Preventive Well-Being for Company Development
While we may not fully grasp the reasons why a small business transforms into a corporate giant, it is certainly possible to highlight the guiding principles that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can follow for healthy growth.
Today, the healthcare sector focuses on preventive activities rather than treatment. The notion of ‘If you don't get sick, there’s no need for treatment’ sounds quite appealing. Of course, there is a cost involved; one must put in the effort for the three-phase focus that preventive medicine suggests to avoid illness: 'A Sound Mind,' 'Quality Nutrition,' and 'Regular Exercise.'
I believe we can take these three fundamental dimensions as a guide in the growth of businesses. In this way, business owners who are interested in healthy living can consider adopting this memorable and supportive perspective in their communication related to business and team management.
1-) Businesses with a Sound Mind:At its core, having this focus is essential for a company to attain the other two. Business owners need to manage their "personal" modeling matters and "family partnerships" with minimal reflection in the business. The management team must operate in a climate where coordination is key, allowing professionals to thrive and be nurtured.
This phase of change breathes life into leadership, where the business owner creates a cultural experience first for themselves and then for their core team. After establishing this leadership, the structure of the company should be defined and developed in parallel. Examples range from aligning bonus systems with career planning to transitioning from business automation to project-focused management.
The biggest risk when focusing on management is finding competent people, especially for key positions, and allocating enough budget once you do. Today, starting with a minimum but right team and providing them with the correct guidance is one of the first steps. Trying to save here can result in significant time loss.
2-) Businesses with Quality Nutrition:Just like in human metabolism, quality support is the first step towards balance for a business. The company's structure must be kept strong, adaptable in quality, and ever-improving; otherwise, it won't evolve into sustainable performance.
As quality competition advances, the biggest threat is falling into the trap of price undercutting. It's crucial to differentiate between cost-saving and cheapness. Just like a prolonged lack of an essential mineral can harm health, compromising on quality has long-term negative effects. In this second dimension, "Systematization," "Efficiency," and "Renewal" efforts come to the forefront.
The business owner must first ensure the current value of the product/service in the competitive arena. Initially, distribution of the existing offering and then differentiating the product/service might seem like simple and often neglected steps, much like expecting a healthy life while consistently eating fast food.
Brand perception and customer experience must also be applied as supportive, cosmetic tools in quality competition, with sustained and increasing doses.
3-) Businesses with Continuous Exercise:The area of focus that business owners should chew on continuously, like gum, is increasing revenue. As they inflate the company's balloon, it's crucial to develop a relationship between this and revenue during the growth phase.
In this sense, continuously performing exercises such as new supply connections, empowering the team, raising prices through sales operations, improving customer access and experience, and entering new markets is critical. Even unsuccessful attempts should be recorded as part of the company's history.
In summary, it’s essential to consistently exercise the necessary "muscles." Just as in the previous point, brand perception and customer experience should act as a vitamin boost in revenue-generating activities and price increases. Thus, "Customer Experience," "Sales Targeting," and effective "Distribution Channels" are key focus areas for this third dimension.
The key risk when focusing on revenue competition is letting costs spiral out of control. The revenue increase process often requires accepting high calculated costs, but unaccounted-for methods can later lead to challenges, becoming factors that either grow or sink the company.
Unlike bodybuilders who bulk up with harmful hormones, businesses must focus on building permanent and flexible "muscles." Treating the effort to grow revenue as an exercise allows the business owner to have full control over their company's movements.
A Sound Mind Resides in a Sound Body
While most business owners are familiar with many of the points mentioned above, they often neglect some of these realities, just as we sometimes do with matters related to our personal health. In this sense, I want to remind the dedicated owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, who work tirelessly for the balanced and sustainable growth of their businesses, of the three main focuses of preventive medicine.
Ultimately, taking proactive steps to avoid problems, rather than trying to remedy them later, seems to be the best approach not only for ourselves but also for the healthy development of our businesses, which we care for deeply.
Source: Three Rules for Making a Company Truly Great, Michael E. Raynor, Mumtaz Ahmed
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