Just Run It!: Running an Exceptional Business is Easier Than you Think
Dick Cross
In this book, Cross determines that the four key components that, when taken together, describe all businesses are: customers, needs, positioning and competencies. Again, it is important to target what customer your business is intended for and clearly define it. Many companies use demographics to help define their customer base, such as the type of income, ages, family life, etc. but that does not always lead to success. The more important thing to focus on when considering customers is accurately understanding how they think. If you are able to do this, then you will be able to tap into things they really care about which will lead to a better chance of success. People buy from people; if you make connections with customers and go above and beyond the actual services and products you provide, and they are more likely to buy from people they like and who seem to understand and care about their customers. Next, focus on the needs section. Think about what your customers need that is in your zone of influence, beyond what you already do. Also think about how you can better provide for and satisfy your customers, compared to your competitors. List what is important to your customers, and then list fears they may have that you could do something about, and opportunities you have to make them feel better about themselves. These two things—reducing fear and making them feel better about themselves—are the two basic ways you can satisfy your customers needs. Try and find a point where the two lists intersect, then write down things you could do to resolve needs on both lists. Positioning deals with how your business is on the outside, as opposed to the inside. Some of these things include how your business needs to be seen by outsiders, how it will become known, the messages you will convey, and how you will stand behind those messages to assure that a prospective customer chooses you over your competitor. Logos, brochures, advertising, etc. are the beginning of this, but there is a lot more that can be done. The most powerful format to increase your positioning is through customer testimonials, ones that focus on who you are as a company and the positive experience they had, rather than the facts and prices. Because of all the options that are available to customers today, they aren’t just looking for a product or service but a company they can build a good relationship with. Building these relationships with customers comes from a wide array of things, some large and some small. It could be the way you answer the phone, greet your customers, send thank you notes, the way your website looks, employee uniforms, advertising, or anything in between. Video testimonials are even better than written ones, and most customers are happy to do them. Looking over your previous lists, write down the things you could be doing to convey to your customers who you are in all different ways, big to small. For competency, just being able to touch customers in the way other businesses in the same field can’t or aren’t builds and sustains relationships with those customers.
An effective model for running a business is three parts: vision, strategy and execution. It’s rare for a business to start because the founder has a vision; usually, they start because that person believes they have an executable idea.
30% of all new businesses fail within the first two years; 50% fail within the first four; less than 30% survive after ten. Much of this is from a flawed framework; ie, the reachable base of intended customers was too small to generate the required revenue stream, or better positioned relationships already existed in that market. We are doing good because it is going on year 3 and we are still open!
Part of vision is the core values of the company, the principles that people want to see reflected in their experiences at work, as well as aspirations about how they want to live their lives. Core values can address the following questions: What do we believe in deeply at work? What principles will we never violate? What will we attempt to reflect in everything we do, both on the inside and the outside? What do we want to stand for? To what standards will everyone be held accountable, both up and down the chain of command? In the moments of hardest decisions, where will we look to for direction? All other things being equal, what is it about the company that makes me work here rather than someplace else? A good list of core values consists of about four to six items.
Cross, Dick. Just Run It!: Running an Exceptional Business Is Easier than You Think. Brookline, MA: Bibliomotion, 2012. Print.
An effective model for running a business is three parts: vision, strategy and execution. It’s rare for a business to start because the founder has a vision; usually, they start because that person believes they have an executable idea.
30% of all new businesses fail within the first two years; 50% fail within the first four; less than 30% survive after ten. Much of this is from a flawed framework; ie, the reachable base of intended customers was too small to generate the required revenue stream, or better positioned relationships already existed in that market. We are doing good because it is going on year 3 and we are still open!
Part of vision is the core values of the company, the principles that people want to see reflected in their experiences at work, as well as aspirations about how they want to live their lives. Core values can address the following questions: What do we believe in deeply at work? What principles will we never violate? What will we attempt to reflect in everything we do, both on the inside and the outside? What do we want to stand for? To what standards will everyone be held accountable, both up and down the chain of command? In the moments of hardest decisions, where will we look to for direction? All other things being equal, what is it about the company that makes me work here rather than someplace else? A good list of core values consists of about four to six items.
Cross, Dick. Just Run It!: Running an Exceptional Business Is Easier than You Think. Brookline, MA: Bibliomotion, 2012. Print.