A company sees business failure when customers do not buy its services and products. To prevent failure the first action for any business is to understand customer needs and preferences. Begin by answering the following questions:
Who is the customer for the products of my enterprise?
Who else is selling these products and services, and at what price points?
What features of the products and services the customer needs the most?
I am asking you to create customer profiles for prospective customers. I am also asking you to conduct industry and competitive analysis of your products and services. I want you to undertake a pricing and cost analysis for the products and services you are taking to the market.
Next, examine closely the organization, skills, attitudes, marketing, and servicing techniques of the most successful businesses in the genre of the products and services you take to the market. As you study these, you will gain insights into what makes successful companies successful.
Let me illustrate this with an example. Let us say that your company owns a cafe chain, and you are sourcing the best coffee available. Your coffee is competitively priced, and you have hired the best baristas to prepare that excellent cup of coffee that customers would love to buy.
Still, customers prefer to go to the Starbucks coffee outlet next door, ignoring your restaurant. Analyzing the organization, skills, attitudes, marketing, and servicing techniques mentioned above may reveal that these are not aligned with customer needs and wants.
In summary, business success depends on a company’s business strategy, business model, organization model, business processes, and marketing strategy. Failure of any one of these leads to business failure. You can enhance your business performance and reduce the chances of business failure with the use of digital tools that will help the enterprise achieve higher levels of operational efficiency and excellence.
All the best!