A successful business is built not by marketing but by creating a customer-centric business strategy. Any company, young, not so young, or old, can be made to stand out in a competitive marketplace. The main impediment to that happening is the unwillingness of leadership to change, restructure and redesign the organization’s business model, structure, business processes, attitude, and go-to-market approach. Another reason for a company’s failure is the entrepreneur’s mindset that ethics and organizational culture are good to have and nice to talk about virtues. Still, the focus should be on margins and profit. Such organizations are also unlikely to gain a competitive edge over competitors. Ultimately, they wither away and disappear.
A company stands out against competitors when its business strategy, business model, and marketing strategy are aligned and designed to focus on customer satisfaction and are customer-centric. I see so many entrepreneurs believing that they can market themselves to success. That does not happen. Let us look at some successful companies.
Sam Walton, the Founder of Walmart, was focused on the customer. He insisted that store managers observe the principle of everyday low prices. He was obsessed with providing his customers with products at a price point that was the lowest in the market. He achieved it by buying in bulk, streamlining the supply chain, and focusing on logistics efficiency, technology, and delivery processes. He opened his stores in the rural heartland of America, where real estate costs were the lowest. He was the first to use technology to improve operational efficiency. He built one of the largest retail stores company in the world by focusing on customer needs and wants.
In India, the Tata group is obsessed with ethics and values and has built its brand image around these virtues. It is not that the company has the most efficient business processes, but the company has been built on the foundation of ethics and trust. It is this value system that attracts customers to its business. The group’s successful business rests on its focus on brand building.
Starbuck’s focus is on customer experience, and Airbnb’s successful business model offers customers a home environment and Uber convenience; Southwest airlines focus on low prices and online performance. Looking closely at each of the successful companies’ business models and the reasons for the failure of those who did not succeed, you will observe the following common features:
A great business strategy, a customer-aligned business model, a strong and enduring focus on ethics, a customer-centric attitude, and an efficient business process.
To young entrepreneurs, you can build sustainable companies and successful businesses not by marketing but on the back of a business strategy, with the most efficient and seamlessly operating value chains.
How can young entrepreneurs build a successful business?
