At a recent Business Conference, I had an opportunity to listen to Mark Barden, who is associated with the author of “Eat the Big Fish”. He made several points that had a resounding impression on me. Even though our conference was directed at Office Supply Dealers, I feel that the impact of some of the points that Mark made can have profound effect on any business. Please allow me to share a couple of these ideas with you.

Map out the Culture of your Business: This is a process that illustrates the essence of what you do and why people should use you. You begin this process by stating two components of your business.

1. Brilliant Basics – (what do we do?) For us a simple statement would be; We sell office supplies.
2. Compelling Difference – (why we’re better!) For us, these are the most important aspects. We are a local company, we respond personally with each customer, we partner with our customers in their projects, we help with “same day” emergencies, we give back to our community by hosting charity events, participating in multiple Chamber of Commerce Organizations, and partnering with our customers for the betterment of our shared community.

Enhance the Culture of your Business: Shape your Business Culture by developing your company’s focus on important company components.

1. Leveraging local assets that can enhance your company’s image.
2. Return on relationships. Use your relationships to develop business and gain opportunities to meet potential clients.
3. Being Proactive. Find solutions to issues before they become emergencies.
4. Cash in on hidden assets. Do a self-examination on your company and look for great aspects of your company that could really enhance your effectiveness if you develop them to a higher degree. With us, we feel like our staff is our most valuable asset. We have a great staff and have started to implement some actions that can empower them to have a more powerful communication level with our customers.

Mark summed up by warning that sometimes people can get so busy “running” their business, they don’t take the time to “develop and shape” their business, then they wonder why they don’t grow and prosper. If you want time to develop and shape your business you can utilize ERP (enterprise resource planning) software from companies such as Salesforce.

Finding the time to meet and develop these ideas can be tough, but failing to develop your own strengths makes growth even tougher.

By Buddy Young