Winning at the Game of Business

As we established a similarity between business and sports in our previous blog article, the question is how do we win at the “game” of business?

Winning at the game of business involves a combination of strategic planning, effective execution, and continuous improvement. Here are some key strategies to help you succeed:

1. Develop a Clear Vision and Mission:

A clearly defined long term vision is important if you want your business to go far. The mission defines what your business will do for the world, what value it will bring to the communities it serves. Having the vision and mission of the company clearly defined gives direction.

2. Understand Your Market:

It’s important to understand the communities you are serving - the best way is to conduct market research, an important part of that market research is actually talking to and surveying your ideal prospective clients to understand what is needed and wanted in the market. This type of activity will help identify the gaps in the market and opportunities.

3. Create a Strong Operational Plan:

I am going to say something controversial here - unless you are going for funding through some type of institution (e.g bank) I do not recommend developing a business plan. An operational plan is sufficient. An operational plan puts into action strategic plans, looking at goals and objectives and what actions need to be taken in order to fulfill those goals. An operational plan is sufficient for an organization to be effective and successful.

4. Build a Strong Team:

People often talk about hiring the right people. Hiring the right people is a small part of the equation for business success. What is more important is training your employees thoroughly so that they are good at their job. Most  employees want to do their job well and when they have a clear picture of their goals and what they are supposed to be accomplishing, they are motivated to do well and do more. In addition, if employees have work/life balance and management cares about their wellbeing, it creates a better work environment. So, there are 3 things to consider when building a strong team: training, environment and the right hire.

5. Customer Satisfaction:

Are you delivering on what you promised your customers? Customers and clients are what feed the business, without them there is no business. On a regular basis get feedback from customers to continually improve products and services.

6. Be Adaptive:

Resilience is the key word here. How well do you and your company bounce back after a set back?  How many businesses have died being rigid in the face of change? Think, Blockbuster. Alongside resiliency, ongoing education and training is an important part of being adaptive. Any setbacks or failures are an opportunity to learn from.

7. Manage Finances Wisely:

We teach our clients to use something we call Situational formulas or Behavioural Recipes. Most of the time business owners have an emotional relationship with the financial health of their company, which leads to making poor decisions. How many times have you felt panic or paralyzation realizing that your business was not making enough money or it was losing money on a monthly basis? With the situational formulas, we remove the emotionality by charting the finances over a 4 month period and based on the type of graph you get there are a specific set of actions you take to rectify/continue/enhance the business.

8. Build a network and community:

Cultivate strong relationships with customers, suppliers, partners, and other stakeholders.

Networking and building an expert reputation in your industry can open up new opportunities.

9. Track Performance:

It’s important to set clear performance metrics and regularly track your progress. Any metrics tracked can be used to make informed decisions, know what’s working and not working and identify areas for improvement.

Winning at the game of business is a process that takes time and effort. It does not happen overnight, it takes small iterative changes to have business be successful over time.   Remember, success is a journey, not a destination.