Business Trends – Part One

Successful entrepreneurs are always harnessing the latest technologies and processes to ensure that their business is as focused and efficient as possible. This requires entrepreneurs to constantly be on the lookout for broad trends (e.g. political, social, demographic) as well as industry-specific trends (e.g. market receptivity, competitors, access to resources and required skills).

So, in BusinessCast podcast episode 115 — Business Trends — Part One — we take up the discussion of the importance of trends with Sacha Ghai. Sacha is a Partner at McKinsey & Co — which is one of the world’s leaders in helping companies develop/improve their strategies, technology and operations.

In future episodes, Robert and I will also drill down with other experts on the trends that will have the greatest on entrepreneurs and their success.

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The Most Well-Known and Under-Used Secret to Business Success

If I told you that you could save significant money in the short- and long-term when it comes to your next product launch would you be interested? How about, if I suggested a way that you could increase the likelihood that customers would purchase more of your services? How about, if I could point to a sure-fire method of making sure that your brand message actually “sticks” with the right audience?

Well, the truth is, most entrepreneurs have the capacity to achieve such savings and ensure their success. In BusinessCast podcast show #55 – Feedback – Or Is It Just Noise? we tackle the most well-known and under-used secret to business…smart, deliberate, focused research! At the same time, we know asking for feedback and conduct research is the least glamorous part of marketing. But, think of it this way: because your competitors are most likely not doing it or not doing it well, it can yield a significant source of insight that can actually see you leapfrog you ahead of them!

The challenge for many entrepreneurs is the feeling that they know precisely:

• Who their market is;
• Where the market is;
• How the market is evolving;
• What the market wants now/in the future;
• What the market feels it needs now;
• What priority their products/services have in the mind of their market;
• How each market segment behaves;
• What the market is prepared to pay;
• What obstacles their customers have to overcome; and
• How competitors are better/different from them.

That typically means that entrepreneurs rarely solicit feedback.

In fact, the reality is that markets, competitors and your own business evolves so quickly that it is impractical and unlikely that all those insights are captured, organized, analyzed, updated and applied on an on-going basis in your company. The prospect of research then becomes so daunting that many just ignore it completely or discount it. But, you don’t have to do everything at once. That’s why in BusinessCast podcast show #55 – Feedback – Or Is It Just Noise?, we review some of the key elements of gathering feedback from customers and the market-at-large.

And, while we know that you’ve got to run a business, we just want you to think about those questions posed in the first paragraph. You can achieve those benefits and savings. To that end, here’s a very useful summary chart to help you put into perspective the different methods for pulling insights from the market – along with their benefits and limitations.

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