Get Ahead of the Competition with these 7 Business Growth Solutions

I meet a lot of leaders that live in fear of the competition. Almost paralyzed with an unhealthy obsession about what the competition is doing and how it is going to cause customers or employees to leave. They’re in need of winning business growth solutions, but this fear impedes them from taking the next step.

Don’t Fear the Competition!

Here’s the thing…  When you have a clear, compelling and simple strategy, your team or organization will be able to understand it and execute on it. When you have a clear distinctive advantage in the marketplace, your target customers will understand it and purchase from you. They will even spend more money on you because they will see the value. You won’t need to fear the competition.

Competitors in all likelihood do not have a simple and focused plan. They are probably changing their minds and their strategies as often as their underwear. They probably have a long, hard to remember visions. In fact, I’ll bet that most, if not all their employees could not recite their vision.

Business Growth Solutions That Will Blow the Competition Away

The way to get ahead of your competition, without even concerning yourself with them, is simple. You just need to focus on making YOUR organization the best. Here are 7 business growth solutions to help get you there:

1. Have a clear and compelling vision and mission, and maintain simple strategies.  Everyone needs direction. They all need to know where they are going and what they are attempting to achieve.  Having a clear and compelling vision helps everyone visualize what success will look like.
2. Make sure your entire business knows the plan and how they play a role in its delivery.  High performing teams all know exactly what their role is and what they are responsible and accountable for.  Members of pro-sport teams all know exactly what positions they are playing.  They all know that not everyone can score goals, and be the goalkeeper.  Each player has a role and they trust completely that their teammates are doing their job.  It is the same in business.
3. Focus on your distinct excellence in the market.  You will never be able to be all things to all people.  If your customers buy from you because you have the most innovative offering available, do not try to have the lowest piece too.
4. Focus on your target customers (not all the potential customers, but your specific target customers).  There are over seven billion people on the planet.  Unless you are the only business on earth that is selling air, you will never have every single one of those people as a customer.  You should have a very defined target customer.  You should know every possible detail about that customer.  When you have an intimate knowledge of who your customer is, you will be better able to communicate to them in language and in a format that will resonate with your target.  Let your competition try to be all things to all people.
5. Never, ever, panic about what the competition is doing.  Remember they are probably extremely desperate and are living in fear of you. 97% of the businesses on the planet are mediocre (at best).  They do not have a plan.  They cannot execute.  They change strategies often.  Focus on your plan and what makes you great.
6. Celebrate all your wins. Most high achieving leaders make the same mistake:  they fail to recognize achievement in themselves and similarly, do not recognize achievement from their team.  Break your plans into baby steps and when each milestone is achieved, celebrate.
7. Learn from your losses as they relate to your strategy and your distinctive excellence. Shit happens.  When it does, do not jump off the edge of the building.  Dust yourself off, learn, teach and move on.  You may even want to celebrate mistakes like you would achievements.  That way your people will not live in fear of making mistakes and they will always be pushing the boundaries of innovation, service and… greatness!

Once you follow these business growth solutions and development strategies, you’ll notice that winning in business is easy because your competitors are most often dazed and confused.

Robert Murray is a Vancouver, BC based Business Strategy Consultant, partner at Incrementa Consulting Inc., #1 Best Selling Author, and International Keynote Speaker. For further advice, insight and inspiration on how to unlock your inner leader, follow Robert on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

The audio version of Bob’s #1 best seller It’s Already Inside is now available on Audible.