Be Different or be dead

March 30, 2020

Be a good copycat by making these 2 practical moves

Source: Unsplash

Be a good copycat by making these 2 practical moves.

Benchmarking others can be a good thing when you’re trying to be more productive.

For my regular reader, you’re undoubtedly sick over my relentless chant about the folly of copying others; following in someone else’s footsteps with the hopes that you will reap untold benefits.

Copying to gain a strategic advantage is NOT ok

I’ve said repeatedly that copying best in class is for the weak and lazy; that it’s an easy disguise for innovation and that as long as you’re in the hunt to benchmark someone else you give yourself permission not to be creative and innovate.

Copying is the antithesis of strategic innovation. Period.

I guess it’s due to my current state of chronological impairment, that I now offer somewhat of a contrarian view to my previous thesis. It doesn’t supplant my anti-copying rants, however, it merely defines an exception to the rule.

Copying to improve operations efficiency IS ok

The exception is: copying for operations improvements is ok as long as you realize they are not contributing to a strategic advantage in any way whatsoever

This is a critical piece of thinking. If you are looking for efficiency gains than go ahead and find a best practices organization that has top notch returns from their processes and copy them.

But don’t for a moment think you’re going to improve your competitive position because that’s not on.

How can you gain any advantage strategically by doing what someone else does? You can’t, regardless of what anyone says.

But you can improve your operating margins within the strategy you have, and that’s a good thing. A ho-hum strategy with improved margins is better than one with skinny ones (but don’t kid yourself, you’re only putting off the inevitable if you’re not the ONLY ones that do what you do).

These 2 practical moves will allow you to use the copycat strategy the RIGHT way:

1. Create a business plan that sets you apart — First, develop a strategic game plan that will separate you from the herd of competitors you face and make you unmatchable in the markets you serve;

2. Efficiently execute the plan — Second, adopt as many best practices you can that will enable you to execute your business plan with maximum efficiency.

Success is a healthy blend of strategic wisdom + operating efficiency that yields a higher level of performance than your peers.

If you are a copycat to try and dominate your competition, DON’T.

But if you apply copycat methods to HOW you get the strategic job done, DO.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 3.30.20 at 07:02 am by Roy Osing
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March 28, 2020

High employee turnover causes serious problems; here’s how to solve them

Source: Pexels

High employee turnover causes serious problems; here’s how to solve them.

Retaining top talent is a priority for every organization. As a business leader or entrepreneur, high turnover can have a significant effect on your company’s everyday operations and profitability.

Turnover can stem from many reasons, including poor leadership skills, weak corporate culture, inadequate hiring practices and lack of career advancement. If you want to retain a valued workforce, read on to learn about the impacts of high turnover on a company and how you can combat it with the proper business strategies.

When employees are constantly coming and going, remaining workers can get distracted from your company’s mission and may not work productively to meet important goals. This can affect team dynamics in the office and the effectiveness of work.

Production could be delayed or even come to a standstill, especially if key employees quit without notice. The quality of your products and services can suffer as a result, which can lead to customer satisfaction issues.

It can be costly when you have to replace employees frequently, especially those who have the most experience. Your company can take a serious hit from the costs of recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, and training possible replacements. On average, it costs about $17,000 to replace an employee who is making median wage in the U.S.

Leadership

One way to counteract turnover rates in your workplace is with better leadership. Providing managers with training for setting effective goals, giving feedback, and recognizing and rewarding employees can help retain valuable staff.

When leaders are personable, communicative and qualified to lead, they provide positive work environments, which can lead to a more motivated and productive workforce. Effective leadership also can help employees feel valued and that their job matters to the company.

For more information on how turnover can impact your business and how you can rectify it, take a look at the accompanying infographic.

— Pam Verhoff is President of Advanced RPO, a talent acquisition company in Chicago, IL. Verhoff has extensive experience in building RPO businesses and solutions, as well as developing growth strategy.

• Posted 3.28.20 at 04:33 am by Roy Osing
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March 23, 2020

4 hazardous problems leaders should know about digital speeches

Source: Pexels

4 hazardous problems leaders should know about digital speeches.

We live in digital space; we use digital technology in our personal life to practically do everything from telling time, listening to our favourite music and keeping a personal journal to controlling our home security through devices such as video cameras and motion sensors.

In business, digital technology is the heart of products and services, internal control processes and customer contact systems.

Digital pervades literally everything we do, but I believe the most profound impact it has had is on the way we communicate with one another.

Analog technology defined the boundaries and limitations on how the communications function was performed; digital technology completely rewrote the book and it has a profound effect on leadership and the way leaders talk to their tribe.

There are definite advantages to a leader communicating digitally. It’s a quick way to get a message out to the intended audience. It’s a voice conference call (in the old world) on steroids. And it’s an effective way to reach a large audience; the broadcast capabilities of digital allow the leader to communicate to virtually their entire organization if required.

Speed and coverage; significant benefits over the ways we used to communicate using analog technology.

But what about the challenges digital technology creates for today’s leader?

These are important shortfalls of digital communications leaders should consider.

#1. You become an avatar to your audience

Exclusive use of digital renders the leader in absentia with an avatar for their face. Employees receive emails, social media commentary and maybe even have an opportunity to participate in a ZOOM meeting, but they don’t have enough face time with the leader to decipher who they are and what makes them tick — interests, biases and philosophy.

An avatar is inanimate; a digital expression of who you are. It’s not real and that’s the problem. Organizations need real leaders with feelings, emotion and passion that can be communicated to employees to instil vision and gather support.

#2. You think your communications is effective (but it’s not)

Speed and coverage dominates the criteria for determining whether or not a communications channel is doing its job. The problem is speed and coverage are an insufficient criteria to determine effectiveness.
The real questions are:
— “Did people understand my message?”
— “Were they convinced?”
— “Are they prepared to go where I believe we should go?”

If the answer to these questions after a digital speech is “no” then the communications failed and the leader did as well.

Digital may have succeeded in getting the message out to everyone but if people didn’t understand it, were not convinced to change their views by it, were ok to not be able to ask a question of it, then it failed.

#3. You avoid the opportunity to be inclusive

A HUGE part of communications is the engagement process not just the content. Sending out a digital message doesn’t engage everyone; it informs them but doesn’t include them in the process which can only be done by tailoring the message and making it compelling and relevant to the various demographics in the audience.

A one-dimension email message will not satisfy everyone who has a stake in it and who look at the issues differently given their different backgrounds.
Being inclusive in business is to engage with people, listen to them and engage in healthy debate to decide on an outcome; old school analog has its advantages.

#4. You’re in the cloud

You have a virtual presence; your physical form is absent much of the time. Let’s face it, you can communicate digitally without ever having to leave your office or your home (or your bed) — in fact your “home” is the cloud.

Leaders must have a presence in the workplace, face-to-face with people if they are to be effective and digital, unfortunately, has redefined “get out of your office” to get off of your cloud as the imperative for leaders to leave their cave.

The one thing old school technology did was, because of its limitations, force leaders to talk to people as there was no other choice. The telephone and in-the-flesh meetings had to be used; and they were effective.

Great leaders spend time eye-to-eye with employees in their organization. It’s the only way they can get a complete picture of people and how they really feel about where the leader wants to go. And it’s the only forum where meaningful dialogue (complete with body language) can occur with the leader getting honest unfiltered feedback.

At the end of the day, the challenge for leaders is to balance the use of both analogue and digital tools to communicate with people in their organization; I suggest you consider more opportunities to ”do analog” and change the mix to include a more direct engagement approach.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 3.23.20 at 07:55 am by Roy Osing
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March 21, 2020

6 tips for making your cafe business successful

Photo by Petr Sevcovic on Unsplash

Being successful in the café business requires a lot of investment, effort, and the right decisions. Without investing, you can’t have the appropriate products and equipment. And also, without excellent decision-making and effort, your customers won’t visit your place more than once.

Therefore, doing the right things from the early days of your business is mandatory for reaching the top. In this article, we will show you six vital tips for making your café business more successful.

Find a good business lawyer and accountant

Having an excellent business lawyer by your side to check your contracts and business agreements is mandatory. If you didn’t hire the right person in the early days of your café business, do it now – it is never too late to start doing things in the right way when it comes to legal stuff.

After that, once your business grows, it would be smart to hire an experienced accountant or bookkeeper. There will always be a lot of annoying work with paperwork, and it is always better to save your time and hire a professional to do it for you. Having a lawyer and accountant will make your business more secure.

Location is everything

Photo by Tony Lee on Unsplash

Finding the right place is one of the most important tasks before starting your café business. Location is the first precondition for success. Among all the factors that you should consider when choosing the place, visibility is the most crucial. Your location has to be visible, preferably on a busy street. Anyone who struggles to find your shop will just sit in another one.

Also, it should be close to either college, business complex, or some city institution. You want to create loyal customers that come every day (even multiple times), and it is only possible if they spend a lot of time close to your location. But, keep in mind your budget limitations – a better place usually means more money at the start. However, you will still profit in the long run.

Everything is easy with the proper equipment

Delivering quality coffee, cookies, and other products is impossible without the best equipment. First of all, you need an adequate POS system for a cafe that contains every feature and option that your business requires. Also, you need basic stuff, such as espresso machines, freezers, blenders, drip coffeemakers, and much more.

Once you grow your business, start buying other tools and equipment that might make a difference. Storage and shelving systems should be on your priority list as well since you can’t operate your business well in a mess. And finally, think about your security and consider implementing an advanced security system.

A variety of products

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

To create a successful café business, you need a fantastic atmosphere and a wide range of products. Serving only a few espresso and tea variations won’t attract too many people nowadays, even if you possess the best location.

Many customers will have some special requests, which you should fulfill in order to keep them in your café. Besides coffee and tea, it is vital to have a few excellent snacks and pastries on your menu. If it is possible, bake some cookies in-house since customers love to taste authentic food.

Expanding your food menu as much as possible can differentiate your cafe from the competition. It is a battle you have to win if you want to stay on the top in your business. However, don’t offer too much because you can end up with a substantial waste. Focus on products that your most loyal customers enjoy regularly.

A pleasant customer service

Developing a successful café with an excellent reputation is impossible without a great team of employees with a strong work ethic. They are the ones who speak to your customers and create a positive atmosphere. In other words, they are the mirror of your café business. On top of that, many people decide to come back to your place only because of a few pleasant employees.

That fact alone is enough to understand how crucial it is to have a great team. Besides that, you should opt for either counter or table service. Counter service minimizes labor costs, and it is better for busy periods, while table service is slower but much more beneficial if customers spend more time in your place.

Implement a loyalty program

Who doesn’t like a free coffee or a cookie? Implementing a loyalty program is a common strategy, especially for cafés, snack bars, etc. To put it simply – it encourages customers to come to your place more often (every day, preferably). For instance, you can offer a free coffee after five, eight, or ten orders. However, your competitors might apply the same strategy, so be aware. Become a spy, and see if they are doing the same thing as you, or even something better.

In that case, try to change your loyalty program to look more appealing to your customers. In the end, keep in mind that loyalty cards are great for promotion. Hence, print your logo and brand message on it, and make it suitable for wallets.
In the end, it is worth mentioning that love towards coffee is almost equally important as all other business aspects that we mentioned. It is practically impossible to be successful in this business without loving the pleasant taste of this drink. Coffee is love!

— Luke Douglas is a fitness and health blogger at Ripped.me and a great fan of the gym and a healthy diet. He follows the trends in fitness, gym and healthy life and loves to share his knowledge through useful and informative articles.

• Posted 3.21.20 at 05:29 am by Roy Osing
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