The Most Important Thing You’ll Learn About Cashflow and Market Growth
The way to ensure you always have cash flow comes down to one thing and one thing only. If you have the right strategy, and execute it well, nothing can stop you.
What we’ve learned from working with our clients throughout the years, is that it’s not only about having the right strategy but how to execute it well. (Get our comprehensive, free e-book The Four Cornerstones of Strategic Execution. to learn everything you need to know about executing your strategy well.)
THE SECRET TO MARKET GROWTH
Having a powerful strategy will secure your cash flow in the long term, as you’re focusing on the right things – the things that will bring you increased revenue. The way to be profitable and to grow your market share is really about knowing what (and who) to focus on.
We know of a company that actually had 170% revenue growth during the economic slump, nearly doubling in size. How was that possible? Largely because they focused on a single target market.
Specialising and honing in on what they wanted to focus on, and what they wanted to exclude, made them unique and gave them the edge. This strategy made it possible for them to really focus their efforts on what worked, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
THE WINNING STRATEGY IS…
Strategy does not mean being bigger, cheaper and faster. Rather, strategy is about being unique (what’s your unique selling point?) and arranging your resources around being just that.
The winning strategy is to carefully define your target market and then direct your superior offering to that target market.
The most important thing you’ll ever learn about strategy is the following; strategy is the art of exclusion.
In effect, you must choose what not to do. The most successful people tend to say “no” a lot, so as not to spread themselves too thin. Otherwise, your business will be a mess, lacking focus and direction.
CHOOSING THE BULLSEYE
We know today that the most effective marketing has one single customer in mind.
Do you know who that is for your brand? Have you documented the key characteristics of your target market customer? What does the target market care about?
Carefully segmenting your market and understanding where the biggest opportunities lie, where your bulls-eye should be, is your main factor for success.
A common delusion is that people are buying your products and services. In fact, they could care less.
WHO’S YOUR TARGET MARKET?
Your business must also identify who your target market is. Al Ries identified in his book, The Power of Focus,2that the narrower the focus, the more powerful the brand. And importantly - brands that stand for one thing (only) win.
This has been supported by thought leader Seth Godin, who says, “Don’t cater for the masses. Cater to your ideal customer. A product for everyone is a product for nobody, so focus on your most profitable market segment, the one with the most growth potential, and those who are the most influential, and then design a product or service that is remarkable to them.
WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS REALLY CARE ABOUT
What they really care about is whether you have a solution to their problems. Or whether you can help them get something they want. So, you obviously need to know your customers pretty well to get these insights.
Not only do you need to identify your target market customer but you also need to document in detail that customer’s needs, desires and frustrations.
It comes down to this: once you know what the customer wants, you need to employ the right strategy to reach that customer. It is not a one-size-fits-all.
Running a profitable and successful business is all about getting the strategy development and execution right. Get our comprehensive, free e-book The Four Cornerstones of Strategic Execution to learn everything you need to know about executing your strategy well.
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