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First I Launched My Company And Then I Had To Start Learning About Managing A Product.

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | First I Launched My Company And Then I Had To Start Learning About Managing A Product.To some degree, I always knew I’d launch my own business. I just didn’t know which field of study the company would rest in. So after spending much of my 20s working in finance and real estate, and then going to business school, the right opportunity sat in front of me. In 2011, I formed SquareFoot, a new kind of commercial real estate company, to address growing companies and their office space needs.

We spent those early years building our website and fleshing out our marketing and messaging to reel in clients who suited our solutions. For a few years, this process worked well for us, and I took it on my own shoulders to grow in my knowledge first and then my role and leadership to include more. As I managed the real estate component of the company, and pinch-hitted adequately on the marketing front, too, I came to realize that I wouldn’t be able to carry the team in one crucial element: product.

My thinking on this was simple – There were three areas of the business that needed to be top-notch for us to succeed: 1. Real estate, 2. Marketing, and 3. Product. I could handle the top two, but not the last one. Not if I wanted the company to deliver on the vision I had. So I set out to hire a COO who could. I needed someone with complementary skills to mine, to fill in the gaps and to lead the other half of the organization. That person’s background would be, ideally, the inverse of mine, someone who was strong on product, could assist with marketing, and likely wouldn’t know the first thing (at that point) about negotiating real estate deals.

Over the past 3.5 years, I have been a stakeholder in the success of our product management, not the leader. And both the organization and our clients are better off because of it. I sit in on meetings where our COO and the rest of the team outline how and why to build out the product offering to give our clients more and better tools. This is an ongoing area of growth for me. Much of the interactions we have with clients are in-person, which falls into the real estate category of our negotiations and communications, but we must also have a high-quality website and app to match the promises and commitments we’ve made. I know we’re in good hands.

Some CEOs are product-first front their experience, skillset, and interests. They have a leg up on people like me who are catching up as they go when it comes to product, and depend on others more able than them to lead that portion of the business. But, I’d argue, nobody has done it all, or can do it all. For the product-oriented founders, they’ll need to eventually hire a business-oriented executive to help them build and grow for the future. What’s most important in these thought processes and conversations is to be honest and upfront about your own limitations and how those may be standing in the way of valuable progress or long-term success.

Since every company is different in makeup, there’s no definitive time to expand the executive team. You know it’s the right time, in my experience, when you feel in over your head again. As discussions internally began to mount among junior team members looking to me to make the ultimate decision, I was comfortable and confident in the real estate and marketing areas far more than I was when it came to product. It reached a point where I had to acknowledge and accept that I would eventually make a bad misstep if I didn’t turn to someone who was more capable of handling those situations and circumstances. That’s not a sign of weakness for a CEO, it’s a show of maturity. As SquareFoot grew in employee count and in client base, I had to grow in my leadership, too. Bringing on my counterpart then helped accelerate that growth overall across all metrics.

The advice I’d give to CEOs first starting out is to try to manage it all for as long as you can. But also be realistic and honest about when that style ceases to work. These are good problems to have, as it means you’ve tackled and conquered many layers of company growth to reach the point where you can no longer scale yourself to cover it all. Bringing on someone at that time is a smart move. Finding the person best suited to balance out your weaknesses with their strengths is the best path toward reaching what you set out to do and continue to seek. For me, that was understanding that product wasn’t something I could pinch-hit on. Once I turned to an expert, I haven’t had reason to look back.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Jonathan WasserstrumJonathan Wasserstrum is the Founder / CEO of SquareFoot a commercial real estate platform based in New York City. Founded in 2011, Squarefoot helps companies find their next (and next) office space.

Create a Mark for your Business with Category Design Creation

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Create a Mark for your Business with Category Design CreationThe most successful companies today are not in that position just because they created something for selling. They are not creating good or services are performing better than their predecessors. This is because they perceived the market differently and create something different from other categories of products. This is what we call a new category design creation.

Yes, most new inventions fail in the 1st attempt that is for sure. But these entrepreneurs focused on two main elements:

  • Creating a remarkable product
  • Creating a brand (business model) based on the success of their product.

And this is the reason why they tasted success while most of the entrepreneurs and companies fail.

So, what exactly is category design creation?

Category design creation is a kind of business tactic that mainly prioritizes the creation of a new product category, which can be monopolized before the other competitors in the same area. The creation of a new niche that doesn’t have any competition can increase the chances of success by a very fair margin. The newly established brand is most likely to dominate that category is such cases.

When any company establishes itself in a new category of service of category, this will be called as a new category creation. This may be a set of related goods, services and which will be based upon the buyers’ perspective.

Why should companies consider creating category design creation?

There are several reasons why an entrepreneur must consider this idea. Some of them are;

1. Market development

If the association’s items are as of now in a scope of developing markets and natural development is very constrained, then diversification into another item classification may give development openings. This would, in general, be one of Apple’s main impetuses to move into advanced mobile phones, as they saw constrained potential for development in the world market.

2. Influence brand value

Many successful companies will have solid brand value, conceivably over a scope of brands, which may have collaboration with related item classes. For instance, a vehicle producer may begin fabricating trucks, transports, and/or bikes. Right now the purpose is to influence their notoriety and popularity across into different classifications.

3. Set up a market

A firm entering another item classification would have a decent understanding of the size of the market, its development potential, generally speaking, benefit and the qualities and shortcomings of its current rivals. Accordingly, it ought to contain no genuine shocks for them and they ought to have the option to create and execute a successful marketing procedure.

Conclusion

To achieve success, most companies take the help of category design creation. And this method has proven to be effective. Mcdonald’s introduced theme parks, Apple came into the smartphone market, Pepsi expanded the scope of beverages. The chances of creating a monopoly increases when you have less competition. So, budding entrepreneurs need to explore new markets and create new categories that will be liked by consumers.

In a Newly-Virtual World, Are Ride Alongs Still Important?

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | In a Newly-Virtual World, Are Ride Alongs Still Important?All managers and leaders recognize that one of their most critical tasks is to develop the skills and competencies of their people. They agree, too, that one of the very best ways to properly understand the level of skill and competency of their workforce is to observe them in real-time, real life, operational situations: cue the ride-along.

For those not familiar with the ride-along, or for those who underestimate their usefulness, imagine a professional football coach telling the club owner that, rather than watch the game unfold from the sideline, he’d much rather read all about it the following day in the sports pages. How long do you imagine that particular coach would last? In fact, all modern coaches not only watch the game from the sidelines, they also manage and attend the training sessions, the strategy sessions, help construct the playbooks, recruit the staff and players, etc: the same too of business leaders and senior managers, of course.

The best sales leaders recognize that spending time ‘in the field’ visiting customers with their team is a critical part of their job. The best customer service leaders are also extremely used to the desk-accompaniment listening to real-time, live calls with clients and prospects, and then spending time reviewing and coaching the particular operative. These ride-along scenarios have been standard operating procedure for most developmental companies for years. But, in these times of social-distancing, has dealing with COVID-19 and the almost world-wide mandatory working from home instruction, temporarily put ride alongs on-ice as it has so many other normal work behaviors? Not a bit.

Whichever sector, business, or business-cycle, managers and leaders should develop their people now more than ever.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that lots of companies are thriving, actually booming, in the current climate: food distribution, medical supplies, cleaning-product manufacturers, video-conferencing, and a host of many others. These companies now, more than ever, need to capitalize on their upward growth-curve to ensure that the growth is well-managed and the organization does not come apart at the seams as the company struggles to keep pace with the growing demands put upon it.  Managers and leaders should schedule more time than ever to ensure that quality-spills are minimized and that individuals are up to the increased task. Leaders are obliged to ensure that all opportunities are well managed, and that customers remain satisfied. How to do this? Highly structured and regular ‘virtual’ ride-alongs, of course.

Some companies are at a relatively steady-state of revenue – although still grappling with new methods of operating, processes, and people-management policies. Ride-alongs should be Standard Operating Procedure, and managers should ensure that. Just because the ride-along may now have to be supported by video-conferencing and other technological platforms, their usefulness is just as valid as ever. In fact, social distancing, and working from home practices now afford the manager even more opportunity to spend time with their people ‘in the field’ since the usual travel-time to and from the meeting is effectively removed. What a tremendous opportunity to spend more time increasing skills even more in this, our new normal.

For those businesses that are scrambling to pivot, or even survive, the next few weeks and months will be most telling. This is a critical time for many businesses ensuring that their supply-chain is as stable as possible, their customers are as well-communicated with as possible, and their sales and customer-service skills are as honed as possible. If there are fewer opportunities than ever before for these businesses, the importance of each opportunity increases proportionately, of course. This means that highly structured and regular role-plays, pre-call plans, and post-call reviews should now be mandatory.

Whatever business you are in, managers these days should be spending most of their time  supporting their people in the field with customers, prospects, suppliers, and staff with incredibly structured and organized ride alongs. Virtual is the new normal: and virtual ride alongs are the new way to ensure that businesses are as well managed as possible during the global pandemic.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Antonio GarridoAntonio Garrido is a charismatic and experienced trainer, speaker, and consultant. He runs a Sandler Training Center in Miami, FL. The author of THE 21ST CENTURY RIDE-ALONG: How Sales Leaders Can Develop Their Teams In Real-Time Sales Calls, Antonio works with highly-motivated entrepreneurs, business leaders, and companies who are ready to work smarter and commit their time, money, and energy to attract new clients, sell more, and generate more profits.

For more information, please visit https://www.Sandler.com/resources/sandler-books/21st-century-ride-along/.

5 Simple Methods for Boosting Employee Productivity

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Employee Productivity|5 Simple Methods for Boosting Employee ProductivityWithout hyperbole, employee productivity is arguably the biggest factor that determines if a business is successful or not. When those productivity levels are labored, this negatively affects every aspect of the company.

Yet when everything runs smoothly, where employees are completing their tasks on time and in an effective manner, the entire business will thrive. Although, as the saying goes, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch. If a single staff member fails to do their job as expected, it will be felt at all levels of the company.

Due to this, it’s imperative to maximize the effort of every worker. However, how do you reach this point? How can you turn an average performer into a productive powerhouse?

This article is here to help answer those questions. Below are five easy methods you can implement for boosting employee productivity.

Be clear with goals and instructions

When you are setting tasks for your employees to complete, you need to do so in an effective and careful way. If you feed them instructions which are muddled or complicated, this is only going to compromise their productivity.

Worse, it might even lead to them doing the task wrong.

As a result, provide them with clear instructions and goals to target. The less time they spend confused and asking for assistance, the more efficient they will be.

Streamline work with automation

Automation is a gift which your business should cherish. Rather than your employees spending precious time on completing monotonous tasks, this can be completed automatically with technology. This then gives them additional time to focus on more important tasks.

Automation can be utilized in various different ways. For instance, software specialists PaperSave can assist with streamlining invoice management and data entry.

Give them a break

It might sound counterproductive on the surface, but allowing employees to take regular breaks from their work is recommended. It gives them a chance to recharge and have a mental break from their work.

Based on research, 52 minutes of solid work before a 17-minute break is an ideal balance for productivity. While you don’t have to be quite that specific with your timing, it demonstrates why allowing employees to regularly rest pays off.

Measure their work

If you fail to measure the work of your employees, you won’t be able to gain an accurate picture of their productivity. Are they meeting deadlines? Are they following directions? Is the work of a high quality? The answers to these questions might slip away if you don’t measure their productivity.

Thankfully, the task is made easy due to the number of effective software tools available for monitoring employee productivity.

Reward success

When employees complete their job to a successful standard, don’t let them feel their hard work was overlooked. Acknowledge the work they did and supply them with a healthy dose of praise. Even just a few kind words will help boost their morale.

However, you could always take it a step further and provide the employee with a reward. This could be everything from the afternoon off to a free meal at a local restaurant.

How To Attract Your Target Customer

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Target Customer|How To Attract Your Target CustomerUltimately, the key to success in all industries is identifying your target customer and then taking steps to attract this group to your business. The target customer is the group of people that will benefit from the products and/or services that you use, and identifying this group will enable you to make key business decisions; but how can you go about attracting this group? This can be challenging, particularly in competitive industries, but there are a few highly effective strategies that will help your business to succeed, allow you to develop a positive reputation with this group, and compete with the top brands in your industry.

Determine The Target Customer And Their Needs

First, you need to make sure that you have a clear definition of your target customer. You then need to identify what the wants, needs, and priorities for this group are, which will then help you when it comes to marketing and promoting your brand. A few key questions to ask, which will help with this are as follows:

  • What problems does your company solve?
  • Which specific customers will benefit the most?
  • What is the age, gender, location, income, lifestyle, and attitude of this group?

It is then helpful to create a profile for your target market, so that you can picture this individual and keep them in mind whenever you make any kind of strategic decision.

Analyze The Competition

Your direct competitors will have the same target customer as you do, so it is a good idea to carefully analyze the competition in order to see what you can learn, and to take advantage of any gaps in the market. In addition to looking at what the most successful brands are doing well, do not forget to look at what the struggling brands are doing wrong—this can be just as insightful, and will help you to avoid making the same mistakes.

Create Engaging Content

In today’s internet-driven age, a brand needs to create content in addition to providing a high-quality product and/or service, as this is how you promote your brand, demonstrate your expertise, and engage with your target customer. The content must be of value to your target customer, stand out from the crowd, and use a variety of media. If you are in the health and fitness industry, for example, then you have a lot of good options, such as:

  • Workout videos
  • Nutritional infographics
  • “How-to” guides for specific exercises
  • Interviews with key figures
  • Live Q&A sessions on social media

Use Influencer Marketing

Following on from this, social media is a key platform for engaging your target customer, and one of the most effective strategies for this is using influencer marketing. This involves an influential figure in your industry promoting your products and/or services to their followers (your target customer), which is a highly effective way of reaching a much larger group and improving your brand reputation. The key to success with using this increasingly popular form of marketing is finding the right agency—you can do this by searching online, for example, by looking for the best influencer marketing agency in Los Angeles.

Host Events

It is vital that you take steps to engage your target customer online, but you must not overlook the value of also doing this offline, as this can be an excellent way of building real-life connections with this group. The best way to do this is by hosting events, which will help to create a sense of community with your target customer, while also portraying your brand is an authoritative figure in the industry. Using the above health and fitness example, you could host fitness classes, lectures, live screenings of sports, and anything else that will bring your target customers to your business.

Surveys

Another smart step to take is to send out surveys to your target customer. This will help you to identify areas in which you could improve your brand in order to appeal directly to this group—as the saying goes, “the customer is always right.”

Improve Customer Service

No matter who your target customer is, you will need to make sure that you provide them with excellent customer service in order to retain customers and build a positive reputation. Keep in mind that people have different preferences when it comes to customer service, so you should have a range of options, including:

  • Phone
  • Email
  • Social media
  • Live chat

Understanding exactly who your target customer is—and knowing how to reach this group—will be critical to success. Follow the above steps, and you should soon start to attract more people to your business, improve your reputation, and compete with the larger brands in your industry.