How do you build a company that everyone wants to invest in?
Step 1: Think like an investor when making decisions about what to do strategically and what not to do.
Step 2: Think like your target market, and give them more of what they really want.
To get step 1, you want to plan the next year so that your company can scale. Before you can scale, you have to fix the profitability leaks.
To fix the profitability leaks you need to have an accounting system that shows you which products and services make money and which lose money.
To make sure you aren’t serving as the the bank to your customers, get invoices out in the month the work was done in and get the money into your bank account within 30 days.
Even better: Turn services into products that are sold when bought… meaning you collect the money when the product is sold, rather than billing for service after it is given.
To get step 2, you have to dig deep into who really does buy your product, not who you assume is in your target market.
You may be surprised to discover that who is really buying your product has very little resemblance to the broad demographic you thought loved your brand.
Further, what you will discover through your research is that small sub sets of the economy are buying it to solve a problem or because of what they believe your brand will do for them. Track that secret sauce to the source. Now you’ve got a stable foundation to build a growth plan from.
Want more on how to do this? Watch for future blogs where we break down the steps for powering up your sales by reinventing what your company really does for the real people who love you. Get started on your research by reading about the rebuilding of Gatorade here from the June 2012 issue of Fast Company magazine.
Got a question about this blog and how to use the steps in your company? Ask below.
