Growing Your Company in a Chaotic Market

By Lee Traupel

I think we've all heard enough bad news recently to last us several lifetimes. Our mantra for clients is "Get over it." Cut your losses when and where you can, and focus on the basic building blocks to grow your business. Here are some ground rules we recommend to any company that wants to survive and grow in this chaotic market.

Practice maniacal focus
Who are your customers, and how do you reach them? If you can't readily identify the benchmarks, you might need to take a hard look at such areas as your business structure, personnel and costs, and rework your model.

Outsource skill into your company
We tell clients to minimize fixed costs like the feudal barons of old. These frugal land owners kept a core group of fighters to man the garrison walls and only recruited more soldiers when the baron from next door came calling at the castle gates with a legion of longbows behind him to exact tribute.

Marketing, finance, human resources, IT infrastructure, even product development or manufacturing can be easily outsourced to specialists who have levels of proficiency that you might not be able to afford if you tried to hire them full time.

Price in a way that minimizes barriers to entry
If chaos is the order of the day — and I think it is — make sure your pricing is tiered or otherwise structured so your clients can afford to try your products and services. And be flexible in your negotiations. Look for creative ways to bring new customers aboard.

Make your suppliers real business partners

You might not have the clout of a Fortune 1,000 company to leverage Fed Ex, but you can ask your suppliers to extend terms, to work with you on just-in-time delivery schedules, or to get creative with pricing and joint promotions.

For example, Federal Express and UPS are setting up shop in their customers' shipping docks to save valuable time and money, and to become active business partners. You might not have the clout of a Fortune 1,000 company to leverage Fed Ex, but you can ask your suppliers to extend terms, to work with you on just-in-time delivery schedules, or to get creative with pricing and joint promotions.

Keep your marketing fundamentals up to snuff
This begins with good Web site design. I see so many sloppy Web sites with menus, user interface, product catalogs and Power Point presentations that need work.

Integrate your color scheme and logo across all marketing and communications materials, digital and traditional; reinforce your branding and positioning with clearly worded statements.

Next, address basic marketing principles. For example, integrate your color scheme and logo across all marketing and communications materials, digital and traditional; reinforce your branding and positioning with clearly worded statements; and ensure your logo and tagline look professional and are used properly.

Create and display credible public relations statements
Communicate more than fluff, such as "market (or cost) leadership," "best-of-breed technology," "leading provider of," and "high performance." Don't use terms editors see hundreds of times every day. Create PR that is original and truthful, and you will stand out from the crowd much better.

Position your company so that you can work with customers all over the world
It's truly a global market these days. If you don't have the resources or personnel, partner with a local reseller, dealer or distributor who has an established presence in a country or a market that you can serve via your office.

Don't waste time chasing venture capital
Fund your company creatively. Venture capitalists are busy today trying to save their existing portfolio of dot-bombs, so don't waste a lot of your time contacting them. Talk to friends and family about investing or look to your suppliers to give you extended terms in exchange for a long-term contract or discounted parts.

Leverage technology to help grow your business
A good Web site should answer questions for your customers, not leave them frustrated and confused. Make sure you address fundamental questions with FAQs. You can also set up instant messaging via any number of chat technology providers, which allows your visitors to anonymously ask questions of your customer support personnel.

Ignore marketing hype and concentrate on technology that really works. Tried surfing the Web via your cell phone and finding a hot bistro in a new neighborhood recently? I hate to pick on this technology du jour, but it rates high on my hype-o-meter right now.

An example of a technology that really works is opt-in e-mail advertising. And there's a reason: It's nearly instantaneous, is very targeted, and provides global reach.




Lee Traupel is CEO and co-founder of Intelective Communications Inc., a self-funded software and services firm.

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