Today we answered your question:
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How do you understand the business or business opportunities that can be generated from the surrounding environment?”

Intimately knowing the individual business and the environment within which it operates, both globally and locally, combined are essential to identifying ‘good fit’ opportunities that will strengthen and drive the business forward.

The surrounding environment comprises of PESTLE or STEEPLE, that is the politics, economy, social, technologies, legislation, environment, ethics. Researching this environment regularly highlights potential business opportunities.
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Knowing the specific business comes from having clearly defined business capabilities as strengths and weaknesses, which highlight which opportunities would strengthen the business and overcome weaknesses.

Today I answered your question “Where can I ask people to rate my brand/domain name?”
 
Today, most businesses conduct continuous surveys to stay in touch with clients changing needs. I would recommend you do the same.

A survey can be one simple, targeted question for respondents to fill in rather than many, irrelevant questions. Keep it short and easy for people to complete and tell them why you are asking the question(s).
If you are looking for feedback on your brand from any source and you don’t know anyone, try joining business groups, for example, those on Facebook and ask the group members for their opinion. Remember it is just an opinion.

If you are looking for feedback from existing and potential clients, try compiling a simple survey for them to complete.

The survey should have a specific objective. For example, rather than saying ‘rate my brand/domain name’, your survey should ask questions that provide an answer to whether your brand is clear, or strong for the sector. Be specific about what you are trying to find out. By doing so it will guide you to ask the right questions. For example, ask whether the colours or name are offensive.

Use a combination of positive and negative questions for balance. Ask for additional comments too. Try asking closed questions requiring a yes, no, answers and make sure your questions are not worded in a leading way that forces the participant to give you the answer you want to hear.

You could, for example, ask respondents to rate the effectiveness of the brand on a scale of 1 to 5 or rate the impact of the brand from a negative impact at -5 to a powerful positive impact at +5. Do not ask the respondent for personal details as you don’t need them to determine your brand rating.

I use SurveyMonkey because it forces you to keep to a few questions keeping things relevant, and it collates the responses for you in graphic form making it easier for you to see the results which inform your decisions going forward.
 
#toodglobal #smarterbusiness #competitiveadvantage #CTO #surveys #feedback

The following is from a contemporary technology and business innovation/change management perspective.

Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM says, "You've got to keep reinventing. You'll have new competitors. You'll have new customers all around you."

Ginni’s comment says it all. To stay in business and to remain profitable businesses change and adapt constantly. Some changes are visible, such as Amazon Books expanding to include Cloud Services. Some changes are invisible yet equally as powerful. For example, P & G changed their R&D business model from researching and developing their own products in-house to engaging in open innovation with strategic partners.

Had these companies stayed as they were focused on existing clients without looking for new opportunities, customer segments, and new ways to remain competitive, they would not be the powerhouses they are today because their early business model would not be relevant today. A popular example of this phenomena is Kodak who went from supplying 90% of USA film industry to nearly no business at all.
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So, to answer the question in general terms, companies need to focus on existing and new customers. Look after today’s customers in a way that outshines your competitors to feed your business today so that you can “keep reinventing” (Ginni Rometty) to open new customer segments to secure your business tomorrow.

The economist Schumpeter (1939) identified a close relationship between technology developments and business cycles. Throughout history technology revolutions have occurred in tandem with business cycles or waves. In simple terms a new wave begins with each new technology bringing a surge of new products, services, skill developments, and devices over a period followed by a period of decline. Schumpeter shows the first wave starting in 1785 with the introduction of water power, textiles, and iron.  Throughout the upward surge of the wave companies identify new opportunities and pivot to create new products/services/process or find new ways to do old things for greater revenue and competitive advantage.
Currently we appear to be experiencing the slowing down/decline of the 5th wave of digital networks, software, media, which started around 1990. Digital technologies removed geographical borders so anyone anywhere can conduct business/shop/interact at any time. Consumers have more choice. Also, the explosion of digital access to knowledge has created a far more informed consumer. The overall effect is the consumer no longer has to accept an unpleasant supplier experience because there are so many other suppliers to choose from and other more pleasant options available.
So the best way companies have pivoted to meet consumer demands over the past 30 years is to strive to provide good quality customer-centric all round experiences rather than expecting the customer to adapt to their way of doing business. In other words, its all about the customer.
The customer experience starts from the start of the customer journey whether it be buying in to the explicit company culture, mission, vision, to quality, affordability, availability, convenience, interaction and engagement, satisfaction, to name a few. Hence the explosion for the past few years of surveys, reviews and questionnaires. The data from these sources is collated and skillfully applied to pivot the company to meet their customer demands ahead of competition. As Jack Welch, retired CEO of General Electric said, “ An organisations ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.”
The ability to dynamically pivot business models, service delivery, products, customer experience, using technologies as the business context changes is key to company survival and competitive advantage. 

Published:
LinkedIn
Quora

A strong, precise business model(s) can be a powerful tool especially during COVID and beyond.

Business models (BM) can either be explicit, written/drawn out, or implicit, unspoken/ undocumented, yet no less powerful.

Often businesses have more than one business model (BM). For example, a business may have a BM for innovation, change, technologies, building and developing strategic partnerships, acquisitions that focus on buying up established competitors with key skills/products/services that complement the business.

There are also over 50 types of BM’s that most businesses fall into (Gassmann et al, 2014). For example, freemium, subscription, flat rate, e-commerce, retainer.

Business model(s) (BM) are powerful tools to any size contemporary business if applied skillfully. Here are a few examples:

• BM’s can be used as a powerful graphic that represents the core of the business (often expressed in a business plan).
  
• Graphic representation of a BM is easy to communicate and easier for others to understand
• The more precise the BM, the more effectively the business can be managed
• A BM can be powerful for informing and driving all business decisions
• BM’s is powerful for supporting consistent decision-making in the business.
• A BM can be powerful for keeping staff, management, investors (stakeholders) focused on the core,    high priority elements of the business
• BM’s is a powerful tool for facilitating staff and management in working together as a unit towards a    common goal.
• When innovation/change is required in the business, like those experienced since COVID, BM’s are        powerful tools for easily identifying which aspects of the BM can be adapted to current business         environment without losing the solid core of the business or disrupting day to day activities.
• BM are powerful for driving the formulation and actions of a good, strong strategy.
• BM are powerful for reveal the competitive advantage of the business. Competitive advantage is changeable as the present becomes history. Knowing what can be adapted to retain or create further competitive advantage is the crux of a business succeeding.

So, a business model is a vital, powerful tool at any time for any size business at any stage of development. During COVID especially because a business needs to know what decisions can be made, within which boundaries, while retaining its core and lead over competitors so that they business continues to succeed during and beyond COVID.

Published on Quora.

The short answer is that until the start of widespread technology adoption around 2008, small businesses had the upper hand in many ways. Examples are:

• Decisions could be made instantly
• They were in touch with their customers’ needs and understood their expectations
• They offered a personal service
• Their business was far more transparent than larger companies
• Staff felt their contribution was making a difference.
• Integrate new technologies quickly.

Since then big companies have been forced to consider these aspects of business management largely as a result of technological advancements. The advancements have removed geographical boundaries so there are far more competitors than previously. And, as technology changes every 18 months (Moore’s Law) new types of competition spring up every 18 months so competitors are unknown. At the same time, consumers are far wiser shoppers, their shopping habits have changed because of technologies, therefore their expectations are different. A familiar example, technology allows consumers to have something instantly by touching a button.
To survive businesses have employed skilled CTO’s over 10 years to adapt their business. Here are a few:

• Large head offices are being replaced by smaller, distributed offices that are managed entrepreneurially. That is, an office that can make fast decisions, are more in touch with customers on a local level.
• Large businesses are developing cultures of transparency and customer-centric value hence the explosion of surveys and feedback forms that keeps the company in touch with every customer, so personalise the service for each customer. It is this culture that staff buy into now, so feel their work makes a difference.

So, for the moment, what small businesses have is the ability to integrate new technologies quickly. Unfortunately, many small businesses, from the sole trader upwards, do not know how to use technologies in this way, or that it is a key advantage for them at the moment. In other words, small business could have the potential to offer all of the above faster than major corporations.

The question implies you are a business owner trying to adapt your business to Google Sites.

Try approaching this question the other way around.

In other words, start by working out the optimum workflow and processes from your customers perspective. Then adapt Google sites (or any other software) to your business. If Google sites can’t be adapted, choose another app that can.

Doing it this way around provides all the answers you need.