The way we conduct business has undergone sea changes during the last couple of decades. Time is now luxury and scarce – businesses are under increased pressure to accomplish more in lesser time and in quality as well as quantity. The other aspect is reach.
Small business, though is beautiful, cannot be confined to limited demography – it has to reach as many potential patrons as possible around the world and in as little time as possible. In short new era businesses must be viral – multiply faster than ever before and reach every nook and corner, and all this in a fraction of time it took even a few years before.
New Era Businesses Vs Traditional Old-style Business
The way businesses have transformed during the last decade is virtually incomparable with what it was during the last century. Here are 3 important comparisons:
Professionalism
Traditional businesses are usually family-controlled and most important decisions are taken by individuals who have no special skill set. The individual primarily depends on his or her past experiences and instinct which does not guarantee that it will work in today’s environment. In the modern era, business is separated from ownership – there is an increased dependence on professionals who have specialized skills. Dependence on thorough market research is now a basic business step that no business can avoid.
Reach
Traditional businesses limited their demographic reach for tighter control over their employees and for ensuring near-monopoly in their areas of operation. Traditional businesses this way lose new opportunities and increased market share. New era businesses on the other hand try to reach out to a global audience which ensures higher sales, increased investments in research and faster growth. Dependence is more on talents than on employee loyalty. Constant growth takes the centre stage.
Technology
Traditional businesses shy away from diversification and technology that is the mainstay of a modern viral business. Traditional businesses don’t adopt diversification and technology for fear of losing control over the business which ultimately leads to the demise of the business itself. Modern era businesses on the on the other hand stress on technology and diversification to ensure that they are not lost in wilderness.
Viral Growth – A Necessity
It is pertinent to note that viral growth is not a choice; it is more importantly a necessity in modern era and still more important it has to come quicker. This means, the prescription for your business is viral growth. As we said earlier, time is luxury and there isn’t enough around to play with.
The days of slow and steady growth are gone – the rule is: grow virally to keep your business intact and protect it from predators who are hanging around to pounce any time. A single wrong decision or procrastination is all it takes to be overtaken by the competition.
3-Point Magic Viral Growth Formula
Outsource A Business Plan
In today’s business environment, you cannot experiment, re-experiment and go by instinct. Experimenting results spending and wasting scarce results. Instead, approach a professional consultancy to prepare your business plans. The advantage to you is you save time.
Don’t Procrastinate
Procrastinating is the worst thing that one can do to his or her business. Once you have a business plan and you have decided on implementing it, just go about putting it into practice. Every time you delay a decision, you will be harming your business.
Delegate Work
One-man businesses don’t work nowadays. This means the entrepreneur must keep to himself only the core activity and offload other work on professionals. Delegation of authority not only reduces your overhead but also gives your employees responsibility for decision-making and this in turn empowers them. Some activities that you can outsource include: market research, sales campaigns, process improvement, planning a marketing strategy, identifying problem areas in your business, technology implementation…
Self-assessment Importance
As an entrepreneur or a core business leader within an organization it is important to understand your own personality and your perception about business growth. This is more profound if you plan to start your business. Putting a start-up on a viral growth trajectory is no mean task. The first step to realizing your personality is an unbiased entrepreneurial test.
Our Business Ladder offers one of the best unbiased entrepreneurial tests that you can take from the comfort of your home or office. Uniquely, the test is designed for honing your entrepreneurial skills too.
The abltiiy to think like that shows you’re an expert