THE SECRETS OF BREAKTHROUGH COMPANIES

Why do some companies "break through" while so many others do not?

How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers.

Here are some secrets to long-term entrepreneurial growth

The sexiest businesses don't always win.
In fact, the most interesting companies often don't operate in the markets that Wall Street and the business press consider interesting or "cool". Many of the breakthrough companies began in market segments experts considered unattractive at the time. We certainly didn't expect to find a nuts-and-bolts distributor, a snowmobile maker, a payroll processor, or even a niche real estate business on our list of top performing growth companies. But we did.

It's not all about the entrepreneur.
They're the ones that grab the headlines, right? And in fact, in the earliest stages of development, the quality of the entrepreneurial team tends to swamp all the other variables in predicting firm success. But as soon as the business gets on its feet, the best entrepreneurial leaders are too smart to let the company make it "all about them." Breakthrough leaders understand that no one wants to serve a king. These leaders work hard to put the company's vision -- and not their own personality -- at the center of things.

Entrepreneurs aren't always risk takers.
Entrepreneurs are actually distributed evenly across the risk-taking spectrum. Even more important, there is evidence that as they achieve success, some entrepreneurs actually become more risk averse -- "playing tight" (as they say in poker) at the very time when they should be upping the ante.

Founders don't need to let go.
Conventional wisdom holds that entrepreneurial companies fail to reach their full potential because founders just won't "let go." Actually , in eight of nine top-performing companies , founders stayed deeply involved -- usually for decades. It turns out that, rather than letting go, founders and founding teams need to redefine their roles as the business grows.

You don't necessarily have to stick to your knitting.
Sticking to your knitting is fine, as long as your competitors stick to theirs as well. But competitors rarely behave the way you want them to. To achieve breakthrough performance, companies need to be constantly scanning the changing needs of the customer and developments in the industry so they can spot the most important opportunities to advance the business.

You don't need other people's money.
We've all heard the professional investor's pitch: "Sure you can grow your business on your own, but you can grow it faster with our money." Actually, not one of the breakthrough companies were funded by venture capital in their start-up years -- not even several high-tech ventures. The right investor at the right time can be crucial, but outside money is far from a requirement.

It's not all about hiring the right people.
These companies focus more on making the people already in the company productive through intense training and education. In the words of one breakthrough CEO, we have succeeded because we have built a place where ordinary people can do extraordinary things."

It doesn't matter where you went to school.
It's not about where (or even whether) you went to school. One company was run by a PhD in statistics and former college professor; another was run by a person who hit the bricks right out of high school.

You don't have to let the MBAs take over.
Many business people divide the world into two groups -- entrepreneurial firms and "professionally managed" firms. But reality is not that simple. Many small firms are very well managed -- though probably not in a way that most bureaucrats in giant companies would recognize. And in many big companies, it is easy for the "professional management" tail to start wagging the company dog. Companies large and small alike should strive to create an entrepreneurial enterprise that combines the quickness and customer focus of an entrepreneurial firm with the systems and processes of a more mature organization. MBAs are optional.

Strategy isn't just the job of the CEO.
The most successful companies recognize that strategy is a firm's "source code" -- the fundamental set of assumptions upon which everything else in the business is based. So they strive to get people throughout the organization thinking about and debating strategy. They nurture an environment that includes "insultants" -- people willing to take a full swing at the issues, even if it means questioning the fundamental assumptions upon which the firm is based.

UNDERSTAND GOOGLE'S GUIDELINES

Google is popular, and popularity means it may be tough to get in initially. Even if you do everything right, it could take months to see results, at least if you use their URL submission page. However, there is hope! There's a method to get indexed in 24 hours, so don't even bother submitting through the URL page.

But before you get to that, you should know about the guidelines you must follow to ensure that your site not only gets listed, but also doesn't get banned. Plus, you should learn about elements of your website that Google won't look at.

How to Get Google to Read Your Keywords First

Google's bots read web pages from the topmost left corner of your site to the bottom right. However, most sites are designed with all of the links on the left side, and the content on the right. Yet the problem with this design is instead of seeing your content first, Google sees the links first. Your links may not be seen to be as optimized as your content.

One solution is to use three panes rather than two. Keep the normal left and right panes, but add an extra pane at the top left of the layout. Don't put keywords in this extra pane. With this area "blank" when the Google bots read the site, rather than going for the links as they normally would, the bots see that a portion of where the links are is "blank." This then forces it to read the content first, which is more keyword-rich than the links.

Note that not all search engines read sites this way, which is why this guideline was provided in this special section dedicated to optimizing for Google. You could be on the safe side and use the layout anyway, especially if you do plan to submit to Google, which you should. It doesn't take away from the look of the site, and by using it you ensure that your content gets read first. If you don't use it, you aren't giving yourself the best opportunity to rank highly in Google search engine listings. Making tables isn't very hard to do. Most word processors and even WYSIWYG HTML editors provide them, so take advantage of it.

BUSINESS STRATEGY

Are you just starting a business or already doing business for more than a year?

Is your sales increasing or you find it hard to do so ?

Maybe you should do something about it.

Here are some business strategy that you may apply.

Signboard
Your signboard should be easily recognize and visible. Your business name should be clearly identified and related to the type of business you offered. This is very important so that people know what exactly you offered and where you are.

Business Location
Your business location should be conveniently located. This is important in order to facilitate easiness for you customers to find and locate you.

Attractive Business Offer
Attract customers to buy more by attractively pricing a package of two services. Example : a pedicure service is $25, and a manicure and pedicure together cost only $35, so … the chances of your customers pay $35 is bigger.

Manpower
You should have enough staff and flexibility to handle your business. By having adequate staff , this will make your business running smoothly.

Referral
Even though this seem simple or sometimes being neglect by most of us , however if fully used , the impact is promising. For example , in personal care services , hotels are a perfect source of referrals for hair salons, spas, nail boutiques, and other personal care services. There is probability that potential customers will ask at the front desk of a hotel for such services. If the owner of the manicure store regularly dropped off business cards to the major hotels, perhaps even given some of the staff free manicures, they would have known the company's name. Figure out who could send business your way and keep in touch.

Be Visible And Proactive
Make sure that customers know you and let customers find you. Some of the most effective ways to be seen include having a well-trafficked location, good signage, an ad in the Yellow Pages, and a regular ad in the local newspaper.

Develop a mailing list.
Get in touch with your customers. With a mailing list, you could have sent a reminder card to any customers you hadn't seen in a while, let customers know of special promotions, and if you changed locations, tell customers how to find you. One of the biggest mistakes most small companies make is failing to stay in touch with customers.

Give reminders of possible "second sales."
For example : most of the nail salon's customers come in for over an hour a week for manicures. But they don't get reminded of other ways to spend their money. The owners could have easily prompted customers with small signs saying things like "Looking for a gift? We sell gift certificates." "Treat yourself right -- try a pedicure." "Take your color home -- we sell nail polish."

Make your space inviting.
In most businesses, you want to keep your customers around as long as possible. The longer they linger, the more they'll usually spend. (Not always, of course; some companies want to get customers in and out quickly.) In any case, you want customer to enjoy coming to you. For example : ensure your place is always clean, put an attractive decoration and create a situation that will make your customers remember you . Look around at most small establishments; you'll be amazed at how few have bothered to provide a visually interesting or inviting space. But that's also part of merchandising.

The above steps would have cost very little, yet they might result in significant increases in sales. So take an hour, soak your toes in hot water, look around and think about a few ways you too might add to your bottom line.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS ..........

What makes them different is the way they respond to stress. They actually enjoy facing adversity , but most of them also manage and mitigate their risk.

They have willingness to sacrifice anything necessary to achieve a goal.

How they see the world ? Process information ? and come up with new ideas and solutions to problems. People high in "awareness" read people and situations and respond based on intuition. People high in "analysis" see the world as problems to be solved, and tend to think strategically. "Action" people focus their attention narrowly on getting things done.

They have the ability to "recruit the world. They have the ability to express support and encouragement. They succeed by helping other people such as their employees, partners, investors and suppliers to become as successful as them.