| Strength in
Numbers Craig A. Steffen
“Two are better than one for they have a good return for their
labor.” When Solomon originally penned
those words, it is likely that he was not specifically thinking about leadership in
business. However, these words of wisdom do
constitute a formula for success for companies in this new millennium.
Up until a few decades ago, virtually every company began business
with the belief that they must do everything on their own.
To be successful, the business must master all disciplines from R&D to
Accounting, from Operations to Customer Service and everything in between.
Creating and sustaining a successful business has gotten a great deal
more complex in this age of technology and rapid change.
Staying ahead of your competition is hard enough, but now we all have to pay
attention to the advance of technology as well. One
new advancement in technology has the potential to make your business obsolete almost
overnight.
In order to keep your business profitable for today and viable for
tomorrow, consider giving up on doing everything yourself.
To shift to a new paradigm it is necessary to determine the things that your
company can do better than anyone else. To do
this, ask yourself three questions:
1. What
specific things do we do that our customers value the most?
2. What
technology, process, skill, or talent do we control that is the most difficult for our
competitors to duplicate?
3. What
aspects of our company truly craft our corporate identity?
Once you go through the difficult process to get honest answers to
those questions, you’re in a position to make a paradigm shift. Hard as it may be to believe, there are other
companies out there who love to do the tasks you hate.
There are other companies who are better at the non-value-added aspects of
your business than you will ever be.
Developing strategic relationships with other companies that provide
complementary functions to your own is a key to your future success. You may be great at product development, but
struggle with manufacturing. There is a
company out there who has a high-quality, low-cost manufacturing operation but hasn’t
had an innovation in years. You need each
other. There is a complimentary partner out
there, regardless of your company’s particular strength or weakness.
In
this New Year and within a challenging global economy, it is time to be solution oriented. Break the old paradigm you’ve been struggling
with and follow Solomon’s wisdom by developing a strategic relationship with one or
two complimentary companies. Because
“Two [companies] are better than one … and a threefold cord is not easily
broken.”
Paraclete
Consulting specializes in helping companies find the right relationship partners.
Hit "Contact Us" to get a FREE consultation. |
