Babette Ten Haken

Contact Babette
  • Home
  • Programs
    • Keynote Presentations
    • Breakouts & Workshops
    • Coaching & Mentoring
  • Blog
  • About Babette
    • Testimonials
    • Honors & Awards
  • Contact Me!
You are here: Home / Human Capital & Industrial IoT Workforce / 4 Tips to Reset Small Enterprises

4 Tips to Reset Small Enterprises

October 3, 2014 by Babette Ten Haken Leave a Comment

ResetSmall enterprises as well as midsize enterprises can stand to hit the Reset button from time to time.

Do you know what’s involved in resetting your small enterprise, especially when you, the leader, feel that everything is going just swell?

Successful small enterprises must remain nimble. Most small enterprises consider themselves to be smaller versions of big companies. Their business models re-create, on a mini scale, the legacy business models and systems of their customer base. Big company’s business models don’t shrink down very successfully, even if you are former employees who have gone out on your own and founded small enterprises and taken on a supplier/vendor role.

Take a page from startup mindset: never get too content or too comfortable with the status quo. Even in the most innovative manufacturing small enterprises and small businesses, there should always be a sense that things can be done better, more efficiently, more creatively.

The small enterprises and small businesses which will be there in the future are those companies which are constantly reinventing their past and current business models, attitudes, habits and practices.

Here are four tips to reset, recalibrate and realign small enterprises. Hit the button daily, monthly, quarterly and annually. Follow the 16 tools and tips at the end of each chapter of my book, Do YOU Mean Business?, for strategies to keep your forward momentum.

1. Get out of your office. You’ve delegated. Everyone reports to you. You’ve got big data. You’ve got small data. That’s quantitative. There’s the qualitative stuff you are overlooking: how all that data looks, feels and sounds on the shop floor level or in the marketplace. If you think your marketing efforts understand this aspect, guess again. Are they selecting the information that best justifies your strategic position? Time to separate fantasy from reality.

2. Get out of what’s familiar. You surround yourself with a homogeneous mix of colleagues. You all drink from the same pitcher of Kool-Aid® but you are in denial that you are doing so. Even when you engage in those off-site, team-building meetings, you reinforce your homogeneity. Instead of an offsite retreat, take your team to a soup kitchen or counsel at a local prison. More of a “and now for something completely different.” Get a handle on your humanity in the process. Besides, you may decide to employ some of the folks you meet in the process.

3. Talk with your internal customers. The folks running the lines see things differently than you do. Some of them don’t speak English as their first language, but their children do. How can you expect them to buy into your vision when you aren’t aligned with theirs? If you want to get a solid jolt on what your company’s throughput looks like, spend a day on the line with your folks. Their common sense worldview may be just what you and your executive team needs to make simple, yet pivotal, changes.

4. Talk with your non-customers. Not former customers. Talk with the folks who have never chosen to be your customers. They didn’t walk away from your business because someone screwed up. Your company simply is not in their game plan at all. Find out why. Their answers may provide you with insights on how to fill marketplace gaps with small, but significant, improvements and innovations. These non-customers may not be buying what you make right now. Your non-customers can become your future customers. Find out what that future looks and sounds like.

Let me know how it goes.

Babette N. Ten Haken, President of Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, LLC, catalyzes collaborative business transition, startup growth, and professional development. She works with non-traditional sellers, engineers, small and midmarket manufacturers, and technical startups. Her book, Do YOU Mean Business? was named one of the Top Sales and Marketing Books, 2012.

Enjoy this post? Please share it!

Share on X (Twitter)Share on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on EmailShare on Reddit

Filed Under: Human Capital & Industrial IoT Workforce, Professional Development Tagged With: customers, small businesses, small enterprises

About Babette Ten Haken

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hire Babette to speak at your next conference or corporate meeting.

https://youtu.be/Yf-h80O_QZ4
Sign up to receive posts via email
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz
SalesProCentral
Customer Experience Update

Categories

  • Collaboration And Convergence
  • Customer Experience, Success, Loyalty, Retention
  • Human Capital & Industrial IoT Workforce
  • Professional Development
  • Trending Book Reviews
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • You Need To Have Your Own Back First
  • Smarter Questions Yield More Informative Answers
  • Find Your Daily True North
  • Are You Upskilling Tactically Or Strategically?
  • Are You Really Spending Quality Time With Colleagues And Clients?

Archives

Revenue-Generating Problem Solving | Professional Innovation | Collaborative Leadership | Keynotes, Workshops, Facilitation Learn more....

Contact Babette
Sign up to receive posts via email
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz

Recent Posts

You Need To Have Your Own Back First

Smarter Questions Yield More Informative Answers

Find Your Daily True North

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on LinkedInFollow Us on Instagram

Privacy Policy

Change Catalyst | Revenue-Generating Problem Solving | Professional Innovation | Collaborative Leadership | Keynotes, Workshops, Facilitation
Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, All Rights Reserved 2023 ©
By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies