MARKET FACTS

When it comes to marketing, many business sadly sees related cost as expenses instead of investment. As a result, they either dramatically cut back, revert to age old worn-out methods and processes just like their competitors or stops marketing altogether in their cost reduction quest.
Hence it can't be surprising that many business finds it difficult today, to both survive and thrive in a crowded marketplace.

MARKETING TIP

“You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and still be in business tomorrow” Peter Drucker.
Great sales and marketing can make all of the difference!
Call us now on 07908677473 and let us make your business a success story. Alternatively, book a free consultation below.

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we now offer free no obligation consultation to show you how our system can work to help acceleration your business growth before you even commit yourself.

BENEFITS TO YOU

By chosen to work with us you will BENEFIT by dramatically increasing your:
  • Leads and customer base
  • Sales conversion rate
  • Turnover and sustainable
    profit growth
  • Company's valuation...Read More

    ACCREDITATION
    FGI Tactical marketing is accredited by Alchemy Network... 

    FREE RESOURCES

    We regularly post business reports on this site. With compliments, navigate through the list below.
    Please if any question do come to mind after reading them, feel free to contact us.

    7 Essential Keys To Business Success

    KEY 1: Your Mind Set
    At the age of 52, Ray Kroc founded McDonald's, which is widely regarded as the most successful small business in the world with over 30,000 stores worldwide. As he noted later, "I was 52 years old. I had diabetes and incipient arthritis. I had lost my gall bladder and most of my thyroid gland in earlier campaigns, but I was convinced that the best was ahead of me."
    Your mindset and how you think is absolutely critical to the success of your business. I know many business owners who don’t know enough about the key areas of business such as finance, marketing, management and operations – although they are easy enough to learn. But instead of learning about these things, they spend the time and energy defending what they think they know.
    The best business people I’ve met are determined to get it right no matter what.
    One of our consultants in Ireland attended a lecture given by Dermot Desmond a number of years ago. He was immediately taken aback by his humility. Dermot explained he looked at the BBC sports website because of his interest in Celtic Football Club. He also went on to discuss Hi-Fi at very high speeds and the future of mobile learning.
    So do you think billionaires are happy with the knowledge they had five years ago or are they constantly keeping themselves updated? Do you know anybody who excels in his field who doesn’t have a thirst for knowledge? Can you imagine a senior doctor saying that it is OK not to use the MRI scan because he never used one when he was training 15 years ago.
    Would you use 15 years old PCs in your business today?
    If you want to achieve great success in your business you have to be open to new ideas and change in order to constantly improve and get the rewards you deserve.
    Key 2: Being Passionate About Your Business
    This may sound strange but if you’re not passionate about your business you simply won’t give it your best.
    If you look at the passion say Bill Gates had for Microsoft or Jack Nicklaus had for golf you can see that it is the fuel that drives them and makes them constantly strive for excellence in their chosen field.
    Unfortunately, a lot of business owners lose their passion as they get involved in the minutia of the day-to-day operations of their business.
    In a recent SME Lifestyle Survey, it was found that owner managers work an average of 51 hours a week, only 36% take their full annual holidays, 73% work at weekends more than once a month and 42% miss important family events due to work.
    There is a way to take back control of your business and feel the passion you once had for it and this is by implementing systems.
    Key 3: Systems
    There are very few SME business owners that implement systems – strong written policies and procedures into their businesses.
    I once read that if you can leave your business for 6 weeks and when you get back it is in as good a shape or better then you have a business not a job.
    If you implement strong systems into your business then you can take yourself out of the day-to-day running of your business and focus on the areas that will give you the most return for your time.
    Key 4: Business Plan.
    If you had to get somewhere you had never been to before would you use a map or SatNav? Yes, you say- how else would I get there?
    Well that’s exactly what a business plan is for – it’s a map laying out how your business is going to get to its destination.
    Just a few things to bear in mind about your plan:
    • Begin with what’s important to you – A mediocre plan you’re passionate about is better than a highly professional produced plan you don’t feel strongly about.
    • Planning is more of an art than a science – Your plan is educated guesswork and make sure you detail your assumptions in your plan so they can be reviewed regularly.
    • Ensure your plan accommodates change – Think of your plan as a series of guideposts to focus attention on and targets to aim for. If opportunities arise that make sense to you then seize them. And if things no longer make sense in the plan then adjust your plan.
    • Review the plan periodically – You should review the plan and stay flexible and open to change. Update it when necessary.
    By preparing a business plan you will be able to implement all the necessary actions to direct your business to achieve your strategic objectives.
    Key 5: Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
    Your USP is what makes you different from your competitors and explains to your customers the benefits of doing business with you.
    It's important to figure out your USP as there are likely to be a large number of competitors that can potentially provide a solution to your prospects' problems. This is why it's important that you define and articulate your USP.
    If you don’t have a USP you will be simply one of the crowd and you will not distinguish yourself from your competitors, making it almost impossible for your business to thrive.
    Key 6: Continuous Improvement
    Eming through his business teachings with a particular emphasis on quality is widely credited as one of the key drivers behind Japan's economic miracle after World War II.
    The pace of change in today’s world is incredible.
    The impact of the internet has been huge in certain areas. Think about it. When is the last time you bought an airline ticket from a travel agent?
    So you have 2 options: 1. You can embrace change when it makes sense to do so. 2. You can just keep doing things the way you’ve always done them.
    If you choose option 2 – best of luck to you because those that will succeed always choose option 1.
    I’d like to share with you the 3 steps to Continuous Improvement.
    STEP 1: Innovation - You have to innovate – it’s that simple. You have to come up with new ideas and ways of delivering better value to your customers. You have to innovate in all your business.
    STEP 2: Quantification - You have to measure all areas of your business to see what works and what doesn’t work. This means finding out how many leads you get, how many did you convert etc, etc. The idea is that whenever you introduce an innovation you are quickly able to quantify whether it makes an improvement… If it does then you implement it.
    STEP 3: Implementation This is the 3rd stage of your continuous improvement program. You implement the innovation you’ve proven works. How do you implement it? You make it a part of the systems you’ve have in your business. You change your policy and procedures; you train your staff and make sure it’s done.
    Key 7: Using A Mentor – Your Fastest Route To Success.
    Can you imagine yourself back in secondary school? The teacher turns up on day 1 and says: ‘Here are your text books for the course this year, please read them and I’ll be back in May with the exam. Best of luck!’
    Well you’d think this person was crazy.
    You mightn’t have liked it very much because your teacher took the time to coach you each day, getting you to do your homework and your exams, you learned far more than by simply reading a book.
    If you were ever lucky enough to have a great teacher, at school or in a sport you loved, you know how much easier it was to learn rather than by reading a book. You probably realise now how much faster you achieved the results or skills you wanted because of that teacher.
    So it is very important to have a mentor somebody who can guide you and that you can bounce ideas off.
    The type of mentoring you need at this particular time is of course very different.
    If you currently find that you’re not getting the best out of your business, you’re working very long hours, you can’t take your full holidays, you’ve tried everything you can and nothing seems to be working right and your business just seems to be stuck, then a 30 minute phone call with a successful business person just isn’t enough. What you really need is for somebody to come in and help you sort out your business challenges and problems, help you grow, help you put in place your systems.
    Think about it. Have you attended seminars or read business books that you thought were good but never did anything about implementing the ideas that they contained? Have you a few things in your business that you know you should be doing but you don’t do them because you just don’t seem to get the time? Well then it’s time to get somebody in to help.
    Some of the greatest names in sport have business coaches, including Jack Nicklaus. Obviously, Nicklaus could beat his coach at golf at any time. You be also aware that some of the most successful business people in the world also had mentors and coaches. Even Bill Gates of Microsoft had a business coach. That coach was none other than Warren Buffett, himself one of the world’s most successful businessmen.
    So why do they have a coach or mentor? Probably for the same reason all high-performing individuals have one.
    • Firstly, because we can’t see our own mistakes, we get too subjected to what is going on around us.
    • Secondly everything is getting better all the time-technology, your competition, everything, so you have to get better just to continue to produce at the current level of performance.
    Coaches, mentors and business development specialists like Alchemy Business Consultants can provide you with a new perspective, a fresh approach and most of all introduce you to new, exciting and highly innovative methods to help you in achieving business success.
    Conclusion
    All SME business owners work very hard but very few get the rewards they deserve., and that’s a shame-in some cases it’s absolutely tragic.
    I wrote this to share some of the wisdom I’ve gained through working in various business positions, creating my own successful companies and in helping thousands of business people over the years.
    I invite you to contact me, or indeed anyone within my organisation, for help, coaching, mentoring, assistance, or even for getting that ‘fresh perspective’. Together we could do great things.
    Wishing You Every Success,
    Frank Gill
    Managing Director
    Marketing and Business Consultant
    FGI Tactical Marketing