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marketing-road-successTHMB.jpeg Right time to take a turnaround: Marketing Road Map

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Ashwin Merchant | 15 Jul, 2010
Difficult time always brings new opportunities for forward looking marketers, businessmen and entrepreneurs to optimize their market share take over competitors’ customers and add more value to current customers. The time is to chalk out a detailed marketing plan for developing existing business with an eye to future. Make your business a winner and not just a survivor. Invest your time and talent now for future and stay ahead for a long time. You may require adopting a new marketing strategy or market planning to be more cost effective using lucrative marketing techniques and tools.

Business Definition for Turnaround Management states that the implementation of a set of actions required saving an organization from business failure and returning it to operational normality and financial solvency. Turnaround management usually requires an investigation of the root causes of failure and long-term programs to revitalize the organization.

For successful business operations finance and marketing plays very important role. Finance is generally obtained from personal, family and friends support but days have gone that business can only be done with one’s own fund and one can really start looking out for funding and financing from banks and FIs, private equity and at a future date SME IPO. So, finance if is hurdle, there are ways and means to supplement this area. Now, another major business function is marketing. Today, business is marketing. Ignorance of marketing is a great risk and many SME owners, technocrats and factory persons are paying a huge price for not paying attention to changing need of customers and market, that’s marketing. Basic aptitude of SME promoters, owners for not investing into intangibles and professional services has ruined the organization a great deal in long time, now looked upon as looser who can not cope with the change phenomenon. The other SMEs from the same cluster, area and category/size who took timely action for growth have prospered and are in majority of cases not suffered by world recession and slow down. In fact, due to ready to serve global market, these SMEs have been benefited in comparison with their counterparts in countries worldwide. Quality controls, ISO certifications, trade fair participations, delegate visits, branding locally and internationally as individual products and / or company on its own or as a factor of cluster which have been aggressively promoted by government in last several years. The price benefits due to Dollar/Rupee exchange as well as successful backend management helped select SMEs in last couple of years. Though, they are few in numbers but their success clearly is lesson to others that how orientation to business development and marketing supported with a business plan can take companies miles ahead and virtually out of local competition. The global exposure also help to improve quality, design, packaging, pricing and service factors, which help them in local market – so such SMEs are helped both ways.

How SMEs can work on mistakes in past and lead marketing today?

1. Identify the changing need of your customer – market dynamics

2. Target your competitors’ customers – do you know who and why they are?

3. Surprise with novel offers and terms – customer friendly business terms?

4. Make price a USP - if product not branded

5. Find new market nationally and internationally - understand and reach

6. No cost cutting but cost management – suffocating marketing, promotion

7. Make all efforts to understand the core competency of your product - audit

8. Be visible and be in the minds of your customers – marketing strategy

9 .Have vision, courage and guards to do something new – policy decision

10. If not new, do it differently – find alternate ways to remain in market

11. Do not make mistake to discount the quality – acceptance is key factor

12. Do not forget your customer – always be in touch, relationship marketing

13. Keep tab ongoing basis on 3Cs – customer, competition, change

We recommend SMEs to have a systematic ROAD MAP worked out for 1year to 3 years and develop a business plan to achieve goal and objectives. Some of the marketing strategy like niche marketing, database marketing, cluster specific marketing, guerilla marketing techniques, relationship marketing, integrated follow up marketing strategy are key for success and not costly. Also, SMEs must invest in technology in all fronts incl. shortage of skilled and semi skilled manpower, quick turnover of sales and marketing staff, over dependency on a person, and hiring professionals for undertaking tasks and functions which are not the competency of SME owners and promoters. Doing all things by oneself may save few costs, but growth is impossible and in days like in past when come again survival will be a challenge. SMEs must take all benefits of Government policies and schemes to grow internally and externally. Time is now to change and
re-define business objectives, short term and long term goals, purpose of doing business, re-think on running an enterprise with the same, traditional way or incorporating modern methods and systems of business development incl. marketing, sales promotion, advertising, brand building and a lot more, re-engineer front-end as well as back-end operations with ‘outside in’ approach to look at a business model and scrap the old ‘inside out’ model and of course, change of basic attitude towards role of marketing for customer development, retention and growth. Marketing is an investment and not an expense is what in fundamentally one should understand.

So, SMEs, Please “
Wake Up! – No more you can afford to ignore systematic marketing of your business, Get Up! – start planning and develop ROAD MAP for short term and long term objectives and get Check Up!, from professionals before you start applying”. As a professional we advise SME owners to “Look Out! For specialist who can help you with your goals and objectives, Watch Out! Competition from local, national and global market, Work Out! Smart strategies, innovative, practical and economical marketing and business development plan”. Innovation in products design, pricing strategy, new market understanding, value creation and brand development are key things to work out. Do not delay. As such it’s late, now just do it.

Why you need to turnaround?
Indian Economy
Global Scenario
Increasing competition – local, regional, zonal, national, international
Opportunity for SMEs – from Government and in overseas market
Inherent strength of owners, promoters to decide and implement quickly

Why many of your need to turnaround?
Outdated business model
issues of owners, promoters
Ignorance of marketing and business development strategy
Suffocating with finance and funding – awareness issue about Government policies and schemes and not taking benefits of same
Jack of All attitude, cost cutting, taking customers for granted

How to manage for turnaround?
Re-Think
Re-Define
Re-Engineer

    Key areas to focus for TURNAROUND
    1. Operations
    2. Finance
    3. Marketing

* This is a synopsis of talk given by Ashwin Merchant, Marketing Expert at CII, Nagpur, on turnaround time for MSMEs on July 14, 2010.
* The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his/ her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of SME Times.

 
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