Ideas for a Better Business

What do you do once you business is successful? You still have a business plan, and a marketing plan to follow to reach growth objectives, you’re pulling a profit margin that’s healthy enough to make you happy and the question pops up. Now what?

Most businesses turn to charity, giving back to their community by creating a partnership with a local charitable organization. It’s great public relations and helps the needy of the community. But what if a business could do more?

One of the ways a business can help give back to the community is to become more than a food and service fulfillment volunteer shop. What if your business took the partnership to a different level? The old adage “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime” can definitely come into play. For example, what if a business chose to teach their business to the poor and needy? Maybe not enough to create a competitor, but basic business practices and best habits that the recipients can use to start their own business. What kind of buzz marketing can that create for your company that can carry it to the next level?

That sort of shared success has a way of growing beyond the company; think of it as a multiple mentor relationship. Your business would teach and train other small local business owners, who could then pass on their experiences and expertise. And you, of course, as a savvy business owner could turn this giving back into a public relations coup.

There are other ways a business owner can give back and make their business better. The owner could set up a scholarship fund for graduating high school seniors, or for existing college students and get press every year when the award is announced.

The owner may also volunteer to teach at an offsite learning center. The cost of hosting the seminar or class can be written off on corporate taxes, or could be covered by a nominal fee. This not only allows networking opportunities with potential future employees but could be presented to other business owners who are struggling with the same issues but without the success. Again a mentor type relationship or relationships could be built whereby the successful business owner is sharing best practices with other businesses. There is also abundant opportunity to turn the teaching experience into a chance to learn. A smart business owner will interview and question the students in his seminar and learn what’s working with their company, and identify what he can borrow for his own. This is also a chance to identify joint venture partners, or businesses with existing client lists to further expand their own marketing reach. Joint ventures or partnerships are a great business idea to help the bottom line grow.

The key to any better business idea is action. A lot of business owners get bogged down in the day to day running of their business, caught up in the minutia that engulfs most businesses. However a successful action plan should include automating systems that free up the business owner so they can focus on the most important aspect of the business. Automatic systems can include payroll, accounting, and aspects of marketing. The business owner is left free to pursue those actions that helped the business reach success in the first place.

There are always areas that can be improved in any business venture, and most claim to focus on customer service. However many business fall short in this area. A key business idea that will make you better is to create what’s known as a MEME, such as Fed Ex’s “When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight” or Domino’s “Thirty minutes or less or it’s free”. Once you develop your MEME as a hook, something that draws your customers in you can use a Zappo’s like focus on exceeding customer expectation every time. By empowering every employee to satisfy a customer a business owner can turn their entire work force into a customer service force. Disney does this very well, and gives every one of their employee’s extensive customer service training. The janitor is just as empowered to satisfy a customer as the customer service executive.

There you have it, just a few ideas to make your business better. A smart business owner will take a few ideas and run with them to create an experience that people want to talk about, and won’t forget, ensuring their business success for years to come.