Business networking

This involves Business idea + technical know how + Technical know who

Business  networking is the process of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with other business people and potential clients and or customers.

Business networking therefore embodies the relationships between different businesses and the utilisation of   relationships to create and support a competitive advantage in business 

A business network is not built with a single email exchange or by meeting someone at a convention. Its quality cannot be measured by the number of friends on Facebook or  connections on LinkedIn. It’s a more personal relationship, usually involving at  least one face-to-face meeting. 

Networks put a business in the position to gain access to larger global markets, to benefit from economies of scale and to compete with the best large businesses across the world

Business networking sounds like Machiavellian type of the business strategy; however,  it is a way that business people use every day since they had an idea to start up a business; it is a way to get business advice, to know someone who needs your products or a place they offer needed loan.  Furthermore, business networking is all about making real, meaningful connections with people, getting them like you and building up a set of professional contacts and trust.

Business networking is like a loop that operate according to the law of reciprocity; benefiting men who belong to old boy’s club. This implies that the members of the club always rally together. This means also that the club members pick up the mates who need help, as they know the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. 

         People who don’t have a network, don’t benefit from the ideas or connections of others,   but people who spend too much time on having a large network may have time to be creative, they are purposeful than the  people who works individually (Zhou et al, 2009).

Characteristics of growth companies

A study of “super growth companies”-those companies that grow up rapidly to a stock market quotation by Ray and Hutchinson(1983) underlies about some of the important differences between growth and ‘life style” or static business.

The super growth were more focused in their objectives, with a strong emphasis on forecasting financial data on regular and timely basis particularly each flow, but also profit and sales.

A 1989 report from London Business school identified six common factors associated with successful business growth:

1. An experienced owner manager with a good knowledge of the market and industry.
2. Close contact with costumers and a commitment to quality of a product and/or service. High profit margins were obtained or achieved through competing on service rather than on price also uniqueness of product.
3. Innovation and flexibility in marketing and technology, this gives them a differential advantage over their competitors.
4. A focus on profit rather than sales with good management systems controlling costs. There is the old adage that “Turnover is vanity and profit is sanity”. Accounts added cash flow is reality.
5. Attention to good employee relations, often backed by a bonus schemes.

Researches shows that the major weakness with British business is not lack of functional skills but basic man management and that the firms that grow are the ones that get this right.

6. Operating in a growing market, spotting opportunities is something that entrepreneurs are good at.

                            

What is Business Growth?

When an organization is growing, what does it mean?

As it relates to entrepreneurial ventures, Organization growth is any increase in the level, amount or type of the organization’s work and outputs. It involves expanding, enlarging, or extending what the venture does. Growth encompasses increases in size, or coverage. Another dimension to growth encompasses a spirit of vitality and energy.

An organization that is growing is vibrant, and flourishing. It is striving to be excellent.

There is a level of excitement about what is being accomplished in the organization and a strong desire on the part of organization members to be part of organizational growth. (Coulter 2005).

Business growth means the first significant increase in sales, revenue, and employees after the start up whereas Business expansion can be described as increase in market and size of the firm after the first growth.( Bridge Simon etal 2005)

How can one measure Business Growth?

Nieman and Bennett (2006) argued that Growth is, inter alia, measured in financial terms by factors such as:

• Turnover

•   Profit

• Total assets

• Net assets

• Net worth, and

• Increase in number of employees.

A growing business is likely to be differentiated from the one that is not growing.

There are some yardsticks that can be used to differentiate the growing business from the one that is not growing as follows:

Share value, Net worth, profit, number of employees, Turnover, return on investment, size of premises, standard of service, profile/image, number of customers, market share, export/import substitution, new product/service, innovation, and patents ( Simon 1998).

Coulter (2005:328) argued that there are number of variables which have been used to measure growth. The most common ones are financial-increase in sales or revenue, increase in venture capital, increase in profitability, or other financial measures.

Growth has also been by the number of customers, products, locations, employees, or any other characteristic that could be quantified.

As one can see it is easy to measure growth, if one can quantify the factor. It doesn’t matter what the factor is. In fact, it should be one that is important to a specific type of one’s entrepreneurial venture. So one has to look closely at his entrepreneurial venture and decide how he is going to measure whether the business is growing. Whether will it be number of clients served, number of outlets opened, type of products offered or what?

Also define what financial measures one will use to evaluate whether the growth strategies are working. Will it be sales (revenues), profit, or some combination or variation of these? It doesn’t matter which measures you use, but it does matter that you use some factors to measure growth that are appropriate your type of business.

It must also be kept in mind that growth cannot be adequately explained from a single perspective, but individual, organizational, and environment research domains predict venture growth better when the web of complex indirect relationship among them is included.(Baum, Locke & Smith 2001:301)

 

The first Impression of one's character

‘There is no greater index of character so sure as the voice’-Benjamin Disrael

Should we think beyond employment? Is employment the cure for every problem?

Entrepreneurship means different things to different people

Entrepreneurship is considered worldwide as important factor in the searching of development,competitiveness and sustainable development.

Many people and Researchers mean different things when it comes to entrepreneurship.These differences in what entrepreneurship means,has very important consequences.

There are many on going efforts or at least intentions among policy makers,communities,schools,colleges and universities to develop entrepreneurship.However what one promote on 'entrepreneurship' depends substantially on which definition one adopts.

Different definitions that are adopted to mean entrepreneurship are such as:

1) Starting and running informal or micro enterprises
2) Starting and running any business
3) Starting and running a business entrepreneurially (i.e innovatively,independently,commited,seeking growth,adopting strategic business practices)
4) Operating entrepreneurially  in an endeavor and in any context ( To create,enhance,realize or renew value through innovation, commitment,seeking growth and development,adopting strategic practices etc)

A PRODUCT

The economic meaning of product was first used by political economist Adam Smith. In economics and commerce, products belong to a broader category of goods

-an item that ideally satisfies a market's wanted or need

-a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution

PRODUCT' can be classified as tangible or intangible. A tangible product is a physical object that can be perceived by touch such as a house, automobile, computer, pencil.

An intangible product is a product that can only be perceived indirectly such as an insurance policy

                                                        Product Life Cycle Model

     Product Life Cycle Model

•       This is a hypothetical stage through which products or services pass in a given market.

•        A product is defined as "anything that is capable of satisfying customer needs.

•       This definition includes both physical products (e.g. cars, washing machines, DVD players) as well as services (e.g. insurance, banking, private health care).

•       Businesses should manage their products carefully over time to ensure that they deliver products that continue to meet customer wants 

Examples  on   Product Life cycle

INTRODUCTION           GROWTH                 MATURITY                           DECLINE

First Example

E-conferencing                           Email                         Faxes                             Handwritten letters

 

Second Example

 3^rd Generation

Mobile phones                P. DVD     Players               P Computers                      Typewriters

Third Example

Iris-based                           Smart cards                         Credit cards                 Cheque  books

Personal

 identity cards