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Other Added - Operations Strategy and Leverage: Don't Go Wrong
Before you can enjoy the benefits of having a life-time relationship with your customers, you first have to get them into your restaurant, store or other business. Good directions can make or break that fragile budding relationship. Here are tips to give great directions!Make triple sure you directions are accurate, that is, read through them yourself while looking at a map, have someone else who doesn’t know the area drive them and give you feedback, and be sure to ask real customers if the directions are working. Your customers don’t care how hard you worked or how many times you’ve been through them, if the directions don’t work, they don’t work, period!Layout your directions in bullet points and a large font so they are easy to follow while driving a car through a strange city, at night, in heavy traffic, in the rain. Be ready to fax or e-mail directions at a moments notice. (Super tip: For fast and easy e-mailing, put your directions in “signature files” in your e-mail program.)Some people like directions with numbers, street names a
Back to advertising and promotion. Fifty percent of business comes from these components. What does this mean? It means that we’re going to create a kill
We can all learn a lot from the World’s largest employer on how to run a business. Wal-Mart seems to get the program and understand all aspects of their business; from distribution to customer service. Speaking of customer service, Wal-Mart does an excellent job in customer service, they really do.If you need to return something they have a great return policy. If you need help in their store they have a podium set up in the middle of the main isle behind the cashier area. For those that argue the Wal-Mart does not have good customer service I beg to differ.In fact, if you do not believe me why not try out their customer service yourself. If there is an item you cannot find asked a clerk. If you have a question about Wal-Mart go to the podium in the middle of the store and ask them a question. They will stop what they're doing an answer your question directly.But don't take my word for it; go try it. I did and I have done this at hundreds of Wal-Mart stores around the country and I always get the exact same thing; great customer servic
Defining the need is nothing special. This is simply creating a customer profile that is true and accurate. Of course, a startup company may not have all the wonderful information that an established organization may have, but the least one can do is use some common sense, some good market research if necessary, and understand the importance of the need base so that when the business gets going, it can adjust if appropriate.
Most of us have already done this. We have an intuitive sense of the needs and the product or service which will fill the need. It’s just important to make sure that you’re senses are correct. This defining the needs and product or service in addition to the key operational aspects of the business lays the groundwork for operational strategy. Since for many entrepreneurs, this is pretty straight-forward, I’m not going to say anything more about it; rather, the process may be inferred from the next step which is determining which aspects of a business are the leverage points and then creating a business which operates upon those leverages.
Let’s give an example of this now for the tutoring service industry where I’ll go into a little more detail than I will for examples that will follow:
For the tutoring service, 50 percent of the business will depend on advertising and promotion. Fifty Percent! This is compared to some mom and pop store that do zero percent promotion and rely entirely on word-of mouth. Fifty-percent is referral business. This is defining the opportunity in terms of the critical operational characteristics. This, however, is where most entrepreneurs stop, and it is from here on out that mediocrity often sets in. One typically knows that, say, 50 percent of business comes from advertising and promotion, but one does not always know what is important. If the importance of an operations is unknown, chances are that some aspects of business will receive too much attention even though they’re not critical to success where other aspects on which the business’s life depends may be ignored. Controls will be set up for certain operational aspects maybe because the CEO had what he thought to be a creative idea but that creativity may have very well been focused in the wrong direction.
Back to advertising and promotion. Fifty percent of business comes from these components. What does this mean? It means that we’re going to create a kille
Starting a new business? Whether you're a therapist beginning a private practice, a dog groomer starting a new mobile service or an eBay seller opening an eBay store with dropshipped products, one of the most important keys to your success is to write a business plan, an outline which serves as a roadmap for your business. Here are some of the reasons why a business plan should be one of your first priorities.1. Helps You see if This is the Right Business for YouA business plan will help you to readily see if you really have the desire and interest to stick with your new business. If you can't maintain the interest and passion to sit down and write out 30 to 50 pages outlining all the aspects of your business, that may be a clue that you won't stick with your business long enough to enjoy success. You'll know when you're starting a business just for the money, or because you truly have a desire for that business.2. Keeps You on Track with GoalsA business plan serves as a roadmap of your business, with short-term goals as well
Defining the need is nothing special. This is simply creating a customer profile that is true and accurate. Of course, a startup company may not have all the wonderful information that an established organization may have, but the least one can do is use some common sense, some good market research if necessary, and understand the importance of the need base so that when the business gets going, it can adjust if appropriate.
Most of us have already done this. We have an intuitive sense of the needs and the product or service which will fill the need. It’s just important to make sure that you’re senses are correct. This defining the needs and product or service in addition to the key operational aspects of the business lays the groundwork for operational strategy. Since for many entrepreneurs, this is pretty straight-forward, I’m not going to say anything more about it; rather, the process may be inferred from the next step which is determining which aspects of a business are the leverage points and then creating a business which operates upon those leverages.
Let’s give an example of this now for the tutoring service industry where I’ll go into a little more detail than I will for examples that will follow:
For the tutoring service, 50 percent of the business will depend on advertising and promotion. Fifty Percent! This is compared to some mom and pop store that do zero percent promotion and rely entirely on word-of mouth. Fifty-percent is referral business. This is defining the opportunity in terms of the critical operational characteristics. This, however, is where most entrepreneurs stop, and it is from here on out that mediocrity often sets in. One typically knows that, say, 50 percent of business comes from advertising and promotion, but one does not always know what is important. If the importance of an operations is unknown, chances are that some aspects of business will receive too much attention even though they’re not critical to success where other aspects on which the business’s life depends may be ignored. Controls will be set up for certain operational aspects maybe because the CEO had what he thought to be a creative idea but that creativity may have very well been focused in the wrong direction.
Back to advertising and promotion. Fifty percent of business comes from these components. What does this mean? It means that we’re going to create a kill
You know who you are. You hate your job. Every week you whine and moan to a few select co-workers, your spouse, or your friends. You’ve been working there for years and you’ve been whining for years and fortunately for you, there’s enough turnover at the company that, since you do your job decently, you’re fairly golden. Or golden enough.But somewhere along the line you decided you needed a change. So every few months, you pop onto Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com, fill out a profile of what you want, and weekly you’re emailed the jobs that fit the profile. But every job you look at is never what you want. So after a while you conclude there’s nothing out there, and go back to complaining until you decide to be “pro-active” again.So what’s going on here? Why all talk and no action? Are you really as pro-active as you think you are?It’s easy to kid yourself into thinking you’re looking when you’re not. It’s easy to stay where you are and grumble about how you hate it, while doing what you need to do to keep your job, because you
Let’s give an example of this now for the tutoring service industry where I’ll go into a little more detail than I will for examples that will follow:
For the tutoring service, 50 percent of the business will depend on advertising and promotion. Fifty Percent! This is compared to some mom and pop store that do zero percent promotion and rely entirely on word-of mouth. Fifty-percent is referral business. This is defining the opportunity in terms of the critical operational characteristics. This, however, is where most entrepreneurs stop, and it is from here on out that mediocrity often sets in. One typically knows that, say, 50 percent of business comes from advertising and promotion, but one does not always know what is important. If the importance of an operations is unknown, chances are that some aspects of business will receive too much attention even though they’re not critical to success where other aspects on which the business’s life depends may be ignored. Controls will be set up for certain operational aspects maybe because the CEO had what he thought to be a creative idea but that creativity may have very well been focused in the wrong direction.
Back to advertising and promotion. Fifty percent of business comes from these components. What does this mean? It means that we’re going to create a kill
Change is the only thing permanent goes the old clich? and one can’t make important decision in the business until and unless one get to know the nature and pace of change in the industry. Each industry has its own rate and way of evolving. While in technology Business models can become redundant in a quarter, old companies are using tried and trusted business models for over several decades.The need to understand the change in market seems obvious but such knowledge not always easy to come by. Japanese companies failed to understand the advent of microprocessor as the dominant product and kept focusing on making the silicon chips cheaper. Small retailers failed to under the real impact of Wal-Mart moving into neighborhoods. With in a decade Wal-Mart changed the face of retailing in America running established players like K-Mart into bankruptcies.To understand where your Industry is heading you have to shut the noise from immediate competitors and popular beliefs and take a long term view of things. The most pertinent question which most compan
For the tutoring service, 50 percent of the business will depend on advertising and promotion. Fifty Percent! This is compared to some mom and pop store that do zero percent promotion and rely entirely on word-of mouth. Fifty-percent is referral business. This is defining the opportunity in terms of the critical operational characteristics. This, however, is where most entrepreneurs stop, and it is from here on out that mediocrity often sets in. One typically knows that, say, 50 percent of business comes from advertising and promotion, but one does not always know what is important. If the importance of an operations is unknown, chances are that some aspects of business will receive too much attention even though they’re not critical to success where other aspects on which the business’s life depends may be ignored. Controls will be set up for certain operational aspects maybe because the CEO had what he thought to be a creative idea but that creativity may have very well been focused in the wrong direction.
Back to advertising and promotion. Fifty percent of business comes from these components. What does this mean? It means that we’re going to create a kill
Managed care organizations like health management organizations (HMO) and independent provider associations (IPA) are required to credential their providers, meaning they have to verify the medical provider’s professional history. Because of the dispersed nature of managed care organizations and the resource requirements of the credentialing process, credentialing verification organizations (CVO) step in to provide these credentialing services.Overview of Credentialing The two major accrediting organizations for managed care organizations are the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and Utilization Review Accreditation Council (URAC) As part of their accreditation requirements, both URAC and NCQA require managed care organizations to credential their providers according to their published standards.While it is less common for preferred provider organizations (PPO) to credential their practitioners, credentialing lowers risk and liability, while improving patient care. As an example of how important these standards can be
Back to advertising and promotion. Fifty percent of business comes from these components. What does this mean? It means that we’re going to create a killer marketing program because that’s half of our revenues right there. Create a mediocre program, revenues fall 10, 20, 30 percent—easily. If we don’t have the skills already, we’re going to hire right. Once we hire right, we’re going to make sure the rules and principles of marketing are followed to a “t” and applied correctly relative to the opportunity at hand. We’re not going to give marketing a few dollars to work with but we’re going to give them the resources they need to be effective. They’re going to test methods and continually improve the program so that the efficiencies gained will create geometric gains in the future. The whole point here is that one must realize the importance of advertising and promotion in the marketing function and create a program that reflects that importance. You can create the most amazing tutoring service ever and go nowhere.
Alright, so 50 percent of business is advertising and promo where 50 percent is referral. One then must ask the question, how do we get a referral? Clearly, this begins with offering a service that meets customer expectations and hopefully even exceeding those expectations—on a regular basis. With this in mind, we’re going to create one killer of a tutoring program, and we’re going to place great emphasis on knowing the ever-changing needs of every single individual that comes through our door. Do a poor job of all this? Forget getting 50 percent of business via referral.
Go back and look at the general customer needs. Find out which ones are most important and don’t you dare not fill the most important ones and you sure better try to fill the others as well. Convenience is important: Don’t locate your tutoring facilities just anywhere, find out exactly what is most convenient for most mothers.
We’re going to get feedback from every single customer; this way we will know what all of them think of our business. We will know where to improve and we will grow a relationship with the customers as we truly care about their needs and how we meet them. Next, we will maximize this “free” source of revenue. We will attempt to get this 50 percent referral rate to make up 85 percent of our business instead. If we can do this, we will have much lower advertising and promotion expenditure; cost of converting leads to sales dramatically decreases; we will have increased business from the most pleasant and most desirable customers. This is huge.
So what we find in this business is that if we can secu
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