In today’s busy world, it is easy to get caught up in the idea of doing everything. Businesses are no exception, often trying to cater for everyone, do too much and overcommitting themselves. This can not only lead to professional burn out but it’s also detrimental to the health of your business.
Instead of doing ten things with reasonable results, we recommend you do three or four things but absolutely nail them. We’re talking perfect… well as close to perfect as you can get, anyway!
So, how do you go about implementing this and what can you expect when you do fewer things really really well? Keep reading to find out.
Quality over quantity
This is a well-known saying but quality over quantity is appropriate here and can be applied to multiple areas of your business. Instead of trying to cater to everyone, it’s important that you decide who your niche audience is and market yourself really well to them, rather than throwing out your marketing to everyone and hoping some of it sticks. Your products or services should target a specific person and solve a specific issue that they have. For example, at Oakwood we work with ambitious entrepreneurs and business owners who want to grow their business. They’re often well established and are looking for their second stage of growth.
Similarly, building a loyal audience of regular customers is vital. It’s much easier and less costly to sell to an existing customer than it is to sell to a new one, so be strategic with your decision making and prioritise customer satisfaction.
Additionally, it’s important to focus on your core skills and strengths. This can not only apply to you as a person, but it can also apply quite literally to what is and isn’t going well for your company. For example, if you’re beavering away on social media and not reaping the rewards but your email marketing campaigns are going really well and generating a lot of revenue, focus on those emails! Grow your list, and keep sending valuable content. You don’t have to stop using social media altogether but rather than putting half of your effort into each thing, it’s often better to focus on the one successful channel and nurture that.
This is of course just an example; it doesn’t have to apply to those exact subjects. Take some time to think about what your company does well and use that to narrow down what you should be focusing on.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew
It can be tempting to say yes to every single customer, client, or business opportunity. This is ultimately a recipe for disaster as you’ll set yourself up for being spread too thinly to deliver on every project, which can lead to you giving your business a negative reputation.
On top of this, some opportunities are just not right for you and your business, so you need to learn how to identify these. It can be anything from saying no to influencers who won’t get you in front of your target audience, to recognising that you and a potential client’s core values don’t align and how that will cause problems further down the line. Not to mention that time wasted on the wrong opportunities is time you could have invested in the right ones!
Make sure you set clear boundaries and aren’t afraid to say no to what isn’t right for you. You’ll be able to identify what’s a good fit from your strategic direction. Take on fewer clients and collaborations but make sure each one is exactly right for you and will yield tangible results. Plus, having less going on means you can really focus on these select projects to ensure you get the most out of them and that your resources are used as effectively as possible. Quality over quantity strikes again!
Cultivating alignment: embedding strategy into culture and behaviours
Once you’ve got your strategic direction in place (if you’re struggling, we can help with that), it’s time to create an environment that supports it.
You want to create a culture of ownership and commitment, where everyone has the freedom to really focus on their area of expertise. This is the best way to encourage your employees to flourish and ‘do their thing’ exceptionally well which in turn will yield great things for your business.
Make sure the goals and values are outlined for your business and, if you have multiple employees and/or departments, that they all have realistic key performance indicators. It’s also a great idea to hold workshops and encourage collaboration. This will generate fresh ideas, offer insight into more effective ways of working and make sure that you’re all focusing on the right things.
Case study: Voltempo
- The initial analysis by the team of potential growth options led to a list of 40 market opportunities.
- A mixture of products, sectors and geographies were reviewed.
- These were then ranked based on market size, product fit, competitive dynamics and ease of market access.
- Based on this assessment, the list was reduced to 14 growth engines for more detailed analysis.
- Subsequently, the 14 were reduced to just two growth engines.
This process not only found the most effective growth engines for Voltempo, it also allowed the management team to prioritise opportunities when the growth strategy was being executed.
Want to be like Voltempo and do less, but exceptionally well? We can help you do just that. Fill out the form on our website to book an appointment or let’s talk on 01789 867686.
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