How to ensure profitable growth for the company?

Through a profitable growth strategy based on a daring management attitude and based on clear objectives, some companies managed to increase their profits, leaving aside the belief that only through a better economy in the country and with a stable industry can high profitability be achieved . This according to the study in which Accenture analyzed just over 500 Latin American companies managed for ten years, named by them as having high profitable growth.

Furthermore, one of the attributes of successful companies is the aggressiveness with which decisions are made, growth objectives are established, costs are reduced, fostering innovation and talent development. And even, its management teams generate four growth initiatives for each cost initiative.

These were some of the findings of the study “The formula for profitable growth” prepared by the consulting company Accenture, which analyzed the financial performance of 529 companies in Latin America for 10 years, starting in 2000, and where 120 shareholders were surveyed. and executives of these companies. The document shows that contrary to what is believed, external aspects such as the performance of the industry or the economy of the country of origin are not always responsible for business growth. This, since the managerial function is also key. The latter, according to the document, had a much greater impact on profitability, contributing 65% of revenues, while the performance of the industry and the country’s economy had been responsible for 26% and 5%, respectively.

“I wanted to understand the impact that changes in the regional environment had on companies. To our surprise, the last ten years established a highly positive framework for the development of private initiative with open economies, pro-market public policies, single-digit inflation and a growth at the regional level higher in 33% versus previous decades ”, says Carlos Niezen, managing partner of Strategy at Accenture Mexico.

“The managerial actions – focus on superior growth and leadership and trust of the team – that are described are linked to the conception and execution of the strategy. Seeing growth above the industry or country and articulating its execution has a lot to do with performance of senior executives, without forgetting that it is necessary to align the operations that support growth “, says William Loyola, professor at ESPAE.
Thus, companies such as Nutresa from Colombia, Falabella from Chile, Gerdau from Brazil and Banco Compartamos from Mexico – which the consultancy firm calls high profitable growth companies and which have had sales since 2010 between US $ 2,000 and US $ 20,000 million. – have had a high profitable and sustained growth.

“Another factor is that, in general, companies have a very strong competitive position, with a strategy that differentiates them quite a bit from their direct competitors. So their approach, instead of reducing costs, is based on continuing to grow because they realize that there is a good market and that competitors are weaker ”, explains Esteban Brenes, Professor of Strategy and holder of the Steve Aronson Chair of Strategy and Agribusiness.

Set goals to achieve profitable growth in your company

Like almost all important objectives in a company, it is essential to establish a series of goals that help us achieve them. When we talk about profitable growth, this is no exception, therefore, here we help you with ideas of small goals that will help you obtain profitable growth in your business.

Setting realistic goals is one of the first steps, goals that can be achieved in the short term and that stimulate the operation of the company. Some of these goals can be small, or they can be big changes that alter things that have been done. But everything must contribute to growth.

Next, it is important that you learn to distinguish between good growth and bad growth. Bad growth does not produce profit. Good growth generates profits, it is harmonious, it is differentiated and it is sustainable over time.

The task of the entrepreneur who seeks profitable growth must be taken with enthusiasm and energy because there are many tools that he has to learn to apply to achieve his goal. I mention some:

• Generate an environment that stimulates creativity within the company that promotes increases in sales, without having to increase fixed costs or invested resources. This is achieving higher sales productivity!

• Modify budgets so that they are growth-oriented budgets that generate discipline in the company and a correct allocation of resources.

• Obtain greater knowledge about the true needs of the client and the market segment being served, looking for new ways to satisfy them.

• Find out how to offer customers a compelling reason to buy that makes a real difference with the competition.

• Create a strong results-oriented team spirit among the different areas of the company: production, sales, finance, human resources, etc.

• Stimulate the generation (select, nurture and launch) of ideas that add sales in the short and medium term.

• Create the awareness and disciplines necessary so that there is greater control over the costs of each product or service, focusing the analysis of each product or service on its individual profitability.

• Develop programs that better measure, understand, control and manage fixed costs, preventing them from growing when it is not really essential, but on the contrary, trying to reduce them without affecting operations.

The day to day of companies is hectic and much of that frenzy occurs because the energies are focused on generating more sales; Well, the same must be the management to recover the collection of those sales. The entrepreneur must also create a new force that moves the company, the force that seeks profit growth, profitable growth.

Growth is the force that fuels motivation in people, as well as in companies.

If your company is not generating the profits you want, if you think you can get more sales and more profits, if the moment your company is going through or the economy does not allow sales to grow, but you want your profits to grow, you should know that profitable growth is possible

BASF reveals new strategy focused on profitable growth and zero CO2 emissions

“With our new strategy, we are setting BASF on a course for growth,” said Dr. Martin Brudermüller at the presentation of BASF’s new strategy in Ludwigshafen.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors highlighted the positive evolution in recent years: “Since 2012, our operating income before depreciation, amortization and special items has grown an average of 8% per year, considerably faster than the 3% increase. in costs per year ”. BASF’s earnings growth also outpaced the 3.7% annual increase in global chemical production. Furthermore, there was a strong development in free cash flow in recent years and a high return on capital employed (ROCE), most recently 15.4%. Above all, the new strategy aims to increase sales and volumes.

BASF focuses on growing organic businesses. To grow faster, BASF will focus even more on its customers and develop personalized offers for them. With the goal of being faster and more flexible, the company will significantly simplify structures and processes, refine its portfolio and strengthen Verbund. “We will transform our organization to be more agile and customer-centric,” said Brudermüller.

The Asian market, where BASF is already well established, plays an important role in its profitable growth strategy. With a world market share of over 40%, China is the largest chemical market and is driving the growth of world chemical production. “By 2030, China’s share of the market will increase to almost 50% and we want to participate in this growth,” said Brudermüller. “Our new Verbund site in Zhanjiang in Guangdong province and the expansion of the Nanjing site will significantly enhance our growth in this dynamic market.”

With its new strategy, BASF is pursuing ambitious financial and non-financial goals. “We want to outgrow the market and our goal is to increase our sales volumes above the growth of global chemical production,” said Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Hans-Ulrich Engel.

BASF also wants to further increase profitability and is targeting an increase in EBITDA before special items of 3% to 5% per year. “Furthermore, BASF aims to achieve a return on capital employed well above the cost of the percentage of capital each year. This means that we create real added value, “Engel said.

BASF also wants to be a leader in the eyes of its investors and aims to provide them with an above-average value compared to the chemical industry. “Consequently, we want to increase our dividend per share every year, supported by strong free cash flow,” Engel said.

Marketing strategies to grow and make the business more profitable

In a constantly changing environment, knowing how to adapt and grow has become a strategic necessity for companies, which must react by redesigning their strategy to achieve profitable growth, long-term growth that meets the interests and needs of their interest groups and society in general.

1. Grow by increasing market share.
A company has three options to handle the situation when its competitors lower prices: maintain its prices by introducing improvements in the product; offer discounts to large customers who push for a price reduction; and lower their prices for all customers.

2. Grow by fostering the commitment of customers and other stakeholders.
The cost of losing customers and having to replace them is too high, so we must learn to keep them. To achieve this, the best thing is to amaze them, turn them into followers and prescribers of our products.
The company must aspire for the client to go through the phases of: satisfied client, committed client, prescriber client, co-creator client and owner client.
To achieve this, a product must be significantly better than those offered in its category by the competition. All company personnel must show special interest in the client and respond quickly and thoroughly to everything they demand. The company must be generous when it comes to returns or providing advice to its customers.

It is our committed customers that we must focus on when planning our offering in the future, since we already know them. We must ask ourselves what else we can do for our clients, what other needs do they have that we can satisfy.
A committed and loyal client of a company will probably agree to become your prescriber, even if we do not ask for it expressly. A prescribing client could even become a co-creator. It would be the type of customer who wants to get involved to help improve the products, services, advertising and other aspects of the company.

To achieve the success of the company we must also ensure that employees evolve. They must go from being mere disinterested fill workers to passive contributors and ultimately employee ambassadors.

3. Grow by developing a powerful brand.
We must distinguish between three independent brand concepts: brand integrity, brand identity, and brand image.
Planning must start with brand integrity, since it is the phase in which the company objectively assesses what it is able to offer satisfactorily to its customers and target audience. Brand integrity is the company’s promise of value and is essential to achieving customer trust. Starting from this base, you can go on to develop the brand identity, that is, define how the company wants others to perceive it. The next step is to decide the brand image of the company or, in other words, define how it differs from its competitors. If it does not differ significantly, it will go unnoticed by a competitor who which does differ from the rest.

4. Grow innovating in products, services and experiences.
How much has your company innovated in the last five years? Has a new product or service been launched? If so, were they relevant or minor products? Has the company invented new marketing techniques to more effectively access the audience it serves?
Not innovating means stagnating. A company that does not innovate becomes outdated for its customers, distributors and suppliers.
Most companies will not be able to achieve permanent innovation, but they will still need to make some changes in their products, services, prices, distribution and promotion. They all need to train some of their employees not only to think outside the box, but also to feel free to try until they fail. As we already know, punishing those who fail is the certain death of innovation.

B2B marketing and profitable business growth

There are three key fronts that impact on sustainable results: strategy, growth projects and comprehensive communication.

Most industrial companies were born and grew with great success without a marketing area. Market conditions have changed, and what can marketing do for business development today? Let’s see.
The marketing effort must focus on profitable growth strategies. You must work with a strategic vision, facing the opportunity and in a team with the other areas.

Marketing is the great ally of the commercial area, which supports the achievement of objectives, while bringing the company closer to the market. Regarding the scope of B2B marketing functions, there are three key fronts to highlight due to their high impact on sustainable results: 1) marketing strategy, 2) projects for growth, and 3) comprehensive communication. Let’s look at some aspects to keep in mind.

The marketing strategy is fed from the market analysis to define the value proposition and the growth fronts. This process should not just be an annual task, but an ongoing exercise to adapt to market response and opportunities. It always seeks to strengthen the competitive position and promote close and profitable relationships with customers. With this clarity, growth and communication projects are specified and executed.

The growth projects are developed with the commercial team, and aligned with the technical area, operations and finance. Before looking at some examples, there are the bases of growth, that is, current customers. From marketing, customer-oriented efforts must be coordinated including: shielding / protection of pareto customers, loyalty programs or value-added services.

Growth projects drive sales and increase the chance of success. For example, the launch of new products or development of new customers.

Now, comprehensive communication has all the potential to make a competitive difference in orientation and relationship with the market. As a central axis the brand and corporate identity are worked. Consistency in image and positioning projects support, and allows building the value of the brand over time and on all fronts (customers, suppliers, employees, banks, etc.). There’s also internal communication, to foster team alignment, commitment, and pride.

Finally, there is direct communication with customers and the market. It includes commercial tools, such as presentations, brochures, digital marketing or events, among many other possibilities. As well as communications that deepen the knowledge of customers and their needs to provide feedback on critical company processes. This is how b2b marketing can support the profitable and sustainable development of the business.

Manage your company obtaining a profitable growth

Effective business management of your company requires knowing how you are going to grow and what strategy you are going to follow. The economic situation has improved compared to the years of the economic crisis, so it is time to adapt to the situation and grow.

When planning the growth of your company, several factors may influence you:

The fear of changes and the effects they may have.
Ignorance about how to do it.
The investment necessary to execute it.

What is a growth plan?
A profitable growth strategy plan is a document that basically contains your company’s objectives for growth and the strategies to follow. The plan can be modified over time, taking into account the circumstances or developments that occur in the market.

Steps to plan and grow your business
There comes a time when your company needs to grow and to do so efficiently and in an orderly manner you will have to follow a series of steps such as the ones we propose below:

1. Set growth goals
The first step in your growth plan is to set what objectives you want to achieve in the short, medium and long term, both in your company and in each department. These objectives can be, for example, the following:

Increase in sales.
Business diversification.
Acquisition of new clients.
Hiring of new workers.
Internationalization of your company.
Keep in mind that for your objective to be effective it must meet a series of requirements:

Be concrete. For example: What percentage increase in sales do you want to achieve?
Be possible. It may be challenging, but it must be realistic.
Be measurable. At any time you must be able to measure progress against the objective.
Have a deadline. In what period will you reach your sales goal?
2. Find the right strategies
Once you are clear about the objectives to be achieved, you will have to set the strategies or actions that are going to be carried out to achieve them. For example, if you want to attract new customers, you will have to ask and answer questions such as:

Who is your ideal client?
Where can you find your ideal client?
What needs do you have?
How can you meet those needs?
What actions are you going to take and how?

3. Find out the investment you need to grow
The first thing you will have to analyze to know what investment you need for your growth project is your accounting. You will get a true picture of the situation of the company through the accounting data.

To know the status of your company at all times, you can use online solutions such as the Sage Accounting and Billing cloud management software, which can help you obtain all the information easily and from anywhere.

4. Ask yourself: What problems can arise?
The growth plan of your company should consider what to do in the face of problems that may arise in the future and that slow down the growth of your business. For example, if a new competitor emerges in the market or some regulation that affects your growth, you will have to have a plan B to know how to deal with the situations that arise.

The online management of your business will allow you to better adapt to any change or problem because you can do it more quickly and accessing the information from anywhere and at any time.

5. Monitor progress
Set controls to ensure that the progress of your growth plan is carried out as planned. If your goal is to increase sales, you can set milestones on certain dates to check if they are being met and if it is necessary to make corrections.

Sooner or later your company will need to grow and it is best that you plan that growth as soon as possible to avoid obstacles or problems. Be clear about all the steps to follow and focus on seeing how your business grows in the future.

Profitability or growth? That is the question

When managers, board members, or even company owners are asked what they prefer between profitability or growth, a vast majority would almost automatically say that both, however, the answer is not obvious.

It depends on multiple variables and elements to consider on what is the best. Here are some thoughts on the correlation between the two concepts and how it applies depending on the type of business.

  1. Profitable growth

Profitable growth refers to the joint achievement of profitability and growth goals. This is the case of companies that achieve a balance between concentrated and diversified clients, with organic and inorganic growth models and exposure to high-margin, high-growth businesses. They are companies with business models in which the linearity between the new number of clients and the costs and expenses that are activated for their attention is broken. Very few companies manage to maintain sustained profitable growth.

  1. Growth first then profitability

For certain industries, high-growth companies are often more valuable than slower-growing companies, however, this situation is dangerous because growing at exotic rates can lead the company into a valley of death. Supergrowth with low or no profits induces organizations into danger zones due to lack of liquidity, high fixed costs and difficulties to operate on a day-to-day basis. Focusing not on profitability but on growth implies that enough capital will be required to finance growth operations, until the investment actually generates new returns.

While growth is one more variable, many associate it with vain metrics, as they try to impact and focus on growth, without paying attention to what is really “in the bank” after all the corporate effort. Income growth alone seldom creates the great success that entrepreneurs dream of and worse still, it is sometimes achieved through dangerous borrowing, high risk, or even sacrificing profits.

Indiscriminate strategies of growing just to grow have generated serious strategic mistakes with dire financial consequences. When organizations become obsessed with growing by excluding other objectives such as profitability from the analysis, they end up competing in markets where they do not have the required capabilities to gain an advantage and in the long run the organization ends up losing important value.

  1. First profitability then growth

When a company focuses on profitability by limiting expenses, it can lead to stagnation, a condition that cannot be maintained for long if it is to continue to maintain the value and importance of the company in the market. Unfortunately, many companies find over time that ensuring profitability can be much harder to hit than the numbers associated with growth.

Mature companies understand that making decisions to abandon customers, products or even markets can involve a painful process in the face of growth, but that it is necessary and is almost a healthy practice to safeguard profitability, especially when the ultimate objective of any organization is to create and To distribute value, companies must meet their ability to grow their profits and not simply their income.

  1. Profitability and growth objectives in conflict

When there is progress in one aspect, it generally produces a decrease in the other, it seems that under the conditions of certain types of business models, profitability and growth coexist under a conflictive and uncooperative relationship. Thus when a growth rate is set, it will affect the margin result and what is the same, when the organization strives to achieve a certain level of profitability, its ability to grow will be affected.

  1. Pendulum between growth and profitability

In highly difficult markets, meeting the two objectives simultaneously ends up being highly complex, therefore, there are companies that are honest about their capabilities and define annualized strategies swapped between growth and profitability, in order to concentrate efforts and organize resources. geared toward achieving one goal at a time. This logic makes it easier to concentrate efforts, but at the cost of losing continuity of objectives year after year.

Profitability and growth are important and necessary for a company to survive and remain attractive to investors. The imbalance between these two objectives leads to a misallocation of resources and eventually to a situation of competitive vulnerability due to the lack of growth and to financial vulnerability due to the absence of acceptable profitability. Profit is key to basic financial survival, while growth is key to profit and long-term success.

Of course, life would be much easier if it were not necessary to have to choose between one and the other, but more and more companies are faced with having to make a decision for one or the other or innovate to meet both. There is no magic formula for every organization, it all depends on the business model, strategy, corporate culture, leadership style, the market, the added value delivered to the customer, and many more elements. The only secret that enables profitable and sustained growth is increasing the organization’s competitive advantage.

Keys to Growing a Business

It is one thing to start a business and another thing is to make it profitable and transcend, a true entrepreneur is always looking for a way to grow his business day by day.

No matter how small your business is, remember that several of the large companies that we currently know started in the garage of a house , it is only a matter of having a great passion for your business and working hard every day and you will see that little by little you business will grow to become the great company you have always dreamed of .

If you have a business and you want it to grow, both in infrastructure and in sales and income, here are a series of points that you must take into account so that your business growth is constant and sustainable .

These keys are taken from the success stories of large entrepreneurs and companies, take note and apply them, you will see that in a few years your company will be as big as you want.

Keys to growing a business

  1. Motivation

As when starting a business, for your business to grow you must be very clear about the reasons why you want it to grow, but beware, you must look for motivations stronger than money (I recommend you read: What motivates you to start your own business? ), remember that undertaking something just for money will make you give up at the first obstacle.

  1. Clear mission, defined objectives and a great vision

Know where we are? and where do we want to go? , are the bases to define the steps that we must take.

Imagine that you are going on a trip, what is the appropriate means of transport to go? Plane, boat, taxi, etc.? The answer to this question can only be given by knowing the place of departure and the place where you want to go, it also happens in the business world.

It is not a difficult task, for the mission just take a sheet and try to summarize the reason for your business by answering questions such as what do you sell? Who do you sell to? How do you sell? Then make a paragraph of between 5 and 10 lines and put it in a picture that you can put on the wall.

To define the vision, answer the question: How do I see my business in 5 years? Be ambitious and think big, then based on that projection establish a series of intermediate points that will be “the steps” to reach this vision, these points will be the objectives of your business. Make two more pictures and put them on the wall. Remember from time to time to review the mission, objectives and vision of your business.

  1. Keep focus

By defining a mission and a vision you will have given a focus to your business, you must maintain that focus.

A big mistake made by many entrepreneurs is to be guided by the need to increase their income quickly and they believe that by diversifying in the type of products they offer they will achieve it, this is how we end up seeing bakeries that also sell clothes and all kinds of items waiting earn some extra money. On the contrary, a bakery that maintains its focus will stand out and gain preference because it can innovate on its product line.

To understand a little more about this point, I invite you to read: From Flies, Amsterdam and the Business Approach

  1. Be willing to change and innovate

As your business begins to grow you will see that you must make all kinds of changes to adapt.

More clients mean more employees and more infrastructure, you must be aware of this and not be afraid to make the changes that your business requires, remember that to obtain different results you must do different things, you cannot expect your business to be bigger keeping things the same and how they are now.

  1. Listen to your customers

Customers are the basis of your business, if you don’t listen to them your competition will, and you will be giving them the possibility of keeping your market.

Facebook has been one of the fastest growing companies in all of history, its success is indisputable, but apparently it is making the serious mistake of not listening to its customers. Facebook users have witnessed countless changes that have generated mobilizations within the social network, for example, the chat sidebar, changes to the home page, a new photo viewer, etc. Yet despite complaints from millions of users, Facebook has ignored the criticism and the changes persist. For now, Facebook is still the leading social network, but it has opened up the possibility for companies like Google to attack their weak points.

Listening to your clients is not only asking them what they want, the client does not always know what they want, Henry Ford said: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have told me a faster horse.” . Currently there are neuromarketing techniques and studies (on the Internet you can find very interesting data) that will help you understand the consumer’s subconscious.

  1. Work with the best

Andy Freire says: “An entrepreneur A looks for entrepreneurs A + , an entrepreneur B looks for entrepreneurs C “, in other words, successful entrepreneurs always look for the best to work with, companies like Microsoft and Google hire the best engineers and programmers, That is why they are companies that stand out as the best.

  1. Define the Growth strategy

You already know where you are and where you want to go, now you can define the best strategy to get there.

There are multiple business growth strategies, choosing the right one will depend on factors such as the type of product you offer and the type of market in which you compete.

In the following link you can find the main strategies so that you know a little about them and define the right one for your business.

  1. Systematization

Systematizing a business is to make it work regardless of whether or not you are physically in it, it is a complex process but once you achieve it, your business will be ready to grow.

Does the owner of Mc Donalds personally review each establishment day by day? The answer is NO, the key to the success of a multinational is precisely the systematization, Mc Donalds has systematized all its processes, from the hiring and training of employees to the The way in which each of their products are made is how they make their hamburgers taste the same in any of their establishments.

At this point, computer tools are of great help, here are some links that may be useful:

  9. free applications that cannot be missing in your company

Selection of the best online tools for entrepreneurs, SMEs and companies

Free business software for entrepreneurs

Directory of Free Software for SMEs, entrepreneurs, businessmen and freelancers

Business Applications

in your business, the proportion in which you must divide the profits is up to you, for example, you could allocate 45% of the profits to the savings fund, 10% for Donations and another 45% for re-investment, the idea is that you be disciplined and keep the margin.

  1. Increase the value of your product or service

Contextualizing a bit, Price is what customers pay for your product and value is what the customer receives, as your business grows you will face tougher and tougher competition, the only way to stay in the fight is by offering more value to your customers, remind them that you are working to improve every day. Give your customers reasons to prefer you.

  1. Position your brand

Positioning your own brand is essential, even position your logo, your slogan and everything that has to do with the identity of your business, if your customers do not remember you they will not have a preference for your products.

  1. Implement a Quality Management System

Every day countries are more demanding in terms of quality, this forces companies that wish to sell their products abroad to obtain quality certifications in ISO and other quality standards.

But regardless of whether or not you want to export, implementing a quality management system can help a lot to systematize your business, in addition to generating more trust with your customers. I recommend you consult the Guide to continuous improvement for SMEs .

  1. Have a presence on the Internet

Today the Internet offers countless free tools that allow a business to easily promote their products.

On the Internet you can find new clients for your business, so don’t wait and create a Fan Page on Facebook, a profile on Twitter, a blog, etc. and start growing your business. I recommend you read: Grow your business with the internet – Internet sales guide for SMEs

  1. Perseverance and patienc

Your strategy may fail the first time, but you must be persistent and try again and again.

Do not give up at the first obstacle and always remember: “If the road gets harder, it is because you are on the rise.”

  1. Beginner’s mindset

I want to end this article with a thought of Steve Jobs, he relates that at some point in his life he had to start from scratch, he had the possibility of being a beginner again. No matter where you are or how far you have advanced, maintain the same passion, dedication and energy as when you started.

That’s it, these keys mentioned here are not implemented from one day to the next, but in the business world there are no intermediate points, or your company grows or disappears … the decision is yours!

Growth with profitability: the great challenge for companies

Many times companies make the mistake of thinking that the growth of their sales and gross contribution will translate into greater profitability, however in practice this may be different, so it is important to support customers to grow in a sustainable way This was stated by Fernando Espinosa, Frank Maes and Thomas Shimada, partners of Sintec, a Mexican business consultancy with 28 years of experience in Latin America.

 

The three partners of the Mexico City office shared with Forbes Mexico that over more than two decades, the firm has worked on more than 300 projects with leading companies in 17 countries, which has positionedSintec as a leader in the region.

The Mexican firm has established itself in Monterrey, Mexico City, Bogotá and São Paulo, offering a value proposition based on the profitable growth of its clients’ companies, through the design of a specific strategy.

“We seek to help our clients grow profitably. In the past we have observed that very few companies manage to grow profitably, because their operation becomes much more complex and what we do is help them manage that complexity that occurs when they grow ”, says Fernando Espinosa, partner Sintec.

Among the tangible benefits that Sintec has achieved in these years, is the impact on sales growth of between 20 and 50%, an increase of between 5 and 15% in operating profit, the increase in asset utilization of between 10 and 15%, the reduction of working capital of between 15 and 25% and the improvement in the level of service of between 5 and 15%.

The partners explain that the model that has been successful, both for companies and for Sintec, has been to go from the design of a strategy to an implementation, that is, to indicate to customers what to do and accompany them during the process, ensuring that companies develop organizational capabilities.

“The most successful projects have been those in which there has been a diagnosis, a design and an implementation,” they detailed.

A highly competitive portfolio

Sintec’s model to boost the profitability of companies has helped the firm become a leader in the segments of commerce, consumption, industrial products, construction materials and telecommunications sector at the national and international level.

Among the consumer clients that stand out in its portfolio are multinationals such as Bimbo, Coca-Cola, Gamesa, Campbell’s, Herdez and Bachoco.

In the construction sector, Cemex, Grupo Lamosa, Interceramic and Vitromex stand out.

While in the telecommunications industry there are giants such as Telmex, Iusacell, Nextel, Alestra and various telephone companies in South America and the Caribbean. Other clients that Sintec has provided its services to are Chedraui and Farmacias del Ahorro.

For now, the partners anticipate that Sintec sees an important opportunity in the energy sector and financial services in Mexico, which will be triggered by the structural reforms promulgated by the Federal Executive.

The crucial moment in decision making

Currently, companies are exposed to large amounts of information, which makes it difficult to operate a business, therefore, it is vitally important to have tools that provide companies with specific information when making decisions.

Sintec has implemented the Business Analytics and Optimization tool (BAO), which specializes in the prediction of the different possible business scenarios and suggests courses of action.

In this regard, Thomas Shimada, Sintec partner explains: “Although today there are highly trained people in companies, the reality is that many decisions are still made by intuition. What we seek is that the decisions of our clients are made based on hard data and with BAO we use technology for that data exploration ”.

Likewise, the partners comment that another of the big mistakes that companies make when making a promotion is the lack of ignorance about whether the offers are profitable or not.

There are ways to understand through data if promotions will be attractive to the public, but the problem lies when businesses instead of making money give away money.

Creating success stories through Client Strategies

Once companies are positioned in the market, they face the challenge not only of growing profitably, but also of meeting the needs of their target market, however another mistake that entrepreneurs make is wanting to diversify their services and products to all the world.

It is important that companies specify who their audience will be, since by doing so, mechanisms can be established to increase sales and encourage customers to stay within the consumption strategy.

“One of the tools that Sintec offers to companies, so that they can get closer to their audience is the practice of customer strategy, which is focused on finding and optimizing the company’s resources to reach that market. We think about how companies can use their sales force and the marketing area to reach each segment of the market and continue creating success stories for our clients ”, explains Frank Maes, Sintec partner.

The partners warn that the first step for a successful sales strategy is to segment the market, that is, the company must define towards which segment of the population it wants to direct its products and be clear about its most profitable customers, in order to avoid unnecessary expenses, by trying to attract consumers who will not be interested in the brand.

Sintec becomes a business ally of companies by advising their executives, which allows them to create a personalized development plan focused on the areas of opportunity or skills required to more efficiently face the challenge of growing with cost effectiveness

4 keys to double growth in times of uncertainty

Before concluding that there is even a chance to double your business in this time of economic uncertainty, let me ask you a few questions:

  • Do you want more profits and do not know how to achieve it?
  • Do you need to generate more sales now?
  • Is the number of issues to attend to growing and also the pressure?
  • Do you work more, but earn less?
  • Are you worried that your competition is taking your customers?
  • Does your work team have more “how not” than “how yes”?
  • Do you spend more time worried and frustrated than celebrating your successes?
  • Would you like to dedicate yourself to strategy and forget about putting out fires?

If you answered more than five of these questions with a “Yes”, then the problem is not that you believe that it is impossible to grow in this 2020. There is a more serious problem and it is the survival of your business. Therefore, it is important that you become aware of what is happening to you.

Paralysis, that’s the word that reflects the stance of today’s business community. It is natural, who would not be paralyzed in the face of an uncertain economic outlook ? Especially when it comes to business owners – the weight of falling sales, accounts receivable and a payroll and fixed expenses payable is very large. And this paralysis brings me back to what I experienced more than 10 years ago, with the famous crisis of 2008 .

Some are very young, but there will be those who remember how the perception of risk soared and returns on investments fell. The consequences were swift and soon the business owners were faced with consumers without purchasing power and unattainable or impossible to pay credits.

And we return to paralysis. Most business owners decided to wait for the waters to calm down to make decisions; however, the price was high and many did not have time to survive. Many learned their lesson and it cost them their wealth.

Today we are faced with a similar environment and there is no conversation that does not bring up issues such as lower economic growth, the decrease in consumer demand, and the risk of investing.

However, within the universe of thousands of business owners who lost everything, there were those who “magically” had accelerated growth. And it’s not that they were special or very lucky or had more money to invest regardless of the results; rather it had to do with a change in its growth strategy.

The change that these business owners made was to align their growth strategy to a market in full uncertainty and took advantage of the paralysis and lack of strategy of their competitors. This gave them visibility in the market and separated them from those who were only waiting for a change in the conditions of the economy in order to grow.

Stephen Covey, author of the best-selling The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People , says that all success begins in one place: your mind. That is, to achieve everything you set out to do, you need to have a goal before starting. I call it mindset , which means having a clear vision of what you want before you start – just like in a race where you know where the goal is.

So when I listen to business owners who are in difficulty, I confirm that in nine out of 10 cases their problems are due to ignoring their role as entrepreneurs. Because it is a universal truth that business owners are very good at doing business operations; however, no one has taught them the strategic management to successfully grow a business.

Yes, these classic business owners are highly operational and get satisfaction from their sweat. The danger is that by not knowing about business management, they operate incorrectly as self-employed and not as entrepreneurs. Because avoiding the day to day does not imply success; Rather, it denotes a lack of knowledge about where they want to take their business. They do not use the mind and that will condemn them to repeat their mistakes every day.

Therefore, if the business environment changes, you cannot wait to see what happens – or worse yet, to see what your direct competition will do – to make business growth decisions. What you will surely need to do now is to assume that you are the owner of a business that needs strategic thinking to grow rapidly, even in times of uncertainty.

The good news is that the uncertainty does not come from outside, but from yourself. Imagine that you are at kilometer 18 of a 21-kilometer race and the runners lose the route or stop like that. Surely you wonder why they stop? Have they gotten tired? Will they know where the goal is? Who cares! As long as you know where to direct your steps, I assure you that a medal will wait for you. The same goes for business.

Now that you know that it is possible to double your business, even under the circumstances of this 2020, it was time to share the four keys to double growth in uncertain environments:

Make a strategic plan. If the certainties do not come to you, it is best to be clear about what you want, when you want it and how you want it.

Gain efficiency. Implement processes that lower the cost of your product or service while adding greater value to your market.

Make yourself visible. If consumers are not buying, with an intelligent and aggressive Marketing plan that generates great traffic of prospects, you will be their first option.

Be different. Stand out from your competitors as much as possible and design attractive strategies that generate profits quickly.

So if right now the uncertainty is stopping the growth of your business, it is time to assume your role as an entrepreneur and define your strategy to grow twice. And if in this “business career” you feel completely alone and do not know where to start to make that change of mindset that your company needs, then it will encourage you to know that there are specialists ready to accompany you and show you proven strategies to accelerate your business with predictable results.

Using a methodology with predictable results, it is possible to guarantee accelerated growth that translates into businesses capable of producing millions. Therefore, if you are willing to accept the challenge of growing twice, then I recommend that you seek the accompaniment of specialized coaches who guarantee results.