Biz Strategy

Questions To Ask For Business Growth
Getting better market knowledge

Is your business operating at optimum potential?

Is your business worth the time you are investing in it?

A fantastic business should be one that excites both you and your customers. It should add a sparkle to your eyes and create a sense of satisfaction in your customers. If yours is a high end luxury product or service the customer should feel it is worth every dollar paid. If it is a budget product or service the customers feeling has to be good value for money. Either way the base customer emotion should be, “what a bargain”.  Equally important is your genuine appreciation of having delivered on your promise to the customer.

A happy customer can very quickly become your client and advocate who promotes’ your product or service through social endorsement and recommendations to family, friends and the wider community. There is no better advertisement that that of a genuinely satisfied customer. Money cannot buy you that. You will have to earn the support of your customer advocate not through marketing campaigns but through actually delivery on the promised quality and experience. It is critical that you ask the question, “Am I succeeding on this front?”

So, how do you find such customers? To avoid trial and error of feedback after sales, conduct market research and surveys as to the potential market that exists for your offerings. Do people want what you are offering? Do you need to modify your offering? Get feedback from both the physical and virtual market. Either way you will need to get feedback from authoritative sources and potential customers. With this preliminary data you may want to test market your product or services and obtain the subsequent feedback.

Giving free samples or demonstrations in return for feedback is another way to obtain information that can help you plan your marketing and pricing strategy.

The biggest fear in doing preliminary surveys is the concern that somebody else may steal your idea. You can utilize intellectual property protection to a certain extent. However, it is more important to identify a market rather than to allow the fear of losing the possible market to some other business to prevent you from conducting such a survey.

At the stage of conducting a preliminary survey there is no real market to lose.  A potential competitor may not necessarily have the same quality of skills, knowledge, commitment and resources that you and your team may have.

A survey might help you understand why others may have failed previously. It is cheaper to learn from the mistakes of others. In many areas of business we find competitors vying for what appears to be the same market. But very often we also find one business that appears to have a commanding share of the market way ahead of the other businesses in the market place. This very often is because such market leaders tend to be responsive to the evolving market demands. Hence we see fast food chains adding fresh fruits and salads to the menu alongside processed foods. This reflects the growing consciousness amongst the wider population of the link between nutrition and health.

Very often success comes not just from having a good product or superior service but additionally from having the right vision and drive to succeed combined with facts regarding market realities as the foundation of your business strategy and plan of action.

Siddha Param

International Business Consultant

www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com

Your connection to global markets!

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America

The geographical centre of the world’s largest market!

Biz Strategy

Make Change Your Business Asset

The only thing permanent is change

We are constantly reminded that the world is changing. It is now a global economy and what worked before under a system of international trade may not work today. Free trade is lowering barriers between countries. The internet is allowing both big and small businesses in countries across the globe to compete for your local market.

The solution is to embrace change. No point resisting the reality of technology and ideas influencing taste and expectations. With a mobile phone you now have a computer in your hand allowing you to access information on the best ideas and tips to improve your business.

Embracing change requires a learning mindset that is excited with new ideas and avenues to greater opportunities. Imagine a flower shop in Winnipeg connecting with an orchid grower in tropical Malaysia through a web link. This link could mean a business opportunity for the Malaysian to export and for the Winnipeg flower shop to be a distributor reaching out to shops across Canada and the United States. Accepting change encourages you to seek information that allows you to calculate the risk and balance it with the rewards of taking such a risk.

Information removes uncertainty and fear. It is said that “F E A R” stands for “False Evidence Appearing Real”. Information understood leads to knowledge that guides us towards making wise decisions.

Be alert to change by getting updates on developments worldwide. Todays’ innovative idea will be overtaken by new innovation. The question is whether you remain the innovator that leads the market and maintains market share or will some other business replace your business in the market.

We have seen how a cell phone innovator in Canada could lose market share to innovation from a United States competitor. Unless fresh ideas are injected a onetime leader in innovation may find it forgotten by the market.

The advice from leaders of successful companies is to never stop learning. Never stop trying to understand new ideas and innovations in the market place. In today’s world all businesses are global. As we know, the local diner down the road has to compete with a multinational corporate food chain possibly very nearby. Fortunately the internet now allows the local diner to operate with the same advantages as a multinational. The local diner can incorporate new management ideas normally available only to big corporations by accessing information available through the internet and utilizing the advice of a business consultant to work out an effective marketing strategy.     

Just hoping that things will get better is no substitute for developing an effective business plan based on market knowledge and facts.

Adapting to change may not be easy. We all tend to get comfortable with things we are familiar with. However, while it is important to conserve what is good we do also need to keep pace with change and keep moving forward with fresh ideas and new knowledge. The law of nature demands that we understand the changes in our environment and to adapt in order to survive and to thrive.

So embrace change and enjoy the learning process.

Siddha Param

International Business Consultant

www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com  

Your connection to global markets!

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America

The geographical centre of the world’s largest market!

Biz Strategy

Effective Leadership Requires A Team
Stimulating success with knowledge

The old adage, “many hands make light work” remains true. While we may all have knowledge and skills in multiple fields we can only be real experts within a core area of specialization. Hence, to be effective in performing well in your area of specialization you need a team. Equally important is leadership skill to organize and get the best performance from your team.

No matter how talented you are it remains critical that you attract the right people into your team who complement your skills.

Once assembled the team needs a leader who acts as the “first amongst equals” which in Sanskrit is called the “Pradhan Mantri” or in the English cabinet system of governance the Prime Minister who leads a team of Ministers.

Mantri  in Sanskrit means Sage a person who understands knowledge or the mantra. The world mantri traveled via South East Asia to China where it evolved into the word Mandarin describing the system of administrators selected through a public examination system.  Therefore, to be a good leader you must first assemble a team of individuals who are qualified and competent. This is a universal principal that has been well established over the centuries in Asia and Europe.

Once you have assembled your team the next challenge of leadership kicks in. This is the ability to get the team working on your agenda for action and to deliver results. To achieve this you have to be able to hold the attention of your team members as you explain your agenda. You will then have to motivate, inspire and excite your team so that they are all fired up to act on your agenda.

Capturing the attention of your team requires self-confidence, a clear vision and deep knowledge of the subject matter of your agenda. Understand the matters that are related to your agenda making sure you have deep knowledge of the core issues relating to the subject matter before the team.

The more you motivate your team members with your knowledge of the subject matter of your agenda the greater will be the enthusiasm of your team members.

We should always remember that T-E-A-M stands for “Together Each Achieves Magic”.

The members of your team must feel a sense of ownership of the agenda and be allowed to celebrate the achievements in contributing to the success of the agenda.

To motivate, inspire and excite your team into action do the following:

1. Challenge limitations – Define the most difficult factors that need to be overcome to succeed. Explain to your team why others may have failed to overcome these factors. Tell them there are no easy answers but simultaneously stimulate their natural human curiosity and excite them into taking the challenge to succeed. Remember that the more difficult the challenge the sweeter will be the victory.  

2. Focus analysis – Instead of suggesting possible answers, define interesting questions. After all, life is a puzzle waiting to be solved. Encourage your team to come up with scenarios that could lead to the solution or goal of the agenda by posing questions that stimulate questions from the team members. This process encourages a sense of ownership of your agenda by your team members who will get increasingly excited and stimulated to work on solutions.

3. Stimulate the mind – Turn on the creative juices with brain storming where everyone is encouraged to give their view from their specialist perspective. Hence, a person with an operations background may give insight as to the logistics involved in production. A legally trained person may point out the legal and ethical issues while a financial consultant may look at the economics of the venture. Putting all these together the public relations specialist could suggest the best way to sell the results of the agenda to the public.

Look at how Bill Gates identified the fact that there is more money in software development as opposed to hardware creation in the Information Technology industry. He focused on assembling a team of creative engineers led by an equally savvy business team that created a brand which opened windows to the information age.

Yes! We now live in a knowledge society. The next challenge is for a leader to emerge who can create a wisdom team of technology sages to move society into an even higher level of success, prosperity and happiness.

May your mind be stimulated to lead your team to greater success.

SiddhaParam

International Business Consultant

www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com

Your connection to global markets!

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America

The geographical centre of the world’s largest market!

Biz Strategy

The Importance of Market Research

Information shaping intuition

There are business leaders who rely very heavily on intuition and past experience over the years in making decisions when it comes to planning the marketing for the business.

However, experience is just one of the many factors that go into a successful marketing plan.

The key to success in marketing is knowledge. Understanding the facts about a target market is essential to creating a successful marketing plan.

The target market can be very dynamic. Many factors influence the buyers who have to decide on whether to buy from you.

Economic conditions, demographics, government regulations and technological innovations can affect the buying decision. This is especially true in Canada.

Market research helps you:

•Identify who your customers are

•Determine your customers’ preferences

•Create the profile of your customers

•Plan effective marketing strategies

•Establish optimal geographic business locations

In today's global economy all businesses are global. Even the local diner has to compete with global fast food chains operating just down the road. Market knowledge allows businesses of all sizes to compete effectively.

With the assistance of a consultant advising on the information available through the Internet small businesses can transform into micro-multinational corporations operating with deep knowledge of niche markets worldwide.  

A business consultant can assist you in obtaining and interpreting information to drive your business decisions.

Siddha Param

International Business Consultant

www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com

Your connection to global markets!

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America

Biz Strategy

Better To Be Productive Then Busy

The 80/20 rule of success in sales.

This is true in most types of sales. The top 20% of sales people are able to close more sales then the other 80% doing the same job.

How do they achieve this without working longer hours than others? The simple answer is productivity. Their priority is to do what is necessary to close the sale. This very often means making the cold calls to a target list of prospects. Accepting no and moving on to the next prospect. When it is necessary to return to a difficult prospect or one who requires more diplomacy, information or time they accommodate to the individual needs to the extent of sticking to the primary objective of closing the maximum number of sales closest to the target number forecasted.

Focus on generating leads, cultivating prospects and staying on message on benefits that trigger the buy decision.

There are many work place distractions such as office politics, meetings that take longer than necessary, and non-productive activity often called administrative matters.

When it comes to that morning coffee break, it should be drink and go. After work hours you can switch to tea which is sip and slow.

Remember that business is not about being busy. Business is about making the sales that brings in the money. If you must be as busy, be busy like a bee that spends the whole day focused on gathering honey. In our case it has to be about being focused on bringing in the money.

If you don’t make 100% of the calls you may not be able to reach the 20% who become your customers giving you 80% of your business earnings.

Siddha Param

International Business Consultant
www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com
Your connection to global markets!

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America

The geographical centre of the world’s largest market!

Biz Strategy

Writing A Business Plan 

Succeeding more efficiently.

Here are some tips to get you started on writing your Business Plan:

1. Write down your business idea in a style as if you are explaining it to a person in front of you.

2. Explain the business idea using the journalistic headings of Why, When, Where, What, Who and How.

3. Use a simple writing style listing out major points. Remember to focus on Expressing not Impressing.

4. Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Use bullet points.

5. Give your readers direction. Write logically so your description flows in a clear direction.

6. Avoid using technical words, jargon and ambiguous words. Be concise and precise.

7. Read what you have written out load. Make sure your writing sounds positive with a focus on what you can do.

8. Express yourself clearly by visualizing what you want to write on and write freely. You can always edit to shorten sentences later.

Get a good idea of how to start writing your Business Plan by seeking Consulting advise on samples and guidelines that help you avoid re-inventing the wheel.

Always remember that each Business Plan is unique since each business is unique.

Be inspired by the success of others but remember to innovate so your idea is fresh, new and "hot" creating consumer excitement and demand.

Check out:

http://www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com/events.htm

Siddha Param
International Business Consultant
www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com
Your connection to global markets!

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North American
The geographical centre of the world's largest market.

Biz Strategy

Asia Pacific Trade Opportunities 
All businesses are truly global

Globalization and free trade have now come to dominate and define business opportunity worldwide. No matter the size of your business you will find that it is now practically impossible to conduct your business without some equipment or raw materials from overseas sources.

Global trade makes it almost impossible to brew a cup of coffee without some implement or ingredient being imported. Perhaps it is the coffee beans, or the brewing machine or the mugs you use to make and serve the coffee in. Some or all of these components would have been imported which means someone exported and made a profit from what you use to run a café serving rich aromatic coffee.

Sitting in a café by the riverside where the mighty Red meets the Assinaboine River at Forks of Winnipeg this global reality is easily accessed through the internet with a website offering Canadian grown products. A customer across the Pacific Ocean in tropical Malaysia can place an order and make payment with just a few clicks of a mouse. From Manitoba organic flax oil rich in omega 3 can then be shipped out to the customer.

Even small retail stores can tap into the export market by creating a website with a payment gateway.

A Canadian business can now continue to sell in the local and United States markets while tapping into the rapidly growing markets of India, China and South East Asia. Healthy Canadian prairie grains and oils definitely have a market amongst the health conscious global middleclass.

There are clear advantages for including an export strategy in your business plan. You can enjoy increased sales in a bigger market beyond North America. A larger market allows businesses to operate at an optimum capacity allowing for maximum profits from multiple sources.

By doing businesses globally you learn from new experiences with distributors and customers in overseas markets. These experiences can stimulate new ideas that lead to product innovation. This can keep you ahead of the competition in a global market that pays a premium for novel solutions and experiences.

Selling in multiple markets reduces your vulnerabilities so that you are not totally dependent on just one market. This reduces your risk exposure to market vulnerabilities.

Exporting globally tends to encourage you to develop globally competitive quality products that sell well domestically too. Additionally quality products can better withstand local competition from global multinational corporations.

Using a website you can target and capture new markets globally. To be effective the following strategic assessments needs to be done:

1. Identify the demographics of your customers locally and in the other markets.
2. Evaluate the need for modifications to your product to appeal to local taste.
3. Find out the best way to deliver your product to the various identified markets.
4. Establish any necessary local representation to promote your product overseas.
5. Ensure that your product quality is acceptable to customers in other countries.

6. Make sure your operation has the capacity to fulfill any increase in demand.
7. Determine your costing strategy and the currency exchange requirements.

With the right marketing plan based on reliable market figures you can succeed in exporting to increase profits and reduce risk in the event of a downturn in the local market.

Siddha Param

International Business Consultant

www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com

Your connection to global markets! 

Biz Strategy

Convincing Through Conviction Marketing
The importance of speaking the truth.

Believe in what you are saying and chances are others will believe in you and what you say. To make a successful sales pitch, first try to sell the service or product to yourself. If you will not buy based on your sales pitch then can you expect others to buy what you are selling?
 
Too often it is not what is outside of us that prevent us from closing a sale. Rather, it is what we believe and how we act as a result of our belief that leads to failure or success.
 
Learning about sales techniques and knowledge of what we are promoting is necessary but is not sufficient to create interest in what we are promoting and to conclude a sale.
 
Training is important to improve skills and knowledge but this has to be done with the right attitude that comes with an open mind. An open mind readily accepts facts that change our beliefs hence positively modifying our behavior.

Believe in yourself and what you are promoting and allow this belief to impact on your behavior.  Allow your words to reflect this behavior and you will come across as a person who speaks with conviction. This builds trust in you that will go a long way in convincing individuals in the market to buy what you are selling.
 
Business consulting and training works like a coach in a game rather then like a teacher in a classroom. 
 
It is not just about learning lessons but additionally is about understanding and accepting information that improves your skill and performance through a change of behavior that make succeeding a natural goal for you.
 
The best sports individuals train not just to learn techniques but to make winning a natural behavior for them. 
 
Practice does not make you perfect but it can make a particular winning behavior automatic and natural for you.

The right belief system leads to the right attitude that in turn leads to the right behavior and action that increases the probability of success.

Once a particular belief and winning behavior becomes a natural part of you, your behavior will automatically be one that leads towards success. When belief coincides with behavior the message is transmitted with conviction and this tends to convince the audience because it comes across as authentic.

A sales pitch is really an assertion to the audience to trust in you. We tend to buy from a sales person we feel comfortable with when we trust in what they say. This is why in the selling of the same type of product some sales individuals are better then others. 
 
So don’t try to be perfect. Become familiar and comfortable with what you are promoting instead. 

Make it a natural part of your behavior to talk about why you believe in what you are promoting. This makes your message believable. The audience will realize that you are speaking with conviction and it is this conviction that convinces consumers in the genuineness of a product or service. 

It is conviction that builds trust and leads to consumers making the buying decision.

So convince yourself that your product or service is good for you and you will be on your way to convincing others around you to buy what is on offer. 

Your first customer is inside you. Close that sale and you will begin the change in behavior that leads you to succeed in the global marketplace.

Siddha Param
International Business Consultant
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com
Your connection to global markets!

Biz Strategy

The Secret of Success in Business and Life

Drop by drop you can create a mighty ocean.

So  you have a Business Plan and an Action Plan. The secret now is in the implementation one day at a time.  Daily monitoring of your team's actions is the key to success. 

Have a daily, "to do" list and tick off as you go through the day. Should you miss any items on the list make notes as to why you miss completing those task. Review weekly. Have further monthly in-dept discussions and analysis with your team members as whether the time frame set for completion of tasks are practical. Review and improve as you go along.

Sir William Osler realized this as a medical student at the Montreal General Hospital. He went on to help establish the internationally well known Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. 

He had this poem on his desk which is worth reading daily:

SALUTATION TO THE DAWN

Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the varieties and realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth
The glory of action
The splendor of beauty
 

For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow only a vision
But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
 

Look well, therefore to this day!
Such is the salutation to the dawn.

- by Kalidasa, Poet 

By breaking down a task into bits that are manageable for the day we can complete even the most complex task. Remember, beyond the business is your life and happiness. Therefore, set a time when you will clock out and end your work day. This is to ensure you will have time for yourself, your family and your community. A fresh mind in the morning is more productive then a tired one struggling into the late evening.

We need to remember that quality of living is the ultimate measure of success. 

The business must be rewarding both financially and emotionally. It is important to feel a sense of achievement when a target is reached. Your self-esteem should blossom, only then will the enterprise be a sustained one that revitalizes you enough to want to return day after day until you succeed.

Remember a business has the potential of immortality with the ability to thrive beyond the lifetime of its creators. Therefore leave a positive legacy behind when the time comes for you to move on to enjoy the fruits of your labour. 

Success come to those who dare and act one day at a time.

Siddha Param

International Business Consultant

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America

The geographical centre of the world's largest market!

www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com

Your connection to global markets!

Biz Strategy

Business Action Plan Reboot
Why have a written plan of action

Do you have a Business Plan?

Why did you prepare a Business Plan?

When did you last reviewed your Business Plan?

Is your Business Plan the foundation of your Action Plan?

Does your Action Plan include a learning strategy to achieve goals more effectively?

You need a written plan that allows you to take action based an effective strategy that allows you to adapt quickly to new information and market feedback even as you implement your action plan.

Spend time with your team and consultants to prepare an Action Plan based on the key areas of your Business Plan.

The Action Plan should set out the strategy and steps to be taken in achieving the goals set under the Business Plan particularly in the areas of ; production, marketing and finance.

The Action Plan is the road-map that takes you towards set daily, weekly, quarterly and yearly goals.

The goals should be SMART; that is, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. These are the critical elements in preparing an Action Plan.

Navigating the business world without an Action Plan is like sailing the oceans with a rudderless ship. To prepare an Action Plan include the following 3 practical steps:
1. State your goals clearly;
2. Prioritize your goals in the right order;
3. Set a realistic timeline and completion period.

Make sure there is a set budget for the Action Plan that should include production cost, marketing expenses, equipment investment, salaries and profit forecast.

Prioritize your expenditure and workout the cost accounting so that you can evaluate the “return on investment” (ROI) for your plan of action.

The ROI should justify the risk involved in achieving the goals set in the Action Plan.

Make sure you get the right information to assess the risk involved. This will help you to decide on the right business modal that allows you to have a realistic risk management strategy to ensure a reasonable expectation of business success.

Make sure you review the results of your actions periodically so that you can make any necessary adjustments to keep you on track to achieving your goals.

The world is your oyster. We live in a era of global trade that allows all businesses no matter your size to reach markets worldwide.

Siddha Param
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America
The geographical centre of the world’s largest market!
 
Siddha Param is an International Business Consultant with www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com
Your connection to global markets!

Healthy Livng

The Super Bowl of Beans, Lentils & Peas
A healthy hearty serving of goodness!

It is well below freezing outside but the sun is shining, the sky is blue and I’m into my lunch time bowl of comfort food. A mix of beans, lentils and peas (BLPs) cooked into a spicy stew. It is a mix of wild rice, vegetables and potatoes flavored with sea salt and a special tropical six-spice blend that includes nutmeg and the warmth of ginger. Tropical paradise in a bowl titillating the taste buds and taking me back to a tropical white sandy beach as I close my eyes for a moment to savour the taste.

So who says you can’t have fun eating healthy. This bowl of paradise is full of flavor and rich in health benefits. It is loaded with one of nature's greatest sources of fiber and protein. There is also the added benefit of being cholesterol free with a strong helping of essential vitamins and minerals such as folate, calcium, iron, zinc and potassium. That has to be good for hearth. 

I am on a adventure to discover the varied ways these satisfying legumes or BLPs that can help reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes are prepared worldwide. They are a favorite across Asia from the Middle East to India, Central Asia, China and Japan. The wide varieties include black beans, soya, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, the various lentil dahls and peas. BLPs are used in dishes that include salsas, dips, spreads, salads, stir-fries, soups, chowders, stuffing, stews and cutlets.

I prefer to buy dried BLPs which I rinse, pre-soak for several hours and boil until cooked before using them in the many dishes from appetizers such as humus to a main course BLP burger patty served with a spicy chutney in a bun with salads. It is amazing to see how one cup of chickpeas for instance soaked in three cups of water can rehydrate and expand into a full bowl.

I’ll say yes to a BLP veggie burger for a lazy Sunday afternoon of movies or just planning my next wintertime tropical vacation to the Spice Islands of South East Asia. Paradise regained every weekend. Living well, living healthy and feeling good about it.




Siddha Param
Winner-peg Views
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America
The geographical centre of the world’s largest market.

Siddha Param is an International Business Consultant with www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com connecting businesses to global opportunities.

Biz Strategy

Relationship Marketing Psychology  
Why trust is critical in marketing

The Purchasing Decision
Are consumers like Dr. Jackal making strategically planned purchasers or like Mr. Hyde indulging in buying binges to satisfy sudden impulses and cravings or a combination of Dr Jackal and Mr. Hyde?

Then there is also the dichotomy of whether there is a difference in buying patterns on-line through the Internet versus buying at a brick and mortar store to consider.

The word impulse suggest purchasing of “want items” to satisfy an immediate urge for satisfaction. Purchasing of “need items” on the other hand is to satisfy a future or long-term requirement.

 

On-line Shopping
On-line shopping is now estimated to have become a yearly US$100 billion industry. The interesting thing about internet sales is the fact that technology makes it easier to analyze online purchases more easily then purchases at physical stores.

I remember a Travel & Tour operator saying his was now an increasingly irrelevant industry as more and more individuals and corporations were making travel and tour bookings online where they could get better deals. Where the consumer had the online option to get the same service cheaper and from the convenience of an armchair the brick and mortar locations are beginning to lose out.

Purchasing Psychology
But can we say what about the purchasing of products? Will consumers opt for the internet or head out to the store. Would you trust the internet store to deliver quality? And what about that cup of coffee? Would you pop out to grab a cup or prefer to have it delivered. With impulse purchases for immediate satisfaction it appears that the speed of delivery of the product becomes a critical factor. But with planned purchases quality and pricing may be the factor.

This suggest that internet marketing can succeed in selling products and services that are either need items or items that do not require immediate delivery.

Marketing Trust
However, whether it is purchasing on line or at a brick and mortar shop the decision to purchase is very largely driven by consumer trust in the business. Trust comes from building a relationship within the market. It is therefore critical that all businesses incorporate relationship marketing into their business strategy.

Siddha Param
International Business Consultant
WorldwideBusinessConnection.com
 

Biz Strategy

Reaching The Cyber Consumers  
Building a real world community

When a social media network can have 500 million users this means there is potentially within this cyber community a middle class market that is larger then any one national market in the world. What are the demographics of such a community? What number of the members of this community will be interested in your services and/or products?

It is important to note that brick and mortar stores are still frequented by cyber surfers. We are social animals. The temptation to get into a car to get stuck in a traffic jam in order to get to a place where we can interact socially while making our purchases still draws us away from the computer our gateway to global opportunities.

The word of mouth recommendations of a friend or trusted adviser still has its attraction. Consumers tend to find the source of information to be as important as the quality of the information itself. Additionally the traditional advertising media still call out loud and clear through billboards, newspapers, the television, radio and flyers stuffed into the physical mailbox. 

The Cyber Market Versus Physical Markets
So how does internet marketing compete with traditional physical sales outlets? Convenience, trust and pricing are the factors that can be utilized by internet marketing. The cyber market is not a place to go to for goods or services. Rather it is a medium through which sales are concluded.

Convenience can mean making the customer aware of the fact that traffic jams are avoided, travel time and cost are eliminated and more time for social activity becomes possible.

Trust comes from knowing that the information source is reliable. With recommendations and consumer feedback posted on the website over time trust can be cultivated. A blog and testimonials can help. The cultivation of advocates within the physical peer group of prospective consumers can give the cyber marketer the same benefits that traditional marketing utilizes.


Pricing may be an added attraction as a strategy but not in all cases such as when the product or service is unique such as the painting of an artist or services of a Business Consultant with specialist or personal knowledge of a market.

In the end the element of trust combined with convenience remains critical. Establish trust in you and your product or services by providing accurate information, timely delivery and quality at all times.

Build a relationship with your customers so they become advocates for what you offer. Above all enjoy the relationships established by being genuinely interested in learning from individuals you meet in the cyber world.

Remember the conversation with the community must transcend cyber space into the real world where it impacts real human beings that have real experiences with your products and services. The cyber world is merely a tool for reaching real world consumers where the transaction is completed.

Siddha Param
International Business Consultant
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America
The geographical centre of the world’s largest market!
 






www.worldwidebusinessconnection.com
Your connection to global markets!

Biz Strategy

Greening Consumer Choice

Attitudes and availability
The word is out. Green is good for the environment and healthy for you too. If that is true then why have green products not become the main choice of the majority of consumers?

Another question that arises is, just what do we mean by Green?

If our focus is on healthy foods with no artificial or synthetically manufactured preservatives, flavorings and colorings added to natural foods we have a choice of foods where only natural ingredients are used in the recipe. But this is not the only factor to consider.

There is also the matter of the way food is grown. Do we want foods grown in a way that avoids the use of chemically synthesized fertilizers and pesticides?

We have crop varieties created by years of selective breeding or even created in the “test tube” through genetic modification. Many of our food crops and domesticated animals have evolved from wild varieties over centuries of human cultivation. Then there is the issue of the carbon footprint through the entire supply chain from crop and animal to the food on our table.

We could consider energy efficiency and savings through new technology as we decide our mode of transport, the building and insulation of our homes, and the landscaping of our gardens as well as our urban environment.

To better understand the issues do we need to shift from a Newtonian material physics to an Einsteinian quantum physics to understand the value of the world around us in terms of energy utilization and carbon footprints? 

The confusion over Green labels on products and services will continue as we educate, debate and evaluate the alternative lifestyle choices available. In the end the perception of what constitutes quality of living may drive our consumer choice and define market demands that entrepreneurs and businesses may rush to fulfill.

The market and the evolution of trends and buying decisions will evolve over time until a tipping point comes about that changes the reality around us. The advent of the railways and Model T cars was such a tipping point that drove us firmly away from bullock carts and horses as modes of mass land based transportation.

An urban environment without cars and buses just may happen if a tipping point of urban mass rapid transit combined with innovations in urban planning occur.

Food allergies and the lure of healthy eating may be the tipping point that sees supermarkets and franchise food outlets stocked with healthy whole foods the norm that displaces today’s fast food chains and hyper-market offerings. What price will the consumer pay to avoid high medical cost with the opportunity to enjoy quality living?

Rebranding “Green” for commercial benefit requires entrepreneurs and businesses informing and defining labels.

Green Labels
Whichever business succeeds in becoming the benchmark for a particular green product and/or service may get to define the meaning of the Green label. While we may be able to roll off our tongue brand names of fast food burger chains, many of us will be slow to name a slow food chain or two. It appears that a blue ocean opportunity for healthy foods is still open for conquest.

Pricing Strategy
The general consumer perception seems to be that Green or ecologically safe products are just too expensive for daily use. Two messages are missing from the market place. The first is the cost savings in terms of health and the follow up repair.

In the food industry perhaps linking healthy with tasty and a satisfaction that does not give you a heartburn may encourage a love for your product.

In services, the fact that you can log on to get information on business opportunities or consulting advise through a website without the hassle of wasting time and burning fuel driving to a consultants office actually means lower cost.

Delivery 
Getting the messages out that Green is good for the consumer and is priced right for the budget has to be in tandem with prompt delivery to the consumer.

This requires placing products in the right outlets. A delivery network that makes availability at convenient locations a reality must support an awareness campaign encouraging consumers to buy. The marketing strategy should be planned in a manner that allows for market penetration through a distribution channel that can tap into traditional retail outlets.

All that may be needed now is just the right entrepreneur seizing the opportunity with a single product that may transform Green into the standard that a mass of consumers’ demand from all businesses in the market.

Shifting from drinking tea to mass consumption of coffee was a revolution in the United States of America that continues to spread across the world. Will the consumers of the world one-day soon shift to sipping green tea for quality living?

Celebrate the spirit of global enterprise that just may make Green the new gold standard for success.

Remember that health is wealth!


Siddha Param
International Business Consultant


WorldwideBusinessConnection.com

Global Biz Review

Old School versus New Cool Thinking
Innovating to benefit from global realities

With 2011 approaching, I would like to share with you a story that was forwarded to me via e-mail which reflects an, “old school thinking” about the world economy:

THE OLD SCHOOL THINKING
“John got up at 6am, woken by his alarm clock (made in Vietnam), the coffee filtered through in his coffeepot (made in China), while he shaved with his electric razor (made in Hong Kong). He put on a shirt (made in Sri Lanka), jeans (made in Indonesia), and shoes (made in Korea)

… and so his day went by with him using the following items through the day:
an electric cooking skillet (made in India), a calculator (made in Mexico), a watch (made in Thailand), a radio (made in Taiwan), a car (made in Korea), filled with gas (from Saudi Arabia)

He continued his search for a good paying North American job and wondered, "Why was there no good paying jobs in America?”

My reply to this story is what I call, “the new cool thinking” which builds on the global realities of the 21st century. The “old school thinking” is based on an industrial age international economy that dominated the 20th century.

The 21st century reality is shaped by an information age global economy that sees no borders. Both commercial and financial markets are global. In addition to this, we now have a global middle class that makes up the consumer public.

In the old industrial economy the quest was for “lifelong employment” that secured a good working life and a comfortable retirement. However, the information economy pays a premium for knowledge hence today’s reality demands, “lifelong education”.

John actually now has a chance to focus on a work trajectory that will ensure a good quality of living with the prospects of a long healthy retirement that includes a beautiful home and opportunities to indulge in hobbies and global travel.

The investment that John needs to do is to allow his creative juices to start working. He needs to focus on his strengths, cultivate his self confidence and obtain skills training that will give him the tools needed to benefit from the global business opportunities.

A talent for creating a product that fulfills a consumer need could be converted into a profitable venture. Just let your imagination flow, your confidence build and your creativity blossom.

Here is what I call the “new cool thinking” that is actually staring all of us in the face through the appliances we use daily:

THE NEW COOL THINKING
If we allow the low energy light bulb to light up in our brain, we will realize that many of the appliances made all over the world which we use have actually been, conceived, designed and invented in North America. This was done by a pool of educated individuals who focused on research and develop of new products which investors funded to commercialize for profit.

We can now sign up for a skills training program through the internet on using lean principles to launch a product idea globally at tremendous cost savings through a website.

Armed with new knowledge and initiative we can put our thinking cap on while chilling out at a café on Kit’s beach, Vancouver, Canada. Working on our ultra slim Apple Mac we could come up with a new product for busy Asian hands to work on.

The North American economy is founded on the principle of sanctity of contract. We can therefore protect our intellectual property under copyright, design, patent and trademark laws in Canada and the United States of America which constitutes the world's largest market. Investors are always interested in funding the commercialization of intellectual property that offers a good return on investments.

To prepare the initial business and marketing plan to start the business you can utilize the services of a business consultant to work on a global business strategy. Utilizing a website even a small business can have a global market reach. Within a few years you could look at the possibility of selling shares to investors or venture capitalist that are interested in franchising or even listing the business.

The returns from the business could be invested through a wise investment strategy to fund a quality of living that includes a happy retirement.

Take the right step to obtain the skills training to either start that business or get that job you have always wanted. Your future is in your hands. Stay cool, make the right decision and succeed!

Siddha Param
International Business Consultant  

Worldwide Business Connection.com