Three steps to leverage your business strategy and become top of the market
In 2017 I met Tony at a hostel in Portugal.
Tony has always been a hard-working man, caring about people, and above all, an incredibly lucky man. Tony lives in England but returned to Portugal that year to fight for the custody of his daughter who had been in his ex-wife’s care. He found out she was a luxury escort who came to Portugal illegally, and now refused to let Tony see his daughter after he asked for a divorce.
When I met him, Tony was 76 years old.
He believed that to predict future actions and be successful, we have to study very deeply what is happening in the present, which tendencies people are following, and more importantly how are people behaving. And he said to me many times: "Hard things can be easily done wrong by everyone, success lies in doing simple things better than anyone else".
And this phrase still accompanies me today and influences all my professional paths. It's with this attitude, that I try to educate the companies with whom I work with by showing them that the secret of a lasting business lies among the people, and in the ability to manage them, as well as the ability to constantly generate (even easy) innovation. Innovation means to create something new from something old, but in the professional world it also means doing something different from what everyone else is doing.
Unfortunately, as money is the driving force behind a company's will, many times, this awareness disappears. Especially in times of crisis, when companies turn more to stability and safe bets in an attempt to control short-term economic risks.
But the reason why crises bring so many opportunities to companies is because 90% of their competitors start to play safe. This means that there is more room to innovate and to do something that no one else is thinking.
Throughout my career, I had watched many bosses fearing innovation at times of economic losses. But who said that innovation implies a lot of costs? Innovation goes far beyond technology. Innovation is a smart tweet, a timely commentary, and a revealing post. So, let’s talk more about that.
We live in a golden age when it comes to Marketing.
In the old days, it was necessary to pay for publishing articles in newspapers, magazines, radios, and only then was it possible to reach a large audience. Today, with the Internet, anyone can post on social media, publish videos on YouTube, launch books, at zero cost and reach a huge audience. We are moving towards these services, becoming more and more independent and autonomous. The decisive factor will not be money, but the ability to have a timely and personalized customer experience.
Jeremy Rifkin highlights that there is a Third Industrial Revolution underway, based on the convergence of three key technologies: an ultra-fast 5G Internet, an Internet for renewable energies and an autonomous mobility Internet. So, whoever says that the Internet is just for communication and people will always prefer real shops and business, I challenge you to check out this author's work.
Here’s a brief look at what the future will bring us. And the business strategies that we should work hard to implement in our companies from now on:
Digital – The future is online. If there is any chance to bring all parts of your business to an online platform, do it now! Bring the offline user experience inside our screens. Make it in a smart way and always transparent.
Personal – Create things as more personalized to every client as possible. People buy more when sense a feeling of familiarity. That’s why influencers are right now one of the best sources of marketing, and they’re here to stay. “It seems that the company is speaking directly to me” is the goal you should try to achieve. Algorithms can help you change your platform depending on the customer, but the way you communicate with people too. Start thinking more about what people want, and less on what you can achieve with it.
Sustainable – shops will have less and fewer products, people will order more online and will go to shops just to check the products. “Less is more” will also be part of this tendency.
Please don’t forget that the main point that will always connects all of these topics is innovation. You can have a dedicated department for this, or you may invite all your company workers to participate. This applies to technology companies, associations, public facilities, or even football clubs. There is just one rule: Don’t create the future with the present that you see. Study the present to create the future that people are looking for.
Today, Tony is finally reunited with his daughter, and I'm sure that he will always continue to fight for her. After all, that's what we do when we fight for the things we love: we don’t accept the limitations of the present, we always try to make it better.
