BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Time to get back on the horse?

11/05/2012 By Mushroom Internet

Over the last few weeks and months (and for some possibly years) we have been buffeted with bad economic news. If it is not the plight of the Euro, it is the unemployment figures or the deficit or many other pieces of informatioin that makes us all feel gloomy about our prospects.

Well I say enough is enough!

We cannot sit on our hands for ever waiting for market conditions to improve. Conditions will not improve till WE do something about them. I know many companies that have had good years throughout the recession (double dip or not) Why? They have gone out and got on with business. They have not cut their marketing budgets and some have increased them and fought even harder against their competitors. They have not listened to the doom sayers and they have made their own ‘luck’

Talking to a small company recently they were moaning about the state of the Euro zone. This intrigued me as they do not export and have no intention of exporting, they do not buy from outside the UK and they only sell into a relatively small regional area. I for one cannot see how the plight of the Euro affects them. But it is an example of how companies get bogged down in the hype of the media and press instead of looking at their market and reacting accordingly.

So it is my view that having fallen off the horse it is time to get back on and ride you way out of the doom and gloom.

If you want help getting back on the horse call Bob Francis on 07941 426 807 or email me at bob.francis@sgba.co.uk or contact us

Selling into export markets

10/10/2011 By Mushroom Internet

Occasionally you come a cross a business that reminds you of what it takes to be successful. Here was a export business that was selling process control instrumentation into a well defined global niche market.

Selling was done by a UK-based sales engineer who had intimate knowledge of his market place, and with a market-leading technology, the company had been able to price its products to make a handsome profit.

Support costs were low and the products were made entirely in the UK. What more could a government want – a tax-paying export-led business that created employment in the UK!

Many different ways of selling into export markets

However, for most businesses, growing an export business is not going to be quite that straightforward.

A product that someone wants; selling it to them; shipping it; getting paid; low aftercare costs; and making a profit – in principle doing business overseas is the same as doing business at home, but it is certainly more complex, and it is the complexity that adds cost and increases business risk.

How you deal with overseas clients is key

But fundamentally it is how you access and deal with the overseas clients themselves that will determine the success or failure of your export venture, and that will depend on the territory, your product, its addressable market, your target sales volume, and the level of expertise required by sales personnel etc.

Export sales channels

Thus you will be faced with a number of options for each territory you decide to exploit. Here is a brief list of some of the alternatives:

e-commerce: mostly for low-value commodity sales supported by web-based marketing;
Telephone/fax/email: for sales of low-to-medium value commodities, services and configured products;
UK-based Sales executives: for items such as high-value engineering products, specialist niche products and software development contracts, sold through sales visits to clients’ premises;
Agents: commission-based lead generators and often sales representatives, usually for low-to medium volume, high-value goods into territories where the sales are significant;
Distributors / re-sellers: buy and re-sell your products, usually as part of a portfolio of related products into a specific market; and
Overseas offices: replacing distributors, agents or UK based sales executives, where setting up a local office either reduces the cost of selling into a territory and/or enables you to manage better important key accounts along with providing a base for installation and service personnel.

And as you grow your export business, you’ll probably end up with a mix of channels in different territories depending on local factors, whilst ensuring that each one is contributing to profit.

Posted by Peter Johnson, Business Advisor with SGBA. If you would to talk to someone about your business, or your export strategy, call Peter on 07714 093406 or email him at peter.johnson@sgba.co.uk.

Business Improvement Strategy

13/09/2011 By Mushroom Internet

Imagine a business that was trying to grow, but was making no profit, generating no cash, and not paying its owner-directors a proper salary or dividends.

By going over their business, end-to-end, and they found 27 areas where their business could be improved, and by implementing their 27-point plan, within a year they had turned their business around to a PBIT (profit before interest and tax) of 17% of sales.

They then tackled their interest payments: with help, they were able to find lower-cost working capital so that they could pursue their plans for growth, and still have enough to pay themselves a decent return.

Business improvement should be part of your business strategy

There is as lesson to be learned here about thorough and systematic business improvement: no matter whether your business is rocky like theirs, or doing reasonably well, there can be a huge benefit in having business improvement as part of your business strategy.

It can help you to:

Find new opportunities for growth;
Squeeze out additional margin, profit and cash;
Reduce your loans or overdraft;
Increase your working capital; and
Pay yourself more.

And all of this will serve to increase the value of your business when you come to sell it and move on.

Areas of where your business can be improved

There many be benefits to be found, some small, some larger, from every area of your business:

Revenues: existing customers, new customers, pricing, use of assets;
Cost of Goods Sold: development, production, procurement, service, logistics;
Overheads: costs and shared services;
Taxes;
Balance Sheet; receivables, payables, inventory, property, plant and equipment; and
General Management: planning, delivery, performance, operational capabilities, stakeholders and other external factors.

Focus on the issues where the return is worth the effort

So, as part of your annual strategy review, maybe you should crawl over your business, end-to-end, looking for areas where it can be improved.

The only caveat is, recognising your time is your money, you should only work on those areas where the return is worth the effort.

Continual Improvement

And while there may be one-shot improvements you can make, such as outsourcing an overhead function to make a net saving, there will always be those areas that need to be addressed gradually, step-by-step.

These are areas where a Continual Improvement programme can really help.

Posted by Peter Johnson, Business Advisor with SGBA. If you would to talk to someone about your business, including your business improvement strategy, call Peter on 07714 093406 or email him at peter.johnson@sgba.co.uk.

10 First Aid Marketing Tips

16/08/2011 By Mushroom Internet

One of the first items that is cut in an economic downturn is the marketing budget. Often it is perceived as expensive and it is not always easy to see that there is some benefit from the cost expended. And this might be true if you focus on the wrong things. Many would argue that the time to increase or at least maintain marketing activity is during a downturn when many of your competitors are reducing their campaigns.

Here are a few first aid tips to keep your lead generation and brand image marketing going while not spending a fortune:

Messages/Targetting

Understand clearly who your customers are. Write a specification for your ideal customer. What they are business or consumer or both; what size they are; what do they do; why do they buy from you; what do they buy from you. Once you have a clear idea ensure that all the rest of your activity addresses this ‘ideal customer’ wherever possible.
Review all marketing messages. Ensure that they speak to the range of customers you have or are targeting and that they address an issue that the potential client has.
Differentiators. How are you different from your competitors? If you are not sure try to develop a different way of approaching and communicating with your customers
(http://www.abio.ltd.uk/services/marketingplans)

Channels

How are you getting to market? Have you optimised the channels through which you sell? Are the messages created above suitable for the channels you have chosen?
Markets- are there different markets that you have not tried before?
What about Export? It is not as difficult as you might think.

Networking

For many businesses it is the preferred method for many companies to find new customers. Local chambers of commerce are a good place to start. There are trade and professional membership organisations which have networking events where you can meet potential customers. Speed networking is becoming more popular and this is an opportunity to meet 30-40 potential customers who are there for one purpose – to network with you. If you are still not sure, Google ‘networking in…. (you location)’ and you will be surprised at the number of organisations that have networking events.
Although there is a cost associated with this, it is usually minimal but the return can be substantial. Restrict yourself to a few events at first but keep at it. Good business relationships are not forged in one day.
Follow up on the contacts you meet. Too many people expect that they will get business from their one contact with someone at one of these events. Take their details and agree with them that they are happy for you to call them.

Press Releases

Under this heading falls a wide range of activities that in general only costs your time. These include news items, case studies, and technical, business or trade articles, new product releases and so on.
Often this activity is free!
There are a number of preparatory steps you need to undertake to ensure that your press release is used and not spiked like those of your competitors.
Firstly identify the journals, newspapers and trade magazines that you want your story to appear in. Then contact each of the editors by phone to discuss their requirements for style and any mechanical details they require although now it is rare for an editor not to be able to accept story and any pictures by email. Also check for upcoming features that might be suitable to tie into. Keep in touch with editors to become a ‘specialist’ to whom he can turn for industry quotes etc. Become the expert.
Make the item news worthy
Focus around the messages you want to deliver.
You will be surprised the effect this will have on your customers and may have the opportunity to generate more prospects.
Remember that there are many ezines now available so remember to submit your article to these also.
(http://www.abio.ltd.uk/downloads/feedbackform?docurl=freepress)

Websites

Does your website work for you? Is it delivering your message(s) to the target audience?
Review your home page to ensure that you talk about the benefits you can deliver rather than what you do.
Research key words to allow you to optimise your site so that it can be found when a prospect searches for those words.
Make maximum use of the tools that can be found (often for free) on the internet to maximise the effectiveness of this resource.

Emarketing

E marketing covers a variety of techniques to get your messages across to the target market. However most people use it as direct mailing techniques using emails as the medium.( http://www.abio.ltd.uk/services/emarketing)
Ensure you have all your customers’ email addresses
Build up a database of prospects email addresses. This can be done either by buying an opt in list from a list broker or by building your database by capturing the details of visitors to your website.
Send regular emails to these lists with latest offers, new products, events etc.

Newsletters

A newsletter can get across a lot more information to your prospects and customers.
You can include industry news as well as company news, technical information as well as products offers etc.
This will also build your image and credibility if you include others such as the thought leaders in your local business market, in your newsletter list

Directories

There are a number of directories which serve your market. These can be printed or online directories
Research which ones suit you and your customers and get a suitable entry reflecting you marketing messages.
Ensure where possible to get links to and from your entry to help build traffic to your site

Telemarketing

This may not at first sight be something that you might consider. However note the title is Telemarketing not telesales.
In telemarketing you can build interest through a suitably qualified telephone call and then make an appointment for your sales person to meet with the prospect
Or you can get commitment to try/buy a sample, or agree to receive further information
If you are going to do this yourself get some information about best practice and use it.

Seminars/Webinars

This is a more expensive option and takes a great deal of organisation.
For standard seminars it allows you to be seen as an expert in your field and is suitable for technical presentations, education, new product launches, workshops and many more.
Follow up afterwards to get feedback and to meet customers to discuss how your product and service can help them.

These are only some ideas that you can use to help revive your business and develop your marketing activity. Marketing is a business activity and should be integrated into the business planning process. But what ever you do make sure that you measure the results from each element of the activity so that you can understand where to put your marketing spend in the future.

Appointment making tips

25/07/2011 By

How do I get to meet key decision makers?

A question that I am frequently asked.

First, like all Sales people and marketeers, it is key to identify your target audience, and have a message (‘the hook’) that is likely to spark their interest. Once you have both of these clear in your strategy then you can act.

An exercise that has proved successful is to attend an exhibition. Research an exhibition that has some relevance to your business area of expertise. Check all the companies that are within your ‘geographical’ target, exhibition web sites make this quite easy to achieve before travelling. Take note of exactly where they are on the floor plan. Prepare a few words that demonstrate your knowledge of the subject, without it being a ‘sell’. It is vitally important to make sure that you are NOT selling here. In fact ‘selling’ to exhibitors is highly unethical, after all they have usually paid ‘big bucks’ to enable THEM to sell!

Only approach when all is quiet on the stand, its amazing how the most senior person pounces when all is quiet! Carefully chosen words (that contain ‘the hook’) should solicit the response, “Why dont you call in on me some time?”. Bingo! Yes, it does work.

A good tip is to practice first on two or three stands that you have NOT targeted, so, make any mistakes where it does not matter! You will be surprised how slick you will become when you come to your key targets!

Moving on to ‘telephone approaches’, the same philosophy should apply. Create a ‘guideline script’ (but create a means of expressing this without reading it parrot fashion). Approach several companies whom you regard as ‘peripheral targets’, and make your mistakes here, before you call the key targets.

How do I get past the ‘gate keeper’? This can be quite a skill! A good ‘gate keeper’ may be difficult to by pass. However, calling early in the morning, or late afternoon, when many may have gone home can prove successful. Perhaps you can inform the gate keeper of ‘what the boss is missing by not talking to you’. Another possibility is to get the e mail ID of the boss, in order to stimulate his/her interest with some well chosen words.

Networking events can also provide good opportunity. The down side is that you probably do not know who is there until after the event. But the day after, when you read the attendee list, and realise that you missed the very target you sought, drop an e mail to them. State that you wished you had met, reference something of note from the networking meeting, then state why it would be worth talking in more detail.

As a sales person, it is important to recognise you will probably never get to see every prospect you target. Some will prove impossible to track down. Accept it, do not take it personally. Learn from your approach, develop your style, and get on to the next prospect.

Want to brush up on these skills? Call Ian Thomas or Bob Francis at Southern Group Business Advisors on 0870 787 7590, or e mail ian.thomas@sgba.co.uk / bob.francis@sgba.co.uk.

Happy Selling!

New groups launched to help businesses in response to demand for experienced Business Advisors

20/04/2011 By Mushroom Internet

Increasing demand for experienced business advisors has driven the opening of two new local groups by UK Business Advisors (UKBA). The first is based in East Anglia and is called Eastern Region Business Advisors (ERBA). The second in Yorkshire and Humberside and is called Yorks & Humber Business Advisors (YHBA).

Like the existing BA groups, all their advisors are experienced business people who also run their own businesses, and are thus in a prime position to advise other Managing Directors and Owners. This demand has been emphasised in recently with the statement from BIS that they “have been repeatedly told by business owners that the advice they value most comes from other experienced business people.” **

With their formation there are now 11 local UKBA groups round the UK who are focused on helping the SME sector in their particular region. These are supported by 3 other specialist groups addressing the issues of Financial Support, Business Turnaround and Manufacturing in the South East.

Brian Dash, Chairman of UKBA Business Advisors, said “We are really pleased to announce the opening of these two groups. We focus on the small and medium sector which is often forgotten when it comes to business help, but who are in fact the powerhouse of the economy, and the sector that the government is looking to for increasing employment. All our help is provided by real business people who have been there, done it, and will roll their sleeves up to provide real practical help for the MDs”.

Why Should We Embrace Sustainability?

24/01/2011 By Mushroom Internet

Sustainability is one of the latest buzz words in business today. But what is sustainability as applied to businesses and isn’t it an unnecessary additional cost?

Sustainability in most people’s eyes is about ‘green’ issues. Phrases such as global warming, carbon footprint, energy reduction all spring to mind but sustainability when applied to a business should be a business philosophy and strategy. One definition of sustainability is that it is the process of protecting your business from the risks of today, and ensuring that your business can respond to the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow. This can encompass for instance embracing the challenges of changing technology, reducing waste, streamlining supply chains and many other processes.

So what are the benefits of a sustainability strategy?

A Carbon Trust report carried out by McKinsey shows that businesses adopting a sustainable strategy can drive business value by up to 80%. Indeed it also shows that failing to implement these policies and practices does serious damage to your business and can reduce its value by 65%.

The UK Climate Change & Sustainability report on spending over the next 3-5 years shows that this market will grow rapidly expecting a 14% increase in spending by 2013. This can provide a substantial growth opportunity for those willing to develop this market.

Businesses in general pay for over 30% more energy than they need. This 30% is wasted through buildings, machinery and process that are not optimally designed for peak efficiency. With increasing cost of energy this will increasingly become a substantial burden on business.

More and more buying organisations from Government departments to big business require their suppliers to be sustainable and be able to show their credentials in this area before they will do business.

Whilst there may be some initial additional costs in order to develop a sustainable strategy it can be seen that the benefits are substantial and will easily outweigh any costs.

>What Drives Your Success?

08/04/2010 By Mushroom Internet

Understand your business better and find out how you can shape it for the future.

Try our online self assessment now. It’s completely free and without any obligation. Once you’ve answered a few straightforward questions, you’ll be able to download a comprehensive report showing your strengths and areas for improvement. Your results remain confidential and will not be shared with any third party. Once you’ve received your report, one of our accredited business advisers will contact you to answer any questions you might have and to discuss improvement actions.

Our Success Driver assessment measures key indicators within your business that are critical to success. Evidence suggests that businesses with strong success drivers are more like to succeed, delivering greater profitability over a more sustainable period. During difficult economic conditions, the success drivers provide a good indicator of a business being ready to react to opportunities presented by an improving market.

We can also conduct a range of specialist assessments covering single or multiple aspects of your business or design a bespoke assessment to meet the specific needs of your business.

Our Business Assessments which include strategy, business development and marketing will help you to understand where your business is today, focusing you onto those areas where you can add most value. By assessing the functions and capabilities within your business, you get an immediate and crystal clear view of what’s holding you back, where you can make improvements and what strengths you can exploit to gain competitive advantage.

For further information contact Bob Francis at bob.francis@sgba.co.uk

>What Drives Your Success?

08/04/2010 By Mushroom Internet

Understand your business better and find out how you can shape it for the future.

We can also conduct a range of specialist assessments covering single or multiple aspects of your business or design a bespoke assessment to meet the specific needs of your business.

For further information contact Bob Francis at bob.francis@sgba.co.uk

Navigation

Messages/Targetting

Channels

Networking

Press Releases

Websites

Emarketing

Newsletters

Directories

Telemarketing

Seminars/Webinars