Category: Strategy

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Strategy

What Will Change For Your Business Post Corona Virus Lockdown?

Business post-Corona: Changes that every company needs to follow
 

We all know that the world will change post the Corona outbreak. There will be change in business and all of us will have to adapt to a new way of living, working, and building relationships. Here are 10 things that will change for businesses when life returns to normal:

1. Business Model Reinvention

  • Entrepreneurs will reinvent their business model and other functions to adapt to the changes the pandemic has left behind
  • The first step to business reinvention is deconstruction- a new framework will be drawn for key elements of the business. For e.g. Customer relationship, resource management, key partners, revenue, cost, etc., all functions will need to be looked closely and tweaked accordingly

2. Leaner Business Models

  • All tasks & functions that have no value to the customer will be eliminated and a continuous process of testing your assumptions about sales and revenue will be put in place
  • A leaner business model can lead to greater productivity and smooth functioning. Since the wasteful tasks will be eliminated, the focus would now be on the important and revenue-generating functions and hence would lead to smooth running of the business
  • Faster delivery options can be explored leading to increased customer satisfaction

3. Business Automation

  • Technology & Business Automation will be the backbone of every function that we conduct in a business
  • ERP tools will be used more than ever to automate tasks leading to a lesser human face to face interaction and updates
  • Meetings, personal interactions, and even Events and Conferences will be facilitated with remote work tools without any loss in productivity of employees

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation

  • AI & Automation will happen faster than ever imagined. With the help of AI, Business Automation, customer engagement and data analysis will form the basis of many business decisions
  • Role of Machine Learning to process data- For e.g. you have a manufacturing unit and your machines are connected to the network. Constant data about production will be fed to a central location. It is not possible for a human to process so much data, hence AI & ML will help companies collect this data and also extract important information out of it
  • Predicting customer insight will become more accurate. Patterns of what a customer will buy, identifying quality and safety measure and personalized targeting of digital ads will be done using AI more often

5. Risk Insurance
 

  • Post Coronavirus outbreak, businesses will have to take several insurance to safeguard against unknown risks
  • Currently, there are 2 major insurance covers-’Event Cancellation insurance’ offered by usually big firms and the other is a more general cover for ’Business Interruption’
  • Businesses will move from ’standard policies’ to more specific ones that cover unknown risks extensively
  • Employee health insurance given by companies will have costs related to epidemic illness and death covered as well

6. Expansion into New Markets

  • The possibility of more profits, more reach, and more impact is enough to get anyone excited and decisions related to expansion into new markets will be taken faster.
  • Prioritize and select your markets and assess internal capabilities in terms of which core competencies can be leveraged.
  • Going digital will help enter newer markets faster 

7. Cost Reduction

  • Companies will be heading towards cost-cutting & cost reduction measures for various functions that can either be automated or outsourced as and when required
  • Hiring across organizations will be lean with more of scope of work being defined across lesser employees
  • Companies will become less hierarchical leading to cost reduction with lesser people on top
  • Businesses will approach more inbound techniques of marketing like social media, blogs, CRM rather than costly marketing practices. This will help them target relevant customers at half the cost.

8. Hiring Freeze

  • Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, many businesses suffered with absolutely no revenues but they were still paying salaries to their employees
  • Post Corona, we will see most companies going into a hiring freeze with current employees carrying out inter-departmental functions
  • For e.g. a marketing professional in a company can also handle its branding strategy, external & internal communication rather than just focusing on building marketing plans

9. Invest in Employees

  • An employee is the most important asset for an organization and without good employees, the business will be alive on a ventilator sort of situation, so invest in employees
  • Put forward a peer-led rather than leader- or boss-driven model with increased communication and engagement within the group of workers
  • Revisit your sick leave policy
  • Implement flexible working arrangements which can be mapped
  • Mental wellness will become a priority for companies for their employees to function well
  • Provide certain facilities/benefits to employees that make them feel wanted and cared for.
  • Rewards & Recognition for good performers, a celebration of milestones and enhanced learning opportunities for employees that have potential

10. Focus on Innovation

  • When a business tries to bounce back, your business idea and model form the foundation of getting back into the groove
  • Companies have to innovate at a faster pace otherwise they should be ready to perish
  • Every business post-Corona will try to bounce back and get revenues in place. It will become a do or die situation for many
  • Put in place lifeboat plans for three-month, one-year and three-year downturns
  • Faster innovation will help you become more competitive and build the value of your brand
  • Focus on innovation will help companies scale up their structure and eventually lead to increase revenues 

Change is inevitable and a global pandemic like Corona is setting the ground for change in business as well. Act with compassion and take each and every action NOW, as you don’t want to miss the bus.

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Strategy

How To Select The Ideal Business Entity

Choose the right Business Entity for your Company

Starting is a business is not easy. Apart from the many decisions that you need to make, one important decision is to select a business entity for your company. An entrepreneur needs to be very clear about choosing a business entity as this decision will affect your taxes you pay, your growth plans and even your ability to raise money. 

While choosing a legal or business entity, you should be very clear about-

  • The kind of work you are going to do
  • Under what government or taxation norms does it fall into?
  • How can I seamlessly fulfill my future business requirements
  • Only after selecting a business entity, you can register your business with the state

Here are the major types of business entities you can select from:

1. Sole Proprietorship

  • One of the most easily formed entities is sole proprietorship as both, the managerial control & financial liabilities remain with the owner
  • If you want to be your own boss and don’t want to enter the hassle of having multiple partners or too many obligations, then this is the best decision for you
  • It’s simple and cheap, you can think of the business structure. The only fee you need to pay is license fee and taxes
  • Under a sole proprietorship, you are entitled to some tax deductions as well

2. Partnership

  • This business entity is run by two or more people together who have a share in profits as well as loses too
  • This kind of an arrangement is ideal if you want to start a business with a family member, friend or a business partner where all share the profits and losses and are involved in making important decisions regarding the business

There are 2 types of partnerships- General and Limited partnership

  1. General Partnership- In this arrangement, all profits and losses are shared equally
  2. Limited partnership- Limited partnerships have one partner with unlimited liability, and all other partners have limited liability

The benefits of a business entity like the partnership is that it can be formed without any hassle and does not cost a lot 

  • You work as a team. Partners are in the business not only to share the profits but also to share the challenges that come along during setting up a business. Ideas can be shared and learning from each other is natural.
  • However one should only enter a partnership when you can work in tandem with another person and accept that the profits are not solely your profits!

3. Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

  • This is a mixed structure business entity that allows the partners or shareholders to limit their personal liabilities but still enjoy the tax benefits of a partnership. The members of an LLC can be individuals, a partnership or a corporation
  • The major benefit of an LLC that in most cases the partners are protected from personal liability the same way as shareholders are in a corporation.
  • You do not need to file corporate tax as an LLC, but you need to file your profits and losses and submit it with your tax return under schedule C

4. Corporations

  • Corporations are business entities separate from their owner. It handles the responsibility of an organization and running a business
  • The corporation is taxed and is also fully liable for its actions
  • The benefit of forming a corporation is that it is separate from your personal liability and the disadvantage is that it is a bit costly to form this legal entity
  • There are several types of corporations, such as C corporations, S corporations, B corporations, closed corporations, and nonprofit corporations. However, the S-corporation was formed for small businesses to avoid double taxation
  • When your business is a corporation, the chances of you raising more capital from investors increase because funds can be raised through selling stocks which can be a luring option

While choosing a business entity you need to compare the pros and cons and how it will benefit you. The tax implications, ownership rules, and future needs should be in your favour. It is absolutely important to take advice from a business consultant/expert or your chartered accountant before finally arriving on your decision. 

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Strategy

Learn the Best Ways to Communicate with Stakeholders in your Business

Learn the Best Ways to Communicate with Stakeholders in your Business
Learn the Best Ways to Communicate with Stakeholders in your Business

Communicate & Connect: One-Stop Solution to Build Brand Perception

When the entire business community is going through a tough time, communication is the only saviour for your stakeholders. Communication will motivate all your patrons in the business to keep going and stay connected with you.

1. Communicate with Employees

  • The biggest and most important stakeholder in an organization is the Employee. Communication with employees is a must, not only during hard times but on a regular basis as well.
  • Welfare of the employees and how to survive through the crisis together should be your first priority.
  • Set up a COVID-19 or a crisis cross-functional team that can look at employee distress.
  • Look at HR plans for emergency employee support and action remote working policies if need be
  • Leaders should communicate personally to their teams on goal setting
  • Send Voice notes on key decisions and actions taken
  • Invite teammates to meetings that demonstrate the impact of their work
  • Create an Internal Communications team- Put a process in place for reaching employees through e-mails, Social media posts, leader connect or internal chat groups
  • Demystify the fear and outline the steps the organization is taking on behalf of its employees to protect them

2. Communicate with Customers

  • Customers need to be communicated in a different way that employees. They need to be provided with relief rather than constant business information
  • Send out a note from the Founder/CEO of the company to all the customers assuring them that all measures are being taken to continue to serve them
  • Communicate with them through e-mailers, get their feedback and try and apply as much of it. Also let them know that their feedback has been implemented
  • Engage with the customer on social media through relevant content. Today a brand is a community, devise content that requires their involvement, could be in the form of a quiz or a Q&A session
  • You can also create a small one minute video for them, talking about the measures taken by your business to comfort them during tough times
  • Blogging and micro blogging is a new-age tool that can help in brand recall for the customer. Put content on your blogs that can go viral and is evergreen, hence it will help in making a chain of communication with not only your present customer but with potential ones as well
  • Make sure similar communication is given to all customers, treat everyone as equal

3. Communicate with Banks

  • Though during tough economic situations, banks themselves take a lot of measures such as extending loan & interest payment durations & reducing interest rates to help businesses out
  • As a business your communication to the bank should be transparent and timely
  • If there is a crisis, sit and understand with the bank officials what is the best bail out option that they can offer

 

4. Communicate with Partners

  • Partners are the lifeline of the business. You need them at every stage of growth
  • During hard times communicate with partners on a regular basis
  • Conduct a video conferencing with the Founder/CEO or a meeting in person, so that they are convinced that you are on their side
  • Build relationships outside work meetings; this will help in creating a rapport between the partners and you
  • Prepare Smart Presentations which means don’t make your presentations a sales pitch, use story-telling to connect with partners and consumers

5. Communicate with other Stakeholders

  • Apart from the ones mentioned above in the article, the other stakeholders can be your legal advisors, brand partners and investors in the business
  • Educate your stakeholders on a regular basis- Let them know about the developments at the workplace and how their role is important
  • Create transparency- Don’t assume all communication channels are perfect across the organization. Make all product updates and roadmaps available to them to avoid any friction
  • Learn to write a press release and communicate with the media. They can be an important stakeholder in building your brand

Communication is vital to build your business and regular communication can help it build manifold. Bada Business through its SPICE Problem Solving Course is trying to solve this burning problem of ‘How to communicate with all members and partners involved in the business;’ not only during crisis but also on a daily basis. Your communication creates the perception of your brand and that perception should be about- Trust, Transparency, Quality and Care.

Through the course you will also learn important skills such as:

How to make sales proposals?

How to make sales pitches?

How to use LinkedIn.com?

For more details and content related queries you can subscribe to our SPICE course available on the Bada Business website and the App.

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Strategy

5 Steps for Effective Strategy Implementation and Execution

5 Steps for Effective Strategy Implementation and Execution

Introduction

  • Do your strategies often fails?
  • Do you want to know how to implement a strategy successfully?

Organizations create strategies but due to a lack of proper knowledge of strategy implementation and execution process they are not able to execute them properly and as a result, their strategies fail.

In this article, we will discuss how to implement a strategy successfully through 5 simple steps of the strategy implementation process.

Step 1 – Unique, Clear and Distinct

It is the first step of the strategy implementation process.

For strategy Implementation and execution, you need to:

✅ Create a tough, bold, and distinct set of choices in your organization.

✅ Create such a unique and clear set of choices that it becomes easy to present your organization distinctly.

Step 2 – Strategic Positioning

The uniqueness of your organization should be positioned strategically. It is the second step of the strategy implementation process.

❌ Do not make a product that sells well in the market.

✅ Make a problem-solving product that solves the problem of your customer.

✅ Make a product after identifying the need of your customers.

As an entrepreneur or CEO, Step 1 and Step 2 are your responsibilities. So, you need to perform them on your own end effectively.

Step 3 – Incentivize the Behavior with Emotional Value and Financial Value

Even if you have made the strategy for positioning but your employees and management are not ready yet. So, you need to incentivize their behavior. It is the third step of the strategy implementation process.

You need to provide the following types of incentives to your employees and management:

Emotional Incentive

✅ Take emotional commitment from the employees for implementing the strategy.

✅ Tell employees how this strategy will be beneficial for them and the company.

Financial Incentive

✅ Provide financial incentives to the employees for the work they do to implement the strategy.

When you and your team come together, the execution will be easy.

Step 4 – Identify the Skill Deficit, Knowledge Deficit, and Execution Deficit

If employees want to help you in strategy implementation and execution but they do not have the required skills or they do not know what should they do and how to do, then it is impossible to execute your strategy.

In such a case, you need to:

  • Identify the different types of deficits of your employees like skill, knowledge, and execution.
  • Become the gap partner of your employees to help them to fill their deficits.
  • Train, inspire or engage your existing employees.
  • Bring new skilled manpower to implement the strategy.

Step 5 – Flexibility is the Solution for Frequent Barriers

✅ Make your frameworks and working style flexible.

The framework is necessary for execution. Without frameworks of strategy implementation and execution, you cannot be successful.

There are two types of frameworks –

  • Standard Framework
  • Creative framework

Once you know the standard frameworks, you are able to make your own framework, which will be customized according to the current situation or problem.

When CEOs or entrepreneurs start making their own customized frameworks, they provide these frameworks to their juniors and juniors just need to enforce the devised strategy implementation process to let your company start growing.

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Strategy

Are You Failing to Implement Strategy Execution Process?

Are You Failing to Implement Strategy Execution Process?

Introduction

  • Do you want to know strategy implementation process?
  • Do you want to know what strategy execution framework is?

Many businesses fail in their initial years despite the excellent strategy execution process and years of experience. Do you know why?

It is because of the lack of appropriate strategy execution framework.

Many businesses fail because they fail to execute their strategy.

Strategy does not give big Success, Execution does.

The day you understand this, you will see your business growing.

Here is how you can execute your strategy through 4 important strategy execution frameworks.

If you adopt these 4 steps in any department, the efficiency of that department will increase.

It does not matter whether you are the first mover or the last mover. You will become a fast mover. Here, are those four steps:

Step #1: MEG (Most Essential Goal)

Among the most important tools of the strategy execution process is MEG (Most Essential Goal).

MEG is a goal for which you are ready to compromise everything else and focuses on it only is called Most Essential Goal (MEG).

Focus on What Matters the Most!

If you do everything but miss your most essential goal, you will fail.

If you miss everything else and focus on your MEG, you will get successful.

So, you need to identify the MEG of your department, division or organization that you want to execute.

Step #2: Effort Score and Result Score

Without matching your Effort Score with Result you cannot implement the strategy execution process effectively in your business.

If you want to achieve a goal, separate your Effort Score and Result Score.

While achieving any goal, determine what effort will it take and what result/outcome is expected.

Step #3: Scoreboard
Until you make a scoreboard, people will not feel excited and your strategy implementation process will fail drastically.

People play differently when they have a scoreboard.

Actually, people want to win and you should help them win by making a scoreboard.

When you encourage people, they will take scoreboard as a game and will try to win. As a result, their speed will increase.

Increasing the speed of the department will help you control the numbers, figures, and targets.

Now, you can engage people easily.

Let’s move on to Step 4!

Step #4: Weekly Review Meeting

Conduct weekly review meetings with your team so as to improve their performance, and implement the strategy execution process efficiently.

When people with a shared vision sit together to discuss areas of mutual concerns, it sparks creativity and helps them achieve the Most Essential Goal.

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Strategy

10 Tips on How to Create Monopoly in Business

??Introduction

  • Do you have an entry barrier in your business?
  • Do you know how to create monopoly in business?

Replicating a successful business idea of others is an old-fashioned way of doing business, which may not every time give you expected results. A business should be so unique and powerful that no one dares to enter into it. 

You should create a monopoly in the market create an entry barrier for competitors entering into it. 

Now let’s understand how to create monopoly in business with given 10 tips-

Intellectual Property Protection

You can create a trade secret of your business that no one knows in the market except you.
 

For Example:
?

1. Coca Cola created a trade secret of their beverage that no one could copy in the market so far. Coca Cola didn’t reveal the method of preparing their beverage, which prevented others from producing it.  

2. KFC also created similar trade secret with their recipe for making a chicken burger, which created an entry barrier for others and scaled up their business across the world.

Patent and Licensing

Patenting and Licensing gives you special right that prevents your competitors from making a similar product.

For Example: ?

In the pharmaceutical sector, two types of medicines are produced- Generic and Molecule. Generic medicines can be made by anyone without any patent rights.

Whereas, molecule medicines are those specific medicine made by a company through their research and development. 

It gives you a monopoly over pricing as it is produced by you only while barring others from entering into the market.

Distribution Network

A strong distribution network gives you an upper hand over your competitors in monopolizing the market.

For Example:
?

Though Nokia’s had a huge distribution network across the country, it didn’t build good relations with retailers, as it gave them very less margin which made their survival difficult. 

When retailers were unsatisfied with Nokia, Chinese manufacturers Oppo and Vevo made a remarkable entry in the Indian market and snatched the tag of the largest distribution network from Nokia. 

Retailers became loyal to Oppo and Vivo as they gave them the highest margin in the market, which automatically became an entry barrier for competitors.

Exclusive Rights

Getting exclusive rights to sell an international product automatically creates a monopoly in the market by creating an entry barrier for others. 

Flipkart and Amazon have exclusive rights to selling products of some of the biggest international brands in India, which disrupts the business of others.

For Example:
?

Flipkart has 70% exclusive rights of selling international products, while Amazon possesses 30% exclusive rights of such products. Only they get exclusive rights of special sales and deals in India.

Economies of Scale

Another powerful method to monopolize the market is increasing your sales so high that it automatically finishes the competition in the market. 

Although it reduces your margin, it increases overall profitability massively on the sale of products.

For Example:
?

Walmart, DMart and Big Bazaar work on this model, where they purchase a huge amount of inventory on heavy discounts, and sell it at very lower prices, without decreasing their profitability. This method gives them an advantage over others, who don’t work on economies of scale.

High Capital Investment

This technique is used by conglomerates to monopolize the market through massive investment in innovative products.

For Example:
?

Reliance Jio used this technique by investing 2.5 lakh crore on new technology which incumbents didn’t have. It left competitors working on old technology out of business.

Jio monopolized the mobile networking market so extensively, that, it led many companies to merge with each other’s to save their existence, reducing the total number of mobile networking companies from 13 to only 3.

Proprietary Technology

The problem-solving technology that only you have in the market, without significant efforts make you only in the market.

For Example:
?

With a 90% gross margin, Bill Gates’s Microsoft Windows has 90% market share in the world.  Nobody could make windows that could compete with Microsoft for decades.

Excellent Customer Service

Domino’s Pizza, with more than 60% market share in the organized industry, has emerged as an excellent customer service provider through its ’30 minute or free’ offer in India. 

This excellent experience by Domino’s created an entry barrier as no Pizza company could compete it so far. 

Brand Equity

Synonymous branding is a unique way of registering your product’s image into the customer’s mind that it comes up first when they talk about that particular product.

For Example:
?

M-Seal, although its product’s name is epoxy compound, became massively popular among customers as M-Seal, through ad campaigns that its name became synonymous to product type.

Loyalty Beyond Logic

In some particular region or community, loyalty beyond logic can be created by providing the products and services that connect with their belief system.

For Example:
?

The health care company Hamdard became so famous among practitioners of Islam in Hyderabad, that they never used products of other companies, even when they sold at discounted rates. 

Once when Hamdard stopped making products due to strike, although they began using products of Baidyanath, returned to Hamdard as soon as it restarted manufacturing products due to their loyalty beyond logic.

Implementing the above given 10 significant tips on how to create monopoly in business will certainly help you become king of the market by creating an entry barrier for competitors.

Categories
Strategy

Do you know why strategy execution fails in business?

Introduction

  • Do you know why strategy execution fails in business?
  • Are you focused on Strategy or Executing the Strategy?
  • Do you want to execute your Strategies effectively?

There is a myth prevailing across the business community that if strategies are good, an organization will definitely work.

They solely rely upon ‘ideas and innovation’ to run their business and undermine the importance of strategy Execution.

Big corporates make many strategies, work on various innovative ideas by pumping billions of dollars.

Still, their failure to execute those ideas actually lead them to an unexpected demise.

Thousands of organizations are failing due to the improper execution of their business strategy.

Let us understand why strategy execution fails even after making world-class business strategies.

Corporates’ Failure to Execute Ideas

Even after being the first entrant into mobile phones, Research in Motion, the makers of Blackberry, and Nokia lost 85% market share to new entrants due to lack of efficient execution.

Even after having a powerful business strategy, ideas, and innovation they failed dramatically in execution. This led others to grab the market from them.

Ideas and Innovations are not Sufficient

Sole dependence upon the ideas is the prime reason why strategy execution fails even after pumping millions of dollars on innovation.

In present market conditions, it is utterly a myth that with an “idea” one can become “Crorepati” (millionaire).

An Idea is just a seed, but it needs Sun, Air, Water, Fertilizer, and Pesticide to become a big tree -which is called Execution.

Why is Execution so Important?
Such is the importance of strategy execution in an organization that accomplishing a plan without it is merely a myth.
Normally, an organization doesn’t figure out money-making models and fail to make efforts score, results score, and scoreboard.
Plans and policies can be made in a board room, but the execution is not a child’s play. It is a systematic way of turning cognitive ideas into reality.

Seamless execution on your inspiration can become even bigger than innovations.
Strategies and innovations are important, but without excellent execution, they are completely irrelevant.
Innovation can be purchased, strategists can be hired, but the execution has to be done by you only.

Be Fast Mover, Not First Mover

This is not the world of first movers but fast movers. Although Bollywood started making movies inspired by Hollywood, now, its revenue has surpassed that of Hollywood.

OYO Rooms launched an online hotel booking service in India by adopting a model of AIRBNB from abroad, but now, it has become so big that AIRBNB cannot even compete with it in India.

In the same manner, OLA Cabs began its operation after many years of the launch of Uber in India, and now, it has become larger than Uber in the country.

Get Inspired by Others

Xerox’s computer was not as bad as it now appears to be, but it lacked execution.

The emergence of Steve Jobs’s Apple and Bill Gates’s Microsoft in the world of the operating system did not leave the space for Xerox to breathe anymore.

There were many mobile operating systems like -Blackberry, Symbian, MeeGo, Palm OS, and Windows.

But, they left an inch of space in the market!

Seeing the space, Google launched the Android killing all competitors in one go. It created a single point ecosystem and open platform for mobile and software manufacturers, which no one could think of.

Failure to Execute

Thanks to their ability to undermine the importance of strategy execution, Nokia, Siemens, Blackberry, Motorola and Sony are no more a household name as they used to be.

Once, market leaders, they lost the race with the entry of Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi.

Though strategies and innovations are very important for an organization, but “ideation without execution is only illusion and delusion.

The entry of Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali has driven centuries-old organizations like P&G (Procter and Gamble), Dabur, Hamdard, and Unilever out of business.

The story is no different for Search engines. Web crawler and Lykos were launched in 1994, AltaVista and Excite in 1995, Yahoo and Dogpile in 1996, and Ask Jeeves and MSN in 1998. But they could not sustain the market to inexperienced Google, which was launched in 1998.

All these corporate failures are examples of failed execution even after having good ideas, strategies, and innovation.

Today is the time of not only innovation and ideas but taking inspiration from surroundings to execute business and scale it up.

Hence, why strategy execution fails could be well understood with the explanation as given in the article.