Thinking long term! Don’t get stuck in the day job! Geospatial Market.
I attended GeoBusiness in London last week and was pleasantly surprised. Focused marketing (from the show officials), well attended by the Geospatial community and a real buzz in the air. (“I think a must for next year!”)
My aim for the day was to mingle with fellow Geospatial companies, find out whats going on in the Geospatial market and talk to customers (new and old).
During the day, it dawned on me how many companies are stuck in the mud. And what I mean by this, is they are only focusing on the day job.
One conversation sparked an interest; “I don’t get Marketing Strategy Elaine. We are increasing sales, the company is good, its making money. What is this marketing strategy all about?.” My answer was; “this is great and don’t mess with something that is not broken, however what about the long term of the business. Is it sustainable? What about the market conditions?”
This was a good insight into why a company can fail. I see it all the time, especially since I set up EBTM last May. The day job overcrowds the future vision. Some companies will do well but it’s a bigger risk.
Think about this: ask yourself these questions:
1. If the market crashed, what would happen to us?
2. Are we diverse enough or do we have all our eggs in one basket?
3. If I had all the money in the world, what would I do with this business?
Going back to ‘what is Marketing Strategy?’
· Firstly, what is a vision? What does the company look like in 5 to 10 years time? Think about it!
· Working backwards, what key milestones (or things) do I need to put in place to get there? And when? Don’t over complicate it, just write it/ draw it out.
· Filling in the gaps, what do you need to do to get to these milestones? For example: look at a stronger management team who can lead, who are good at managing the day to day stuff, set up office in Brazil, and take on a specialist in Trimble Sketchup?
My advice, if you are in your comfort zone; get out of it! Don’t get complacent. Think about the future, scenario plan!