Suggestions For Small Business Success
Your competition would love to catch you by surprise the next time you introduce a new product or service. Secrets, after all, are worth money to a business, which often gives one company an edge over it’s rivals.
1. Buy your competitors products
The first and often the most useful step in commercial intelligence is simply to go out and buy the product your competitor produces. Test it, take it apart and analyze it’s cost of production.
2. Study your competitors territory
Within many industries, little communities spring up whose members frequent the same restaurants, work in the same buildings, etc. It pays to spend time in these common areas.
3. Read the right publications
Your industries trade journal is required reading. It is impossible to go very far beyond the information found there, even on a budget.
The Wall Street Journal has printed speeches given by financial analysts from various corporations.
4. Befriend a securities analyst
Financial specialists must keep up with new developments in their respective fields of expertise. Prospectuses, annual reports and quarterly earnings reports are regularly mailed to all stock holders, no matter how few shares they hold.
5. Hire professional help
Many market research firms are small and reasonably priced, but well equipped to gather information we are seeking. Items from these firms include new work in research and development, etc.
6. Restrain yourself
Take care to distinguish between real intelligence and extraneous news. Read everything, but quickly dismiss and file away much of what you learn.
7. Keep your own secrets holy
If my inside information has become common knowledge, there is no point in trying to put information about a competitor to good use. It would be good to have employees to sign a non compete secrecy agreement. You need to protect the facility from outsiders. Schedule long talks with a departing employee who had access to confidential information.
*Toss out useless paperwork
8 rules for streamlining office systems
Rule 1- Always question traditional assumptions
Instead of tracking past due 60, 90 and 120 days, consider if it is past due 30 days, get it collected.
Rule 2- Define the problem before you pursue a solution
Instead of duplicating, combine things that can work together, such as, order entry/invoicing forms so that all necessary ordering and billing information could be entered at one time.
Rule 3- Ask the right questions
To produce useful answers, the system has to be created by asking the right questions. Ask- Do we really need this?
Rule 4- Keep it simple
The simpler the system, the easier it is to train a replacement.
Rule 5- People are the key to good systems
Ask the ones who will be using the system, what information they need.
Rule 6- The system must be enforced
The reports are now easy to complete, make sure they are completed.
Rule 7- Never stop looking for ways to improve the information systems
Ask-How can I make it better? Have weekly operations meetings to discuss the state of the business.
Rule 8- Keep your systems in perspective
Consistently give the customer fast, accurate answers which goes a long way in building sales.
Marketing- Will it fly?
The first thing to understand is the terrible risk in introducing any new product. It is doubted that one in 500 makes it from concept to market. It also helps if you have 20 million dollars, which is the going price today for a large company to launch a new product. It will not happen because we will it to or because we have prepared to pour our life into it.
Starting with the idea
The first thing you do is pass the most important test associated with any new product. Some call it “the I’ll be” test. For any product to be successful, it must have what marketing people call “a unique claim”. To conduct a test on the product, you have a sample of the widget for testing. Don’t worry about mass production or perfection at this stage. After testing, if it doesn’t have the appeal you desired, you still have your job, your savings and your sanity. Go no further, the widget is a dog.
Selling-Going to the top
The objective is to get your company known at higher levels and to find out more about the company you desire to sell to. The exchange with higher level people requires no real action, the calls are far easier than the nuts and bolts work of getting orders.
Instead of figuring out how to get around a secretary, which is the usual way people attempt to get in to see someone important. It has been found that a call to whoever keeps the calendar works best. Few secretaries have people come to see them, so suggest to your reps that they go directly to the gatekeepers to ask for their help.
1. Buy your competitors products
The first and often the most useful step in commercial intelligence is simply to go out and buy the product your competitor produces. Test it, take it apart and analyze it’s cost of production.
2. Study your competitors territory
Within many industries, little communities spring up whose members frequent the same restaurants, work in the same buildings, etc. It pays to spend time in these common areas.
3. Read the right publications
Your industries trade journal is required reading. It is impossible to go very far beyond the information found there, even on a budget.
The Wall Street Journal has printed speeches given by financial analysts from various corporations.
4. Befriend a securities analyst
Financial specialists must keep up with new developments in their respective fields of expertise. Prospectuses, annual reports and quarterly earnings reports are regularly mailed to all stock holders, no matter how few shares they hold.
5. Hire professional help
Many market research firms are small and reasonably priced, but well equipped to gather information we are seeking. Items from these firms include new work in research and development, etc.
6. Restrain yourself
Take care to distinguish between real intelligence and extraneous news. Read everything, but quickly dismiss and file away much of what you learn.
7. Keep your own secrets holy
If my inside information has become common knowledge, there is no point in trying to put information about a competitor to good use. It would be good to have employees to sign a non compete secrecy agreement. You need to protect the facility from outsiders. Schedule long talks with a departing employee who had access to confidential information.
*Toss out useless paperwork
8 rules for streamlining office systems
Rule 1- Always question traditional assumptions
Instead of tracking past due 60, 90 and 120 days, consider if it is past due 30 days, get it collected.
Rule 2- Define the problem before you pursue a solution
Instead of duplicating, combine things that can work together, such as, order entry/invoicing forms so that all necessary ordering and billing information could be entered at one time.
Rule 3- Ask the right questions
To produce useful answers, the system has to be created by asking the right questions. Ask- Do we really need this?
Rule 4- Keep it simple
The simpler the system, the easier it is to train a replacement.
Rule 5- People are the key to good systems
Ask the ones who will be using the system, what information they need.
Rule 6- The system must be enforced
The reports are now easy to complete, make sure they are completed.
Rule 7- Never stop looking for ways to improve the information systems
Ask-How can I make it better? Have weekly operations meetings to discuss the state of the business.
Rule 8- Keep your systems in perspective
Consistently give the customer fast, accurate answers which goes a long way in building sales.
Marketing- Will it fly?
The first thing to understand is the terrible risk in introducing any new product. It is doubted that one in 500 makes it from concept to market. It also helps if you have 20 million dollars, which is the going price today for a large company to launch a new product. It will not happen because we will it to or because we have prepared to pour our life into it.
Starting with the idea
The first thing you do is pass the most important test associated with any new product. Some call it “the I’ll be” test. For any product to be successful, it must have what marketing people call “a unique claim”. To conduct a test on the product, you have a sample of the widget for testing. Don’t worry about mass production or perfection at this stage. After testing, if it doesn’t have the appeal you desired, you still have your job, your savings and your sanity. Go no further, the widget is a dog.
Selling-Going to the top
The objective is to get your company known at higher levels and to find out more about the company you desire to sell to. The exchange with higher level people requires no real action, the calls are far easier than the nuts and bolts work of getting orders.
Instead of figuring out how to get around a secretary, which is the usual way people attempt to get in to see someone important. It has been found that a call to whoever keeps the calendar works best. Few secretaries have people come to see them, so suggest to your reps that they go directly to the gatekeepers to ask for their help.
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