7 things SMEs should know NOW

Author: Kingsford Consulting

Author: Kingsford Consulting

With the effective pushing of the global economys RESET button a host of new opportunities have arisen. The manufacturing sector, once a much underappreciated economic driver is again being called upon to stimulate growth (as the ad said Its not your fathers Oldsmobile). Governments everywhere are investing in this sector. The financial sector has also been beaten down and is now finding its feet to play in the new game. Products and services that can help these sectors recover will do well. Looking at the overall economy a recent article published by the Vistage Group suggests these seven major trends that will affect small and medium sized business in the coming year. 1. Increased government regulations

2. Prolonged levels of high unemployment

3. Increased taxation

4. A new speed of change that will resemble chaos

5. Full-scale globalization (or business without geographic borders)

6. Empowered and non-loyal customers

7. Rapid growth and adoption of online social media and virtual technology How will these 7 trends affect your market strategy? 1. Increased government regulations. Protectionism is a distinct possibility as foreign governments consider protecting their own industries. You may want to consider strengthening your domestic business and establishing a stronger presence in your export markets through resellers, partnerships or physical presence. 2. Unemployment. Your clients will be reluctant to hire staff so how can you help them to do more with less? Can you take on some of their staffing costs as part of your service offering thus turning their fixed staffing costs into variable costs? (We can help you map out your customers engagement costs to identify differentiating opportunities.) 3. Taxes. In Canada GST and PST are fairly easy to pass through up to a point. Corporate taxes are more of a challenge. Start planning now to change your products and services mix to include price increases without having to send out the dreaded price increase letter. There are always ways to develop a new SKU. If your marketing material is virtual it can be done almost instantly. 4. Rate of change. Think like Google. Move quickly into the market with new initiatives and measure everything so that you can tweak or kill fast. Have multiple projects on the go at any time so that you are able to adapt to new opportunities more easily. Depending on a single one year mega project leaves you too vulnerable to the inevitable market changes. How many market initiatives do you have underway? 5. Globalization. Your competitors and your markets are global. Competitors can appear in any market at any time so move fast to harvest any opportunity and establish leadership. Technology has made the world small and immediate. Anywhere anytime is gone. Its now everywhere, all the time. Who are you competing with today? 6. Empowered and non-loyal customers. In a B2B environment this is very true with a possible exception when dealing with business owners where trust and personal relationships still prevail. In a corporate environment however you have to win the business every time. Look at you customer list and determine which customers you cant afford to lose and make sure you are doing everything possible to keep them. (We can help by performing objective, third-party interviews to find out what they really want). 7. Social Media and Online technology. This will impact markets in different ways. B2C markets already know that their online presence is as important as their physical presence. B2B companies know that technology is driving their markets. Channels are being reshaped and many companies are shifting their market development on line and using a mix of field staff and inside sales to handle fulfillment. How is this affecting your sales channel? If you would like to discuss how we may be able to help you, please contact us here Diamond, Paul. HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE RECOVERY, PROSPERING IN THE NEW BUSINESS LANDSCAPE. Vistage Group 19 August 2009 Published in September 2009. http://kingsfordconsulting.ca/?p=123 About the Author:

Kingsford Consulting Ltd. is a Strategy and Business Development firm that provides business planning, market research and strategy development services.

www.kingsfordconsulting.ca

POST COMMENT

How To Get Someone Back By Apologizing Bait Fish: A93 Key Crappie Bait Details Shad Imitations! How to increase $1,000 to over $10,000 dollars in 2010 Belize City the Largest City in Belize Four Traits of Great Leaders Share Find Out All You Need About Tongkat Ali Let there be silence Getting Started with N Gauge Model Trains Keep Your Battery Alive Conveyancing Solicitors - The Sale Process Внедрение Crm-Системы: Когда Стоит Задуматься О Нем If you want to achieve your goals this year you need to STOP DOING THIS La Degradación Del Empleo