One of the most challenging things to do as a business owner is to change direction, review your own decisions and amend. It is in our innate nature to defend the decisions we have made. Time and time again people get stuck defending decisions made, at a point in time with very specific variables.
It is this fight to defend one’s initial thinking that constricts innovation and growth in the business. It is one thing to know what you are good at and a completely different story when resisting innovation in your business. We constantly mix matters believing that the policies make the business, forgetting that our clients do not admire our policies but our services.
Clients do not have access to your backend so try not to allow it to take up the bulk of your time. Set your standard operating procedures (SOP’s) and move on to service delivery.
Try not to bundle your services in such a way that the client is confused about the real value proposition.
Be very clinical with the offer to value ratio, this is one of the most complex elements in the provision of services. Value is perceived differently by every client, as a result the gradient of your offer to value ratio can be a moving target. The way to assess the middle ground and set the standard is to review the median of transaction consistency.
What is your client paying for consistently at what price? This exercise will save you time and make you money. As a small business owner, do not get caught in the “everything is bespoke challenge”. It is impossible to keep up if every client is ‘special’ and has their own special product bundle. The crux of the matter is that product range does not always equate to profitability and often challenges productivity.
Sort out that offer, why do clients seek you out?
When the offer is clear, everyone who walks through the door knows what they want.
Keep in mind that, it takes one competitor to enable and simplify the offer to disrupt the market and collapse historical market share.
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The SMME BottomLine seeks to support small businesses with advisory services in order to support sustainability and scale in the South African Small Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) sector. We do this by engaging with the opportunities big business is trying to create and mapping out the potential pathways for success. TSB offers a comprehensive compliance support service, while investigating every opportunity.
