Rules for Small-Business Success

It’s easy to get caught-up in your day-to-day obligations and let your business run itself. But doing so for too long without any oversight ultimately could be detrimental. Read on for 11 business rules to live by, and check out how your small business measures up.

1. Hire the person, don’t fill the job. Far too many people are hired to fill a position. As a result, intellectual talent which can make a difference in any company is overlooked as not being the perfect fit for the tasks to be accomplished.

2. Fire quickly, including at the top. Owners and managers are quick to terminate lower-level employees, but are far too generous in overlooking terminations that need to occur at the top.

3. Forget competing on price. Nobody can sustain a low-price image forever. Competing on price will only provide a short-term volume bump at the risk of destroying the value of your long-term potential.

4. OPM – Other people’s minds. Use them; never allow yourself to think you’re the only one that understands your business.

5. You’re the problem – SCA (sustainable competitive advantage). The only advantage you will be able to create long-term is through your employees, and it starts with you being a person that people want to associate with.

6. 24/7 marketing. In today’s market, it’s impossible to be everywhere personally. You have to have the tools in place to bring in customers from areas and places from which you never expected them to come.

7. Know your customer’s customers. Take the time to understand where and how your products are being used. You’ll be amazed at what you learn.

8. Never think you’ve lost a customer. If they bought from you once, even if they had a bad experience, you can still get them back — in fact, you need to do so. Customers who have bad experiences will talk to others.

9. Fire your worst customers. Every company has at least a few customers that after the P/L is run will show the only thing they contribute is work.

10. Challenge your banker or accountant. You may think they have your best interest in mind, but with the wide range of customers they have there is no reason to assume they’re doing everything they can for you.

11. There is no such thing as a fatal decision. Decisions become fatal only after a number of other bad decisions have been made. Companies rarely get off course because of a single move; they get off course by a series of bad moves with each escalating the impact of the previous one.

Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter, has been in sales for nearly 30 years. For the last 10 years, he has been a sales consultant helping individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales and profitably build long-term customer relationships. For more information, visit www.thesaleshunter.com or contact him at 402.598.6194.