SMB 2019 Technology Recommendations #2
John Ohman • January 14, 2019
Getting the Basics Right
As a SMB, you don't need fancy. But you DO need to have the basics in place and execute them well.
Here's a list, certainly not all-inclusive, of the basics we think all SMBs need to especially get right:
- Define your value proposition. You need to be able to succinctly communicate your value to a customer - what problem to you solve or what incremental benefit do you provide? In the business world, this is often encapsulated as "the elevator speech" - in the time it takes to travel 2-3 floors on an elevator, can you adequately describe your business proposition? It's more challenging than you think. But, once mastered, you will be able to answer the bottom line questions of "What do you do?" or "Why your business?" confidently and quickly. We have a 3 sentence "template" that will help you. Just contact us for help with this.
- Define your target audience/customer. If you can't describe your prime customer(s), you've got work to do! Who are those who would benefit most from the value proposition you described above? Who needs what you do the most? What traits do your target customers share? What do they value?
- Make sure you have a business plan
- How will your target audience learn about you?
- How will you gain new leads for your business?
- What's your process for taking leads to clients?
- How will you keep track of both your potential and actual clients?
- What's your plan?
- What type of resources (time, money, staff, equipment & facilities, etc) will it take to execute your plan?
- If you need assistance developing your business plan, we can help. Our years of business experience will supplement the technology platform we use (naturally, we use technology for this too!) to help you create & implement business planning & analytics. It's all about maximizing the likelihood of your success.
Plan for staying a step ahead. If you're standing still, you're losing ground. Focus on the emerging trends that your customers are likely to follow or be enticed by. Keep an eye on changes in both the environment in which your product or service "lives", and the processes & technologies that deliver it. If you don't get "out in front of this", a competitor or an "upstart" will!
These are some of the most important "basics". Don't think you can skip any of them - instead embrace them, get 'em right, and succeed!
