We all are SALES PERSON for some kind of Products or Services if we are in Business.
The much-required profession is SALES, through which revenue is fetched for the organization and hence the salespeople are paid handsomely.
But do you know What level of Sales Expertise you have?
Do you fall under the category of REACTIVE, PROACTIVE or PREDICTIVE?
What should be your next approach towards being a better version of the SALES PERSON?
It’s harder than ever to. Differentiate yourself in a market where almost all products or services look the same. People are also trying to reduce costs so they can win on price. But you can only discount for so long without spiralling into the pricing death spiral.
So, what can we do?
Let’s first walk through the 3 levels of salespeople (obviously, I want you to be at level 3).
If you understand where you’re at today and I can push you to Level 3 then pricing and competitive differentiation will melt away when you know how to do Level 3 sales activities.
Level 1: You solve a customer’s problem. You react to their problem and tell them how your product or service can help them. You’re reacting and responding to their problem – nothing wrong here.
BUT…
If we want to up our game, we go to Level 2. This isn’t about the client telling you what is wrong, this is about you identifying and highlighting a problem the customer has, making them aware, and then providing the solution. This is a more proactive approach. As a Level 2, you can see ahead and consult on options. This is where most of the best salespeople are.
If you want to get to the top of the top – what you want to do is anticipate the problem the customer is going to have and explain to them why they need to expeditiously make a move with your product or service. This is the true Consultative Mode.
People want for you to identify problems they’re having, but if you can anticipate a problem they have before it has caused any issues (revenue loss, unnecessarily high costs), you’ll gain their trust and confidence in you and your product.
Most companies are so focused on short-term results, they’re not looking at the long-term pitfalls. When you come in you have an objective perspective and you can zoom out and see a high-level perspective of where things are going for your clients.
This requires a little more research and thought on your part, however. You’ll have to understand:
Their product
What they’re offering
Their customer bases
The market (of your product and your client’s product).
Customers will stop seeing prices or differentiators. They begin to see you as that person who will guide them and become a partner in their business. Instead of a salesperson or supplier, you become part of their ‘team’. This is how you win in today’s hyper-competitive market.
Alok Kumar, the Founder & Senior Business Consultant at THE BUSINESS EUTOPIA, was honoured with the esteemed “ENTREPRENEUR of the Year, 2022” award today (21/7/22) at the “The Indian Achiever’s Forum held its 62nd National Summit on “Atmanirbhar Bharat: Vision of New India”.
The award presentation took place on Thursday, July 21, 2022, at the Le Meridien Hotel, Windsor Place, Sovereign-2, Janpath.
This award is an acknowledgment of Alok’s exceptional professional accomplishments and his contribution to establishing an independent India.
Alok believes that India possesses robust skill sets in personal and professional domains of knowledge and expertise, which can be converted into a successful business. The only missing thing is an architecture with a full-fledged framework, which Alok and his team has created and have been helping individuals, Solopreneurs, Entrepreneurs, SME’s & Business Houses to start and create sustainable & profitable business.
Alok was honored with the award of ENTREPRENEUR of the year 2022.
The Indian Achievers’ Forum recognizes exceptional achievements by organizations and people who influence India’s socio-economic well-being. The forum discussion focuses on “how successful achievers may contribute to the country’s social development.” As India celebrates 75 years of independence in 2022, this year’s theme for the National Summit was ‘Leadership next for Atmanirbhar Bharat’, with the key focus on self-reliance, and self-sustenance, adopted by the Government of India and making India a part of the global economy.
The Indian Achiever’s Forum honored THE BUSINESS EUTOPIA for our outstanding work performance and year-long contribution to nation-building, and we are appreciative and humbled. This acknowledgment motivates us to continue developing customized solutions to help Individuals, Solopreneurs, Entrepreneurs, SME’s & Business Houses to optimize processes, design systems and to grow further with the help of personal mentoring & monitoring and utilizing the latest tools & technologies. Additionally, this recognition encourages us to keep up excellent work and be flexible enough to stand out in a competitive market.
Alok is a self-motivated and visionary entrepreneur and FOUNDER of THE BUSINESS EUTOPIA (https://thebusinesseutopia.com).
Alok is an engineer (B. Tech – Manufacturing Engineering) from NIAMT, Ranchi; A Post-Graduate in Business Administration from EMERITUS INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, SINGAPORE and A Digital Marketing Expert from IIT, Delhi.
He started his career as a GET with EMIRATES TECHNO CASTING LLC, UAE. Coming back to India, he re-started with M/s Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd, then to Business Octane and reached the regional authority level with M/s Wipro Ltd.
Alok founded M/s Adwitiya Strategic Solutions Pvt Ltd (https://eadwitiya.com) in 2010 with multiple building material products specializing into Office Modular furniture, LED lights, designing and turnkey solutions. Further diversified into LED mirrors and IoT based automation products (www.aotpl.com) like smart switches.
He is also recognized as a well-known contributor to many open-source communities and a thought leader in the domains of Business Coaching and Professional Digital Marketing services (https://thrive5x.com).
He has authored two books : “Sahaj ki Saanjh” (https://www.amazon.in/dp/B089RKBCMD/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apan_ZARZ9GEF7H2CF39CB2W7) and “Brothers in Lockdown” (https://www.amazon.in/dp/B08CHMDSJX/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apan_NVZJ7CH5ZQ1VG059Y87F) as his natural passion towards literature.
He is the innovator and driving force behind the expansion of the Adwitiya Strategic Solutions Pvt Ltd, The Business Eutopia, Automation of things Pvt Ltd and THRIVE5X.
The term VUCA has become very common in business and it’s probably never been as relevant as it is right now. The VUCA acronym stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity and is used to describe situations that are difficult to understand, making it hard to predict the outcomes of any actions taken.
Simply put, VUCA is a way of saying, “Things are hard to understand and predict at the moment!” and while this sentiment is often true, VUCA can help provide some structure and clarity around the problems that an organisation might face. One danger of VUCA however, is that people use it as a way of avoiding planning and strategy by focusing on the idea that you can’t plan for a VUCA world.
Where does VUCA come from?
VUCA was first introduced as an idea in the late 1980’s by the US Army War College who used the concept to develop strategic leaders. In 1991, Herbert Barber officially used the term in his article in the Journal of Management Development titled, “Developing strategic leadership: The US Army War College experience.” where he stated that the college derived these ideas from the book of Warren Bennis and Burt Namus Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge.
In Barber’s article, it was established that the war college decided to use the VUCA acronym as a way to help their students (typically senior military officers) characterise the turbulent times they would face as they progressed into strategic roles. In military context, the acronym was used primarily to mark the early situation in Afghanistan at that time, which was hard to predict.
The idea of VUCA was soon picked up by the civilian community who began to realise that elements of VUCA also applied to the volatile markets and difficult conditions that businesses often face. The VUCA concept began being applied to boardroom discussions where it influenced decision making and was used as a method of understanding where there was a lack of predictability and so helping improve business performance.
What does VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) mean?
The four components of VUCA can be summarised as follows…
Volatility is about the increasing pace of change, whether that be in the markets, the industry or in the world in general. It’s clear that things change constantly and even the way that things change is changing. In recent times, this volatility has been magnified by both technological advancement and globalisation. It’s also noted that the more volatile the world is, the more things change and what is right today, may not be right tomorrow.
Uncertainty is about the extent that we can reasonably predict the future. We can’t rely on our capacity to identify what will happen in a business environment and the more uncertain things are, the harder they are to predict. It is becoming harder and harder to forecast what is going to happen and the likelihood of surprises has risen.
Complexity is about the many different and interconnected parts of problems that we face. The more elements of an issue or environment there are, the more difficult it becomes to analyse and come to a rational solution. Where things are complex, an action can have consequences that are not foreseen.
Ambiguity is about not having enough clarity regarding a problem to make an informed decision about it. Information may be incomplete, contradicting or too inaccurate to draw definite conclusions. Where there is ambiguity, you are facing the unknown with a lack of clarity, no simple answers and multiple layers to problems and the current situation.
How is VUCA useful in a business setting?
Developing a good understanding of VUCA can help modern leaders better appreciate the rapidly changing landscape in the current business world and the challenges that leaders face. It’s important that today’s leaders understand the expectations placed on them and to ensure they have the abilities and mindset to adapt to these challenges. These leaders need to be adaptable and have the appropriate mental and emotional skills to manage uncertainty and risk.
Aside from helping prepare leaders, VUCA can act as a checklist of the key factors an organisation should be considering with their decision making. It gives some clarity about the issues faced and helps to focus on the knowns and unknowns in the context of business challenges faced both internally and externally.
A useful checklist is the VUCA Matrix, which was developed in 2014 by Nathan Bennet and G. James Lemoine and published in a short article at the Harvard Business Review. It demonstrates the four VUCA elements working in relationship with each other.
This matrix is a useful guide to help you identify, get ready for, and respond to events in each of the four VUCA categories.
Why is VUCA important?
VUCA provides a model that helps people understand the reality of the challenges faced by businesses and organisations that they may feel they have little control over. It helps them to understand that the VUCA world is a common factor in both life and business, so learning to navigate them is crucial to long term success.
VUCA will always impact the decision making process for organisations and the people within them. It will affect how they make plans, manage risks, adapt to change and solve problems. We can’t necessarily rely on the old methods of forecasting and planning and so need to adapt our methods and approach these issues in new and creative ways. It helps us to devise plans that are able to adapt to constant changes and flex where flex is needed.
Ultimately, VUCA helps us to realise that old ways of working cannot be relied upon and to succeed in a VUCA world means being agile and having the ability to adapt to the changing winds. Our journey is not always going to be linear and there has become a real need to live in the moment and change when needed.
Trainer Bubble provide an e-learning course that helps develop your employees knowledge and understanding of VUCA. Visit the link to find out more. You can also explore VUCA in unison with other useful tools with our VUCA, Agile and Scrum e-learning course.
Why can’t electrical vehicles be powered with Solar Panels?
Or is it going to be the next industrial revolution?
In India, as on date approx. 70% of the electricity is being generated through coal, which is a diminishing natural resource.
We are talking about Electrical Vehicles, definitely a great idea, but is it really going to help us save the environment?
How are we going to power those electrical vehicles?
Lithium-ion Batteries?
BEVs use electric motors and motor controllers instead of internal combustion engines (ICEs) for propulsion. They derive all power from battery packs and thus have no internal combustion engine, fuel cell, or fuel tank.
Electric Vehicles are powered by electricity from an outside source, such as a home or public charging station. Since they are powered by electricity and not burning fuel, battery electric vehicles do not physically emit any greenhouse gases.
Electric cars rely on regular charging from the local electricity network. The power plants providing that energy aren’t emission-free; even in California, 60% of electricity came from burning fossil fuels in 2015, while solar and wind together made up less than 14%.
My 2 questions to all the EV manufacturers/Regulatory governments authorities/environmentalists/Investors/Researchers ARE:
ARE WE REALLY HELPING ENVIRONMENT TO FLOURISH OR IS IT JUST ANOTHER MYTH??
ARE WE MOVING TOWARDS A CLEANER AND GREANER EARTH??
Would love to get answers from the experts?
I’m big fan of technological innovations and try to keep myself updated not in terms of knowledge but also implementing that knowledge in practical senses.
I have little knowledge of this particular subject but am really concerned and thought to ask.
Your comments and answers please!
Adding more, I want to tell all the EV manufacturers like Mr. Anand, Mr. Ratan Tata Ratan Tata, the big business houses and the government Mr. Nitin Gadkari that our country is still running on fossil fuels.
The Lithium-ion batteries are just power storage devices. To charge this major chunk of upcoming electrical vehicles, how are we going to produce electricity?
It’s like lowering the carbon footprints on the roads and increasing the carbon footprint in the air. Pollution level near to the earth’s surface would be lesser but it would more in the atmosphere overall.
Every Technological advancement comes with some benefits and some demerits.
If we are on the way to innovate something for the long term, why don’t we think of a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution?
The ONLY solution which I see is to integrate the EV power requirements with Solar energy.
As a kid, I used to think a lot about technological upgradation with time. Few examples I would like to quote here:
Long back in early 90’s, I could foresee that every house would have their own DISC ANTENNA. It is with us today by the name DTH.
I had imagined a movable / cordless phone, which later developed into WLL and now mobile phones.
I foresee every house having its own solar power supply in the near future and many more like this.
There are upcoming virtual and augmented reality products and services; which means you imaging something and you can have a picture of the same. The 3D printing is one of those.
Looking forward to the real innovation towards helping human species with a better environment for the next generations.
There are too many incompetent men in coaching and mentoring business — in large part because people believe in people on the basis of charisma, confidence, and even narcissism.
I really appreciate the efforts of the real mentors and coaches who have transformed the lives of the people in true senses.
It has been predominantly observed that during the covid times and continuing, lots of people have become coaches and trainers, assuming that this is a marketplace to make short term money.
Self-branding, engaging people with their real and fake stories and making themselves visible first and then looting people in the name of giving 5X/10X business growth and so on.
Social media has been a boon for them in promoting themselves at a low cost.
The point here which I want to make is that people should be able to distinguish between CONFIDENCE & COMPETENCE.
A confident person and a good communicator, don’t necessarily mean to be a good coach or mentor.
Telling stories and giving solutions to real business challenges are entirely two different aspects.
The worst part is that buyers just take decisions after seeing a few testimonials ( mostly fake or paid), not checking on their qualifications and credentials.
Not all, but a few people get trapped as they love to hear stories and lose their hard-earned money. The result is depression, anxieties etc.
Hence, a sincere request – Don’t promote incompetent people, Don’t trust people with closed eyes and closed minds.
Fortunately, you can use scientifically valid assessments to measure the traits you want (or don’t want) in your coach/mentor. You can ask coaches to take self-assessments, and then measure their responses against their coaching style, performance, and effectiveness. The resulting data will help identify patterns that characterize good and bad mentors.
Of course, this practice will take time and effort, and many people won’t want to invest those resources. But vetting coaches for a real positive outcome will pay dividends down the line.
Our motherland, our country, Our BHARAT is a unique example in the world for having UNITY IN DIVERSITY and following the principles of VASUDHAIWA KUTUMBAKAM.
There are numerous diversities across the length and breadth of the country.
Diversities in climate,
Diversity in language,
Diversity in food,
Diversity in clothes,
Diversity in religion,
Diversity in culture,
Diversity in traditions,
Diversity in thoughts,
Diversity in actions…. And so on;
But STILL, WE ARE ONE since ages.
Turmoil keeps coming in different formats when we feel that the country’s unity, security and fraternity are at stake, but things do get normalized.
Keeping in mind these varied diversities and to bring people to one notion of patriotism, here is my suggestion:
Our Indian National Flag “TIRANGA” to be present MANDATORILY at all places:
Airports
Railway stations
Metros
Mono rails
Bus Depots
All govt and Pvt organization buildings
All commercial buildings like malls, shopping complexes
On bridges, tunnels, flyovers, ropeways, sky rides
All individual shops
All residential apartments
All individual houses
All builder flats
All educational institutions right from preschool to the highest degree in existence.
All parks, gardens, zoos, exhibition centres, museums
All historical monuments
I mean, it should be EVERYWHERE.
The implementation should be done following some norms:
The TIRANGA should be always upright straight at 90 degrees
There should be four defined sizes of TIRANGA – SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE
SMALL SIZE – Say 3 feet for individual residences and shops
MEDIUM SIZE – Say 6 feet for commercial complexes
LARGE SIZE – Say 10 feet for small campuses
SUPER LARGE SIZE – Say 30 feet or more for Monument and humongous campuses
The colour and cloth material should be scientifically chosen for long-lasting and renewal should be done periodically so that neither the TIRNAGA should fade, tilt or get torn.
The dos and don’ts should be pre-defined.
As a citizen of the country, similar to paying taxes, it should be made compulsory.
JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT.
ONE COUNTRY, ONE MOTTO, ONE SPIRIT.
Alok Kumar
(A proud Indian with heart and soul, on a mission to bring INDIA TOGETHER like NEVER BEFORE)
Why are some seemingly bright and promising employees held back by low- motivation?
When someone isn’t motivated, these are typically the symptoms:
Not on time
Not diligent
Procrastinating
Uncooperative
Argumentative
Negative
Refuse to be held accountable
Quality of work is lacking
All of these symptoms can be traced back to one or more root causes.
I’ve noticed 3 categories of what holds a team back from being motivated.
Fear
Sometimes people don’t know what to do or how to do it. Solution: Train them and help them retain the information. By showing them step-by-step how to do it, the fear of failure is greatly reduced.
I had a client yesterday on a coaching call. They were talking about how certain people weren’t executing on cold calls. I asked my client, “what does your team have in front of them in terms of a roadmap?”
Was there onboarding training? Do they know how to block/handle objections?
They didn’t have much in place to teach these things and, as a result, fear of the cold calling process was holding them back.
Our job as managers is to show them how and give them the roadmap.
Apathy
When you don’t see value in what you’re doing, how it’s helping you, or helping the company goals, you become apathetic.
If you’re not consistently tying actions (cold calling, presentations) to positive outcomes, your employees are probably thinking: “What’s the point in doing this?”
Connect the task to the value and outcome.
We are creatures of self-interest. When we do something, it’s because it is going to serve us somehow. If we don’t see how it serves us, we won’t be motivated.
Skepticism
Simply put: they don’t believe that it’s really going to work. Maybe your employees tried cold calling in the past and didn’t immediately get great results and became skeptical that it could work for them.
When someone is a skeptic, someone is thinking that a goal is too hard to reach, they don’t have the skills, or it’s impossible for them to achieve.
The job of the manager is to reduce the skepticism by showing them how it can work and how it is possible to be successful.
Whether through training, leading by example, or investing in professional development, this mindset can usually be changed for the better.
These 3 ‘Mental Brakes” are mindset blocks that are holding your team back and we have to manage these “Mental Brakes” in our teams if we’re not satisfied with motivation/performance levels. Our job as managers is to show them a roadmap and teach them skills, show value, and show them that it can be done and that success is possible.
We are hearing these terms often now like Industry 4.0, web 3.0, Quality 4.0 etc. and all these sounding like the names of tech sci-fi movies. In this article, let’s see what Industry 4.0 actually is on a macro level.
In fact Industry 4.0 refers to the 4th Industrial Revolution, a phase in the evolution of industries specially manufacturing and supporting processes.
We have had three Industrial Revolutions in the past, the first happened during the 18th century, with mechanization.
The Second Industrial Revolution took place around the early 20th century with advent of automobile industry with improved manufacturing processes and assembly lines.
The Third Industrial Revolution took place in the 1960s and 70s with more use of computers and related implementation of digital technology.
Industry 4.0 really started to take shape in the 2010s, as computers became more powerful and the internet became more interconnected than ever before. The main change was the introduction of the smartphone (The iPhone 3G in 2009), as it brought exponential development of applications which could link devices, and the widespread use of Bluetooth and wireless technology.
These days, the term Industry 4.0 is commonly used as a buzzword for smart manufacturing, and supporting smart processes by interconnecting and integration of the processes for simplification by using the exponential technologies.
The main idea of Industry 4.0 is to create a well-rounded and holistic ecosystem for manufacturing processes, technology and applications. This idea of smart manufacturing will revolutionize how products and services are developed, processed, transported, retained, inspected and lead to more automation and less routine manual labour and resources.
The 9 core pillars of Industry 4.0 and its development are:
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is extremely relevant and increasingly important for a multiple reason. It represents the next wave of technology driving efficiency across all operations not just in manufacturing but transactional and service processes.
Failing to adopt the new technology of Industry 4.0 will cause organizations to fall behind, competition.
In technology strategy, the “second half of the chessboard” is a phrase, coined by Ray Kurzweil. Many of us know the wheat grain and chessboard story…In that While the number of grains on the first half of the chessboard is large, the amount on the second half is vastly large Organizations need to assess industry 4.0 readiness and act fast and act fast.
Is your organization industry 4.0 ready?
At what level you are?
Is your technology strategy aligned to industry 4.0?
Let’s start with understanding Business. What is Business?
Elon Musk once said that your business is like your baby. One time in his career, he was in a catch 22 situation where he had only a substantial amount of money left which could fund only one of the two companies. If he decides to put all his money in one company then the other must die and vice-versa.
Thankfully, both the companies survived the abysmal situation and are now making a huge fortune. Taking the idea from the above-mentioned situation, what we can observe is that the life of a business person or an entrepreneur is far more difficult and different from that of a normal human being taking everyday decisions by being an employee of someone else.
The way you see things, the way you make decisions, and the way you act upon those decisions is entirely different in a different shoe.
But how do you think you can start a successful business up and running without even an inch of difficulty coming your way?
The answer to this may be different at different platforms and it might be all-pervasive. But one thing is sure, no matter how big a person you are or how big your business may be you ought to face difficulties!
A business is an organization comprising people who strive together to achieve common objectives and goals. It is important for a business organization to have a vision that implies what it intends to achieve in the future and values that represent the organization’s integrity.
A business organization is a commercial, industrial, or mercantile enterprise, and comprises the people who constitute it. Business is a legally recognized organization that provides goods, services, or both to the consumers.
The fundamental idea regarding business is that it is an economic activity where the products or services are exchanged for money in order to solve one or more purposes.
The purpose of every business is to serve customers well. It has to deliver value by offering good quality goods/services at an affordable price. To survive and flourish in the economic jungle, businesses have to win the hearts of customers by putting resources to the best use. Businesses, essentially, exist for customers.
How to run a successful business?
Running a successful business is simple if you start with a strong foundation. This includes:
Ideation and Developing a Business Plan.
Business Research and narrowing to one, which best suits you and the market.
Understanding customer challenges and needs.
Market psyche and demands.
Your uniqueness and approach.
Continuous learning and improvement.
Adapting the latest tools and technologies.
How to run a small business successfully?
If you are running a small business, the following points should be considered on priority:
Your trust.
Your reach.
Your serviceability.
Your relationships.
Your credibility.
Running a small business becomes easier if you make yourself genuine in words and actions.
How to make a successful online business?
A successful online business needs more credibility than that of an offline business. Three key parameters work here the most:
Your visibility on the online platforms i.e., your website, your social media channels, your online promotions etc.
Your irresistible offerings to your customers are laded with freebies and additional benefits which kills the objections.
A proper service/support system.
How to build a strong brand identity?
A brand identity is an image and the perception formed in the customer’s mind. To build a strong brand identity, you have to do the following:
Start working in an exclusive domain i.e., your micro-niche.
Be genuine and give more value to your customers than expected.
Be active and keep engaging your audience on different platforms by asking suggestions, motivating, polls and quizzes etc.
Showcase testimonials and ask for genuine feedback from real customers. Don’t fake it.
Accept your mistakes and keep improving the systems, processes and flaws.
Who are your best and worst customers?
The best customers are those, who buy once and start trusting you for more such transactions. They become repeat customers and they demand for more and more. They are the people who would help you create newer and better products with their feedbacks and demands.
There is no one as a worst. Either the expectations are not made clear or they don’t need your products/services. These people are just spectators or explorers.
You should know where to invest your time and energy. Not everyone would be your customer, for sure.
Keys to a successful business
Success is a result of consistent efforts in the right direction and right perspective. It is followed by research and efforts.
Simple keys to a successful business are:
Understand who you are?
What is your USP?
Why a customer would buy from you?
What is the pain behind the pain? What problems or challenges are you going to solve with your product/services?
How intense is the pain of your customer?
How to know who are your customers?
An interesting fact is that a customer doesn’t tell you the real problem but needs a solution. He buys you first in his mind and then moves ahead for your products/services.
To know who your customer is, you need to be one of his best friends. Here are the steps to know who your customers can be:
Listen with empathy.
Connect genuinely.
Provide a solution with authority.
Talk about several such solutions which you have given in the past, with whom he could connect easily.
Show him the benefits of your products/services which are solving his problems. The bridging is of utmost importance.
What makes a business profitable?
In simple terms when your intake from your customers is more than the expenses that occurred, your business is profitable.
But ultimately that is the outcome. The factors which make the business profitable are as follows:
Your USP/ your uniqueness.
Your team and the people around you.
Your helping approach towards your customers.
Your understanding of your customers and the market demands.
Your continuous improvement strategy to give your customers “THE BEST”.
What makes a business more likely to succeed?
There is neither a Cake-Cutter formula nor a red/blue pill to business success. It’s unique for every industry and it varies with every product/service.
A business is more likely to succeed when you build trust and live up to the trust of your customers through your unique products and services which either help them to resolve their worries/challenges or provide them with an opportunity to become better versions of themselves.
You have moved above your penny-pincher approach towards helping your customers.
What are the 5 major business functions?
Right from ideation to the ultimate delivery of the products/services to the customers, every business function is critical. Out of those, the 5 major business functions are:
Marketing – The creation and maintenance of exchange relationships
Management – The team, the bosses; the decision-makers
Operations – The day-to-day activities of an organization
Production – Creating or obtaining products for sale
Finance – Managing financial resources and records
along with resources, goods and services, and scarcity.
What are the qualities of a good business?
A good business comes from the combination of your heart and mind both.
Here are the top 10 qualities of a good business:
üWillingness to take chances
üUnique value
üTenacity
üCustomer-centric approach
üGood marketing
üStrong vision
üPassionate leaders
üEmpowered employees
üAdaptability
üDiversity
Is there a formula for successful entrepreneurs?
Yes, there are formulas for successful entrepreneurs. These formulas have been tested by more than 20K successful business owners/entrepreneurs. Here are they:
Formula #1: G = E*H*C
Where;
G – Growing your Business
E- Explore your customer
H – Help your customer
C – Choose your customer
Formula #2: K = W1*W2*H
Where;
K – Knowing to do
W1 – What to do?
W2 – Why to do?
H – How to do?
Formula #3: R = U*D1*D2
Where;
R – Running a Successful Business
U – Understanding your TIME WORTH
D1 – Doing things by yourself
D2 – Delegating or outsourcing to someone else.
Formula #4: Six Sigma Rule = D*M*A*I*C
Where;
D – Define
M – Measure
A – Analyze
I – Improve
C – Control
Formula #5: I = I1*I2*I3
Where;
I – Inspire the World
I1 – Innovate
I2 – Invent
I3 – Improve and Implement
Successful business during lockdown:
At the start of the pandemic, online orders rocketed for the industries improving life in lockdown. Almost one year on, we explore how these industries are faring now.
Back in March 2020, products ranging from pasta kits and pyjamas to exercise equipment and ergonomic chairs flew off the online shelves. As well as buying from online brands, people were recommending them to others.
Based on the data we captured, we found the following industries booming during the lockdown and they are continuing to grow.
Brand identity is the noticeable elements of a brand (for instance – Trademark colour, logo, name, symbol) that identify and differentiate a brand in the target audience mind. It is a crucial means to grow your company’s brand. Brand identity is the aggregation of what all you (i.e. an organization) do.
Brand identity stems from an organization, i.e., an organization is responsible for creating a distinguished product with unique characteristics. It is how an organization seeks to identify itself. It represents how an organization wants to be perceived in the market.
An organization communicates its identity to the consumers through its branding and marketing strategies. A brand is unique due to its identity. Brand identity includes the following elements – Brand vision, brand culture, positioning, personality, relationships, and presentations.
Brand identity is a bundle of mental and functional associations with the brand. Associations are not “reasons-to-buy” but provide familiarity and differentiation that’s not replicable getting it. These associations can include signature tune (for example – Britannia “ting-ting-ta-ding”), trademark colours (for example – Blue colour with Pepsi), logo (for example – Nike), tagline (for example – Apple’s tagline is “Think different”), etc.
Brand identity is the total proposal/promise that an organization makes to consumers. The brand can be perceived as a product, a personality, a set of values, and a position it occupies in consumers’ minds.
Brand identity is all that an organization wants the brand to be considered as. It is a feature linked with a specific company, product, service or individual. It is a way of externally expressing a brand to the world.
Brand identity is the aggregation of what all you (i.e. an organization) do. It is an organizations mission, personality, promise to the consumers and competitive advantages. It includes the thinking, feelings and expectations of the target market/consumers. It is a means of identifying and distinguishing an organization from another. An organization having a unique brand identity have improved brand awareness, a motivated team of employees who feel proud working in a well-branded organization, active buyers, and corporate style.
Brand identity leads to brand loyalty, brand preference, high credibility, good prices and good financial returns. It helps the organization to express to the customers and the target market the kind of organization it is. It assures the customers again that you are who you say you are. It establishes an immediate connection between the organization and consumers.
Brand identity should be sustainable. It is crucial so that the consumers instantly correlate with your product/service.
Brand identity should be futuristic, i.e, it should reveal the associations aspired for the brand. It should reflect the durable qualities of a brand.
Brand identity is a basic means of consumer recognition and represents the brand’s distinction from its competitors.
