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Alec Blacklaw’s Top 10 Tips to Stay Ahead of the Curve

It’s hard to do you may think… And you may be right.  Let’s explore this.

I will share with you what the best businesses have done to get ahead of the competitors and to stay ahead of the curve.

You are in a business and you will know your challenges and opportunities right now. You may have a clear plan of implementation in progress. You may not.

We are experiencing challenging times right now regardless of where your business is at and what product and services you deliver. There are brilliant opportunities to move ahead of your competitors and win more market share also.

1. Review, refine and document your vision.
2. Obtain feedback from your team and clients and incorporate the key comments into your vision to obtain the maximum buy-in to what you are trying to achieve.
3. Develop a plan of action & implementation that holds all parties accountable for the desired results. The best plans are built on knowing your strengths, developing a targeted approach to build market share.
4. Develop a winning team culture. Shore up your weaknesses and develop contingency plans to insulate and protect your business as much as your resources will allow.
5. Celebrate your success with stakeholders.
6. Clearly communicate your point of difference & deliver loads of value to your target audience and ensure your client’s condition is significantly improved as a result of buying from you.
7. Develop and attract talent.
8. Manage your critical success factors daily and weekly and take corrective action.    Be courageous and act quickly (not hastily).
9. Know your key financial numbers and breakeven – build a financial dashboard and monitor regularly. Reinforce this with monthly management meetings.
10. Continue to evolve and innovate. One of the best mechanisms to fend off competitors or theft is to constantly innovate, evolve, differentiate, be bold and stay ahead of the curve.

There are no guarantees in life, however, an action plan supported by a never give up attitude certainly helps.

Consistently fine tune your strategy consistent with your objectives in the context of short, medium and long term goals to maximise your return on energy & investment.

I look forward to hearing about your success.

written by:

McKinley Plowman