The New Economy and Small Business
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Things have changed. And judging the landscape that we presently operate on, and have operated on for the last 4-10 years, things will continue to change. That’s the nature of this economy.
“The geography of wealth is being reshaped by our tools,” says Kevin Kelly, Author of New Rules for the New Economy. “We now live in a new economy created by shrinking computers and expanding communications.” His words were originally published in 1999, but it’s still relevant. Mike Koenigs, CEO and Founder of InstantCustomer, calls it a “relationship and reputation economy.”
However we label it, technology is a key tool of this economy and effective communication is the asset (or liability depending on how you apply it within your business).
Things have changed. They will continue to change. That’s business these days. But the ability to be relevant in a changing economy can work for the savvy business owner.
But What Makes You Relevant? Here’s a Short List:
Excellent Delivery and Communication. You don’t have to make yourself look bigger than you are (of course you can if you want to). But you do have to be great at what you do. And your team has to understand what you do and be able to communicate it to your customers.
Have you ever walked into a business where the person behind the counter seemed to make up answers in response to your questions? Or they just seem confused? In this economy excellence in delivery and excellence in communication is everything. Because money is tight for a lot of people, they insist on getting high value for every dollar they spend. Delivery a high quality experience and product makes you relevant.
Marketing. You don’t have to be famous and have every degree in the world in order to attract and retain business. But in addition to excelling at what you do, you have to get the message out. You could be the best solution for your target audience since sliced bread, but you’ll be broke and out of business if nobody but you and mom knows it.
Effective marketing is a necessity. Which brings me to the third thing that makes you relevant.
Training. You only know what you know. And if you intend to know more, then you will have to pay the price to learn it. It doesn’t mean you have to enroll in school, I’m not sure modern degrees can keep up with modern marketing. But you need a mentor, a model and method that makes sense to your budget and your bottom line.
“Excellence cost more,” but the other end of that old phrase says that “it pays for itself.” It’s important to create a high quality product, but also to implement high quality marketing. After all, you can only benefit from where you put your energy.
Courtesy: Small Biz Trends
