Posts Tagged ‘(Business’
How to Dominate The Market with Your Gas Station and C-Store
When you purchase a gas station and c-store, try not to make the mistake of settling down and expecting to get customers just because “you’re doors are open”. Don’t even think about relying on the current situation, expecting a consistent number of customers to come and go every day. You need to employ some aggressive marketing techniques to help you compete and defeat all your competitors, even the supposedly dominant oil company owned stations. So, be as creative as possible when you’re working toward making something special out of your new business – because if you do, you’ll be “taking it to the bank”!
Look to these marketing fundamentals, and then play your own personal twists:
Firstly, make sure that you differentiate. Take a tour of your general area and visit all the other gas stations with convenience stores. Look to see what they are doing from a marketing perspective and take good notes. When you get back to your business, work on offering something that they do not. Differentiate your new business by, for instance, being open longer hours or by presenting your place of business as a brighter and cleaner choice. Pick out a distinctive uniform for your employees and make sure that you train them well so that they enthusiastically greet every visitor. Get together a long list of promotions and prizes to periodically stage, with coupons too. One of the most important staples of a gas station is its fresh brewed morning coffee – offer something really nice, and excite your customer’s taste buds! Always make sure to stock your store with a broad selection of quality items, and don’t forget to give a few things away for free – such as air, water and vacuum services.
Secondly, communicate! Don’t be shy and make sure that you tell your customers that you have the best gas station and convenience store in the area. Once you have identified your core customer and found out all about their habits, initiate promotional campaigns within the media channels that will reach them directly; for example, put discount coupons in popular health clubs. Make sure that your communication methods are consistent – keep selling. From time to time open your facility to a worthy charity – for example, those car washes staged by the local softball team.
Thirdly, make sure you integrate well into the surrounding community. Look for opportunities to sponsor a local sports team or a popular cause. Get involved in cleaning up an eyesore, such as a neglected local park. Consider funding a college scholarship or co-promote with the merchants in your area to help improve the business climate. Whatever you do, make sure that you send information about it to the local media so they will promote you free of charge. As you will pretty much always get coverage if newsworthy, go out of your way to generate those “feel good” activities and the press will help you out with column inches and radio sound bites.
There’s no such thing as a small business, only business people who think small!
Richard Parker is the author of the How to Buy a Good Business at a Great Price series. As President and founder of Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center, his materials, seminars and consulting have helped thousands of business buyers realize their dream of buying a business.
A Discussion on Quality Management and ISO 9001
With the increase of companies asserting that they are conforming to the requirements of this particular international Standard, we may well begin to believe that product and service quality has reached perfection and every customer is completely satisfied with the level of achievement of their ISO 9000 registered supplier. However, it’s entirely possible that we could have just misunderstood the actual purpose of this Standard and the registration process itself. Maybe the Standard isn’t about quality of service or product.
At Present, the (year 2000) version of ISO 9001 is undeniably directed toward the definition of a Quality Management System. This is by tradition the means by which an organisation defines and oversees the quality of its output distribution. This current document is the latest in a series of ISO Standards devoted to the topic, and shortly to be replaced by a 2008 version – but not just yet. These Standards can identify their exact history back to the mid-point of the previous century, these having antecedents with origins most definitely back to the beginning of the 20th Century.
Originating within the manufacturing industry, and until comparatively recently predominantly focussed there, their original objective was to control the manufacturing processes so as to correct the errors endemic within the ethos of working class operatives. It was a ‘given’ that product (and now service) errors occurred due to the nature and attitudes of the workers employed. Rarely was it thought possible that errors and omissions – i.e. defects, could have any relation to the managers themselves or the management methods which were implemented within the industry. Therefore, these Standards were created with the single purpose of locating and fixing failings before they became an issue for a customer, or servicing the customer requirement for repair or replacement after delivery. E.g. warrantee. The working ISO 9000 structure is founded on the method Plan Do Check Act, and for Act we can fairly accurately say ‘Fix’ – although this isn’t quite how Act is usually explained in any sort of publicity information. Without a doubt, this is an implied acknowledgement of possible failure, as opposed to a program to avoid failure.
For those who disagree, ask yourself how often you’ve heard the expression – it must be one of those Monday morning or Friday afternoon products. Maybe partly in jest, but originating from the concept that workers generally don’t care, and systems have to be devised to put right what they, the workers, do wrong.
As the years have gone by, the Standards have developed and their presentation has changed to a less prescriptive form, but underneath lies the same concept, that all work is prone to error, and management planning must recognise this and act accordingly. The likelihood that work of any kind could consistently be done ‘error free’ doesn’t have any place within this or any other Standard.
This failure to recognise what is both a major weakness and an opportunity is not confined to Standards makers, but is endemic in much of industry and commerce. A large supplier of domestic kitchen fittings has recently admitted that they’ve increased their expense in after sales service operation – or put more clearly, in the repair and replacement required after a new installation. The possibility that the money could have been spent solving the cause of the problem rather than correcting it does not seem to have been considered. Is it any surprise that organisations continue to perceive the ISO Standards as being useful only in the context of improving their marketing image?
Earlier in the 20th Century the managers of quality systems became besotted with so-called statistical data gathering and presentation. Based on a lifetime of belief-reinforcing experience that compelled them to believe in the inevitability of error and failure in any work process, they persuaded their masters to support the concept of Acceptable Quality Level (AQL). This term, when used in a truly statistical situation, is a reliable method of predicting the quality of a batch through the examination of a smaller sample. As applied within industry it generally became a justification for accepting the inferior in both service and product delivery. This then has developed into the League Table idiocy driven by government and their civil servants that contains the tacit acceptance of less than perfect work performance, so long as there are those whose performance is deemed inferior to the current product or service examination. League tables are a failure because they support the inevitability of failure. This is a failure to recognise the fact that the present situation arises from a historic perspective of work and culture, along with the absence of the realisation that it doesn’t have to be like it is. To quote a 20th Century Guru – Philip Crosby, ‘It costs no more to do the job right than it costs to do it wrong and then again’. Quality is Free!
So, as we look to the coming of yet another ISO Standard for a quality management system, what are the prospects of a turn-round in philosophy, and a drive for Error-Free working?
Don’t hold your breath!
Ed. Bones is a chartered quality professional and an IRCA registered Lead Auditor. He is also a senior partner with the Meon Consulting Group, supplying expert audit and consultant services for ISO9001 & ISO14001 management systems. The company web site provides detailed information for your perusal, and includes the special offer of FREE Advice. Want to learn more?
Creating Long Lasting Business Relationships
Have you ever had the misfortune to be in troublesome situations where you couldn’t terminate your arrangement with a supplier even though there were recurring delays in their usual deliveries? This sort of situation arises because of the relationship which they established with you over the period of your working relationship.
As anyone involved with business coaching knows, strong and long lasting relationships are the pillars of small businesses, on which rests the complete structure that makes most of these businesses successful. A new business may not have plenty of money, a solid infrastructure, or world-class products and services, but it can still sail through this competitive business environment and sustain itself – with strong relationships.
A small business going after a high level of success in this business environment should pursue all sorts of working relationships, not just with customers, but also with its employees and business associates. Business partners are usually fairly different from each other in their personal approaches towards business, so we should always develop different ways of effectively dealing with each one.
- Customers – The wants and desires of the customer are the fundamental purpose for the existence of any business or company, and as the process of selling to a new customer involves quite a bit more expense and effort than selling to a current one, then why not let your current customers know that you really value them – by staying in touch, and regularly asking for their feedback.
- Tailoring your approach to individual customers is a great idea – as no single customer is the same. Maintain a thorough record of your customer’s previous purchases so that you can promptly remind them about any item or service which they might have overlooked, or even something special which they might not have thought of without your assistance. Delivering reminder emails, personal calls, or pleasant greetings can all make an extraordinary difference in the way your customers see you and your business. In addition, presenting complementary gifts, discount certificates, and loyalty bonus rewards will help inspire customers with the feeling of being truly recognized and valued.
- In-house employees – The employees of any business are essential for the attainment of any significant degree of long term success. It’s important that these employees – primarily those with deserved merit, be regularly shown appreciation for their accomplishments and performance in the business. Business gifts, awards, acknowledgement bonuses, birthday gifts, seasonal and festive gifts all play a very important role in keeping your rising stars motivated and focused. As you’ll learn in management training, these gestures of the company generate a sense of belonging in the employees, which will prompt them to identify with the company and feel a sense of personal loyalty, keeping them with the company for a much longer period of time.
- Business Associates – Business associates consist of individuals such as suppliers, distributors, and advertising agents, as well as any other people who derive a similar measure of profit from a given enterprise. These are the people who sustain the business, helping it to thrive with regular supplies, deferred credits, discounts, advertising, etc. Utilising promotional gifts, loyalty rewards and appreciations are some of the tremendous ways of expressing gratitude to any of the business associates, as all of these gestures will convey to them the valued position they hold in the eyes of the company.
The key to being successful – whether in a small business or a large company, will always be a carefully built solid foundation, along with mutually beneficial business relationships with each of your associates.
Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of the L2L Group, specialising in providing Executive Coaching, Training and Consultancy Services to Businesses across the Globe. Want to learn more about these business success strategies? Get Alan’s popular FREE Business Pack today!
ISO9001 Internal Audit
This ISO Standard contains an element (8) intended to encompass a range of features which together support a mechanism to improve the performance of the management system. Internal audit is a piece of this set, but only a piece, yet is – in all likelihood, the only aspect which is apparent to an average individual. Internal audit is necessary, not because of the end result of the process, but because the continuous registration process for ISO9001 organisations makes sure that Internal Audit is scrutinised regularly. It is our contention that the impact of internal audit on the average company is minimal to the point of being useless. This is mostly due not to the process of audit, but to the way in which it’s managed and carried out.
Generalising, quality management processes are tolerated rather than being welcomed. They have become a fundamental part of the usual cost of doing business, mostly due to the failure of the systems to bring forth any solid benefit past the marketing advantage which is said to come from the registered status of the organisations. A diligent examination of the complete requirements which are built into the Standard should deliver a reasonable level of assurance that the benefits of a controlled work environment will be realised by following its text in a way that matches the particular nature and prevalent philosophy of the organisation in question. But it just doesn’t happen. More to the point, it doesn’t seem to put forth evidence of unfailing benefits for the adoption of the standard anywhere near often enough.
With a Standard that is International in both origin and application, how can this be? To understand the reasoning behind this, it’s essential to look closely at the role of those individuals who see their position as that of policing the management system. Often carrying the title of Quality Manager, this individual (sometimes with a team of helpers) is held responsible for the integrity of the documented system and implicitly at least for the quality of the outgoing product or service. Quality Managers have their roots in a manufacturing function whose equivalent would have been the Chief Inspector. The name alone provides an indication of the status – perceived or actual – of this individual. He was without any doubt the final authority when it came to the acceptable level of quality of the organisation’s products. Acceptance or Rejection was entirely at his discretion. Without having actually been there to make a comparison, it still seems as if to many of today’s quality managers are behaving in a similar fashion. With little real understanding or appreciation of the management function, and certainly not the executive role, they fail to speak the language of their local leaders, with clear consequences.
It’s the responsibility of management to outline organisational objectives and policies, and management will organise – or have organised for them, specific systems to uphold these policies and objectives. Their need, although rarely put forward, is for some form of assurance that the systems are generating the specific controls and ongoing benefits they planned for. They need reassurance. The Internal Audit should provide information specific to the operation of the management system and focussed on this management need, but it seldom works that way. Most of the time, the reports of internal audit functions have within them a multitude of insignificant failings termed as ‘non-conformance’, frequently to a requirement that isn’t specified or is completely imaginary in nature, and having minimal bearing on the actual needs of management. Is it any surprise that Internal Audit is perceived to be a necessary evil, carried out to satisfy the ISO auditor, but having an insignificant amount of relevance to life in the actual world of commerce and industry?
When material such as this is provided to managers who see no real value in the investment, it is not just the audit that is ignored but the perpetrators of the audit also. A direct consequence of this failure to identify the audit customer’s need is a rejection of much that has a Quality Management implication. Managers and quality department staff universally complain of lack of management commitment (an ISO9001 requirement), and a general lack of personal advancement opportunities. But improvement is possible, even radical improvement, and it requires a change in strategy for both Executive Managers and those purporting to be Quality Professionals.
The change process:
1. The organisation must recognise that every manager and employee has a responsibility to perform in accordance with the requirements laid down for their work. Nobody else can be responsible for the quality of this work.
2. The title Quality Managers is clearly not a true indication of the function of this individual. Holding the QM responsible for a failure in product of service is clearly wrong unless that delivery was by its nature part of his (or her) normal function.
3. Internal audits should be a recognisable independent assessment of each business function, carried for the function’s manager and reported to that individual alone. (The functional managers have the responsibility for achieving a selection of business objectives, and it is they who need the information to support these objectives).
4. It follows that the auditors, while being independent of the function being audited, should also understand the role and responsibilities of senior managers, and speak at that level.
5. These changes require the dissolution of the existing audit regime, and some re-education of the management team who are responsible for allowing the adverse situation to exist.
6. Professional auditors with a wider experience than that obtainable within one or a limited number of organisations alone can provide the assurance and service level needed by an effective management team.
Ed. Bones is a chartered quality professional, an IRCA registered Lead Auditor, and is a senior partner with Meon Consulting Group, providing expert audit and consultant services for ISO9001 & ISO14001 management systems. The company web site provides detailed information, and includes the offer of FREE Advice.