A LEADING business expert has revealed four key elements that ensure successful small businesses stay ahead in the market.
Recently appointed managing director of Business Durham Brian Archer shared some insights from his own experience in running a small business, as well as an international conglomerate, when delivering the keynote address during the Teesdale Business Awards on Thursday, February 15.
Mr Archer went from starting his own small business in Leeds during the 1980s to being a director in a £5billion company operating in 30 countries and employing 130,000 people.
He said: “I know just how hard it is to start and run a small business. It is demanding, it is challenging and it's every bit as difficult and challenging as running a large corporation.”
As many as 50 per cent of businesses fail within five years of starting up, he said.
Those that succeed, he advised, have motivation, skills and ability, a business idea, and access to resources.
These key elements are essential for success, he said.
Mr Archer added: “It is about your values. To be very successful, you have to be passionate about what you do. You have to love what you do, you have to fall in love with your job. What that will do is help build resilience. It is a certainty you will face some huge challenges and that resilience, that motivation, that drive, will carry you through the difficult times.”
He added that knowledge and skills are the only source of competitive advantage any business has.
He said: “If you have got skills gaps in your business and you are sufficiently self aware to know where those skills gaps are, it is really important to plug those capability gaps and to look at the skills and capabilities of your business and closely aligned they are to the market place that you are operating in. I learned that lesson very early on in my career.”
Mr Archer revealed that new ideas are crucial in ensuring businesses have the competitive edge.
He said: “I think it is so important to test and validate those ideas in the marketplace and have an external perspective. Really intimately know your customer, who are your customers, what do they buy, when do they buy, how do they buy.
“Target your products and services on the right groups of customers. Understand the market you are in – is it static, is it growing, is it declining? And what about your competitors, what differentiates your offer from the competition out there? It is so important.
“Everyday in your business interactions you will be gathering intelligence and information from suppliers, from wholesalers, from other businesspeople, the word on the street, whatever. You collect lots of information. If you can turn that information into knowledge and insight to drive better business decisions, you will be more successful.”
He concluded that access to resources, whether financial or skilled people, are needed to sustain business growth.
He said: “You are all gifted and talented entrepreneurs and businesspeople, but your job, our job, is about changing lives, making a difference and doing what you love. And if you do those things then you are more likely to grow richer, and you might even make money out of it as well.”
