HOW TO MANAGE THE BUSINESS AND NOT LET THE BUSINESS MANAGE YOU?

You're a business owner. You're sitting in your office, with a pile of enquiries on your desk that will fill capacity but make little profit. The sales team is doing their best, but the results are more a matter of luck than planned strategy. Every day you're dealing with the dilemma between what you want to do and what you need to do to keep the business going.

How to get out of this vicious circle? How to get the chaos - your business - under control? And is it possible even if you have a long sales cycle?

It's coming. Start running your shop like a factory.

Further in the article:

What if you don't run the store?

Who is your ideal customer?

How do you differentiate yourself from the competition? How to ensure business efficiency and scalability? A practical example

Become the master of your orders

What happens if you don't run the store?

• Clients dictate terms, you put out fires. Orders come in irregularly.

• Low-margin contracts put you under pressure.

• Burnout is not a question of "if" but "when". Yours, employees' and managers'. 

Why are scenarios like this so common in companies? Companies are used to relying on connections. They don't manage the business strategically, and often they don't even have a sales department. They mix in purely Czech specifics, such as "references are enough, we have a name on the market" or "we can do it all ourselves".

I'm sure your competitors do too. And that's an opportunity for you - if you implement a strategy and systematic approach, you'll get an immediate head start. A successful business should be built on three strategic pillars. Let's look at them in more detail.

1. Who is your ideal customer?

It seems like a cliché that everyone repeats. But it's a cliché you can't move without. Know your customer. Do a customer analysis. Find out how much profit they bring you, how long they've been working with you, and the potential for additional purchases.

My recommendation

Categorise customers into key and risk categories and create your ideal customer profile. Who fits in and who stands out? This is the only way to find the most profitable segment your marketers should target. Certain contracts lie where the potential customer is my ideal customer.

2. How do you differentiate yourself from the competition?

"We sell software" is boring. "We'll reduce scrappiness by 15%" is already something that gets the customer's attention. Your offer should always answer a simple question: "What's in it for me?"

My recommendation

Sometimes you just need to redefine communication to get relevant inquiries. Customers are buying a solution to a problem. Some want more production, some need to save time or improve quality, others are looking for top-notch customer service on call.

Your job is to find out what each link in the business cycle wants. Define your added through questionnaires or interviews with past clients. Not the parameters, but the benefits your product will bring. Plug the results into the ERRC matrix - eliminate, reduce, raise, create - and improve value communication.Externally, but also internally, into the company.

3. How to ensure business efficiency and scalability?

Look at the business process as production. Don't be afraid to build a robust sales team consisting of a skilled salesperson to bring in customers or leads, a backend employee to enter information into the system, and a robot clean the data or send out automated emails.

My recommendation

The first step is to set up the business process. I get the lead, I get the meeting, I find out the customer's needs, I create the offer and we sign the contract. Use a CRM system for each step to keep an eye on not only the customers, also their inquiries. Regularly analyze metrics - conversions between stages, length of the sales cycle or profitability. The process should be simple and easy to understand, but for the customer. It can be much more compartmentalized on your end.

Don't forget to check regularly to see if you are achieving your business goals. I'm a proponent of weekly or even daily check-ins, where you track just consistent entry into the trading funnel, for example.

Example from practice

One example for all? I worked with a company in the automotive industry that was dependent on several clients and had irregular orders. What company in the Czech Republic hasn't experienced this? All it took was a few strategic changes...

The company focused on one key manufacturing operation, implemented a CRM system that provided visibility and control over both inquiries and customers, and brought in a new salesperson whose main goal was to open up foreign markets. The result? A 25% increase in business opportunities and successful expansion into Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.

Become the master of your orders

You can have lucrative contracts even if you have a long business . It's not rocket science, it just takes a sophisticated system and strategy that allows you to focus on what really works.

Start by setting clear priorities, improving the communication of the value of your offering, and implementing efficient processes that save you time and increase profitability. Don't underestimate the power of data, regular checks and automation - these are the tools that will open the door to greater stability and growth.

And if you're looking for support to get started with all this, sign up for my April Become the Master of Your Business webinar where I will show you how to take control of your business, attract your ideal clients and increase profitability. The webinar is free, so don't hesitate. I look forward to kicking off your business together.

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