Business Vitality

1. Business Vitality Preventing adversities before they occur By James D. Roumeliotis

2. “Panic” and “chaos” are not what one should undergo in business. • Working ‘on’ the business rather than ‘in’ the business • Start on the right track • Be proactive vs. reactive JD Roumeliotis

3. Launching and avoiding pitfalls along the way Savvy business people – whether new or seasoned entrepreneurs or CEOs of large corporations possess: • Insight and foresight; • Strategies and execution competence; • Alternative planswith an exit strategy in case situations turn awry; • The perception to take “calculated” risks rather than dive into the abyss; • Openness to third party advice; • Focus and consistency to achieve their goals and objectives; • The ability to see opportunity before their competition does and act upon it in a timely manner. JD Roumeliotis

4. Negligence with current enterprises • Poor customer service – slow or no customer inquiry replies – abysmal handling of sales and service complaints. Service is portrayed as a reward, not a right or benefit. • No Unique Selling/Value Proposition. Companies need to define and articulate their unique value proposition and deliver on it consistently. Create the platform for sustainable and competitive advantage. • Operational deficiencies – various ailments and no structure • Absence of or very little communication amongst staff and management. Divisions aren’t well-coordinated and do not function as a team. • No transparency. There is hardly any openness from management. • Unethical practices – short-term selfish objectives in search of market share. Top executives should promote social norms and principles as moral agents. • Lack of proper execution of decisions and with new products/services. • Creativity is practically non-existent. An absence of innovation and employee empowerment will hurt progress and stifle new ideas. • No clear vision/strategy JD Roumeliotis

5. Continued... • A weak sales force along with an unattractive compensation plan. • Favoring nepotism and bias – promoting family members over other qualified employees often leads to resentment or, worse, prompts valuable non-family employees to leave the company. • Poor hiring practices – should hire for attitude and train for skills. • Slow/delayed decision-making process – too many layers – overwhelming bureaucratic structure. • High turnover, which leads to poor employee morale, reduced intellectual capital, lower service levels, higher operational costs and decreased productivity. • Management in a state of denial about their organization’s shortcomings • No channel strategy. Some companies focus on building a product, but don’t think through how to get it into the hands of customers. Even if your product is great, unless you can sell directly, you may be dead in the water without strong channel partners. • Corporate politics – power plays by a handful of individuals for their own benefit to the detriment of their colleagues and the company. • Misrepresentation of brand(s) – too much hype – empty promises – not delivering on expectations – leads to dissatisfied clients who will alienate the brand. • Weak financial controls – cash flow dilemmas – over leveraged/undercapitalized (high debt-to-capital ratio) – not reinvesting a certain percentage of profits for future growth. JD Roumeliotis

6. Continued... • Absence of sound marketing program(s) and/or brand strategy. A brand is defined by how it behaves, from the products it builds to how it treats its customers, to the suppliers with whom it works. • Growing too fast and not staying on course as the company grows. • Lack or very little employee training & development. • Deficient in control systems – reactive rather than pro-active. • Lack of continuous improvements or complacent. JD Roumeliotis

7. Operational intelligence – risk management Risk management is comprised of: • Identifying, outlining and analyzing potential risks; • A course of action in handling the identified risks, as well as the implementation of risk control/elimination plans when/where necessary. • Allowing constant flexibility to adjust strategy when necessary. • There should be continuous checks and balances – especially with regards to internal financial controls. JD Roumeliotis

8. James D. Roumeliotis author, lecturer, speaker & entrepreneurial practitioner/adviser I very much enjoyed creating this to share with you my strong beliefs via my personal lens view. For my profile/background, kindly visit: http://about.me/jdroumeliotis My blog: jdrazure.wordpress.com Book:www.entrepreneurialessentials.com Twitter: @jdroumeliotis I encourage you to send me your questions and thoughts at: jdrazure@gmail.com