After more than 7 years of recession and slump, the number of Spanish businesses has started to grow again in 2016, resulting in 3.24 million existing enterprises in Spain. Of the total active Spanish companies, 15.8% have been in existence for over 20 years, while some 20.1% are less than two years old.
A quick glance at this data, extracted from the Central Business Directory, gives us pause to reflect on the reasons for the success or failure of a new business project, and to wonder why many new businesses do not reach or surpass 2 years in operation.
In Lifting Group we care about the future of your business. Therefore, we offer below some advice that can be adapted to suit your Business Strategy and which will help you to make it flourish:
LEARN THE BEST STEPS TO TAKE TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS GROW
Although achieving growth and profitability are the main objectives of any Business Strategy, there are different intermediate objectives that can help to achieve the final goals, such as providing a variety of competitive solutions tailored to the business and to the type of company. For instance, working for an industrial company is not the same as working for a business in the fashion sector. Each sector has its own peculiarities and specialised market, but we can establish a generic methodology to define a strategy to increase the performance of your business.
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1. ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION AND THE BUSINESS’S PERFORMANCE
To know where we are going, it is essential to know where we are starting from. This requires assessment and analysis of the overall process, with the aim of turning the brand or business into a more efficient and competitive company or organisation. A complete analysis of the enterprise allows us to define the appropriate business and marketing strategies for each situation.
2. BENCHMARK AND IDENTIFICATION OF MARKET PERFORMANCE
This point focuses on an analysis of competitors, in the development of sales and in attaining objectives, in order to find out how the company is currently performing compared to the competition. Knowing the statistics for your own business and that of your competitors is extremely valuable information to have and will help you to progress to the next level.
3.IDENTIFICATION OF KEY ELEMENTS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE BUSINESS STRATEGY
In order to define a Business Strategy in line with the interests of each of the areas involved, from finance to marketing to logistics, it is important to establish interdepartmental synergies and to know all the key elements of value to the business, to identify those on which we should concentrate and target our efforts and resources.
4. DEFINITION OF THE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS TO BE ANALYSED (KPI, Definition of Objectives)
What exactly are we looking for in a Business Strategy? Normally, we seek to increase performance and overall success in terms of the growth of your business. And it is precisely on defining and quantifying these results that the KPI (Key Performance Indicators) focus; the key indicators that allow you to calculate what is relevant for your business.
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This is a very simple way of measuring whether or not you are currently being successful in whatever actions you take. First, you have to identify the relevant indicators or KPI for your business, which will be the ones you want to observe in more detail, because they are directly linked to your business’s performance.
5.DEFINITION OF A STRATEGIC ROADMAP
Having a roadmap will help you to formulate a plan of action. The Strategic Roadmap should include the following information: short and long term objectives, as well as deadlines for achieving these objectives. This is good business practice that helps to “map out the way”, by plotting a series of activities to be fulfilled, linked to your objectives and that will allow you to develop and step forward confidently into the future.
6.IDENTIFICATION OF THE LEVERAGE SUPPORTS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE AND GROWTH
It is essential to identify the leverage supports for growth, whether internal or external – generated through strategic synergies or alliances between companies and/or people – as these will help your enterprise to evolve towards the next stage of its growth as a business. At this point you can also apply any necessary adjustments to ensure success.
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NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE STEPS TO TAKE TOWARDS A SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY, DISCOVER OUR METHODOLOGY AT LIFTING GROUP
You have seen that in order to consolidate the direction of a business and achieve growth it is necessary to identify a long-term aim, segment it into its intermediary goals and identify the actions needed to achieve each of these. If you follow these steps and identify the right strategy to follow, you can turn your business vision into a reality.
In Lifting Group we use a clear, innovative methodology which allows us to offer the best strategy for you, specifically tailored to your activity and type of business. After an exhaustive audit, we set down the strategic needs of the company and establish the objectives and goals that we want to attain. It seems easy, but carrying out an Operative Strategic Plan requires a lot of dedication, effort and experience in order to guarantee maximum performance on your investment and it is vital to be able to count on a trained, experienced team to achieve satisfactory results.
