9 tips to guide your company to success this 2018

Creating a company may seem like a simple project, once we have solved the heavy bureaucracy involved: just have (1) an innovative idea, (2) perform a market survey that allows us to have our business plan perfectly tuned and (3) be constant to achieve the objectives that we have proposed.

However, how can we achieve sustained growth that allows us to consolidate and live by our idea?

Here are some tips to get it:

1. Understand your company as a whole

It is fundamental to understand your company in a holistic and connected way that is to say with a systemic perspective, not only as the sum of the parts. This has special relevance in relation to the group of people who work in the organization. Contrary to what we usually think, the ideal is to have a small number of employees, since numerous work teams tend to be more inefficient.

2. Clearly define the objectives to achieve and route the entire company in that direction

To achieve the objectives that you have set, it is keys that each and every one of your collaborators knows them and understands them clearly.

3. Define the value indicators

There are numerous indicators or financial ratios of a company, which are compared with reference values to get an idea of the financial health of our business. Some of the main ones are the following:

It is a measure of the economic profitability of the company

It allows us to understand how we are using the invested capital. If the value is low, it may indicate poor management or a very conservative approach. If the value is high, it may indicate good management or that the company is undercapitalizing.

Indicates how many dollars of outside financing the company has for each dollar of own funds. A ratio greater than 3 indicates a debt that is too high.

4. Do not stop measuring, measuring, measuring

After having defined the key indicators of your business (income, expenses, profitability, etc.) it is essential to keep an exhaustive record of them to help you correct errors and strengthen your strengths.

5. Make a correct segmentation of the market

It is essential to define the market in which you are going to operate and the type of clients to whom you want to sell your product. Attempting to serve all customers and in all markets is a potential failure factor.

6. Define your marketing strategy

This strategy is traced with the response to “how will the product or service be sold to the target market”: Through what channels (a store, online)? At what price? How is it advertised?

7. Design your strategy on invariable factors

It is common that when creating a company we ask ourselves what will change during the next ten years. But we almost never think about what will not change in a decade. This second question is actually the most important of both, because a strategy can only be based on things that are stable over time. Finding immutable points allows you to define factors that can be counted regardless of the circumstances.

8. Innovate beyond the idea you’ve put in place

Many people believe that innovation is based on betting on an innovative idea. In fact, constant experimentation is an essential part of the process to achieve commercial success. Experimenting involves trying something new instead of always repeating the same formulas.

9. Do not forget that failure is an essential part of experimentation

Negative results are also part of the search process. In all cases useful data is obtained that can be capitalized for future projects.

Remember that all new companies are an experiment… and experimenting is one of the best ways to succeed. In addition, if you are an entrepreneur, surely you are not only looking for success but to do what you really like and achieve work happiness, right?