The Isle of Portland has, no doubt just like everywhere else, been hit by the weak economy, sadly the open signs are getting fewer in the shops and businesses.It's a shame for any shop, business, trader to have to close down and probably more so when it's the fault of others (banks in this case) that start the ball rolling (selling houses to people with no money?!) leading to eventual closure.
Not to mention the knock on effect to the wider community any time it happens and the fragile confidence of the other traders, businesses, from Vicky square right out to Portland bill.
Time heals, it will improve.
Yes, you could say that, after all times change, markets change, consumerism changes, nothing is evergreen as everything is almost unpredictable in business, but things are changing in new ways.
Some aspects could be "seen to be coming" like the decline of small specialist shops, due to the rise of supermarkets, even the cycle of economic recession
itself is in some way, a-known-but-taken-for-granted thing.Still, it sucks when it happens.
Yet, there seems to be something I have noticed with alot of businesses locally, maybe it's just me with my observations, mixed with my own experience and ideas, to me it though, it seemed to be glaring...
That is, some are not changing and adapting to the times quick enough, a time when nearly all businesses are on a threshold of some serious change, even if they have yet to realise it, that's not just the due to the recession either, though that obviously has some role, as it's a cycle, it will happen again someday, just as it did in the 30's, but this time...the cycle is likely to be something very different to any cycle previously.
Some Portland businesses, I think, need to adapt.
It is never going to be the same again, things are really going to change and it will grow at a rate unseen before, so this is the time to be capitalising on the opportunities available now, but it's only if you can see them.
If you have ever read (a business owner has borrowed my copy) "Who moved my cheese" By Dr Spencer Johnson, you will know change happens and when it does, it's adapt or perish.
It's never easy running a small business at any time but these changing times will be a big influence I think on most businesses, because in most businesses what the customers say about you matters and gets shared.
It's not all businesses, not all traders, of course it depends on the business, that also influences to what level change happens but on the whole it effects all, business is business!
There has been a power shift... to the customer.
The power shift matters, a great deal because now is the time to understand it, adapt and with that, hopefully grow.
Now the power is out of the businesses hands...into the customers hands, (really)... but it doesn't mean that the power is always to be controlled by the customer, just that businesses need to divert customers attention in other ways while making use of the customer power for the business benefit ...
... Without the customer knowing so, allowing them to "retain" their power, that's helping to also improve the customers power, and the "cycle" continues, all the while the control should be from the business, customers should just think they control it.
Make sense? Sounds alarming or? I can see it may look like it needs reading twice!
Simply, customers have the power, yet they don't use it for the benefit of any business, only for themselves, consciencley, so for any business to have any influence over that, they need to tap into the customers self feeding part of the equation, that is, how can your business empower the customer in the right way, so it ultimately benefits your business in some measurable way, as well as the further empowering the customer?
Why does it even matter?
Your customers are everything!
So, what really matters is to make your customers matter.
The world is changing and business is no different, yet so many businesses won't maximise what potential benefit the change will or may bring, many will try, and many could have the reverse effect by trying and getting it wrong.
Remember if the power is in the customers hand, with that potential to influence
growth, they also have the same power and influence to ruin a business, some are likely starting to realise it too.As with anything, there are always a positive and a negative.
Which is why it's so important to get right, and be consistent with the actions that produce the positive.
It's just knowing where and how, why and when, and then doing.
The best thing, it takes little to get started the right way and not long to start seeing benefits, even the misses will help overall, but the winners will be worth it.
I'd like to see Portland businesses improve and adapt to benefit from the changes, before those in Weymouth do for sure. (well, I am a Portlander!)
There is so much potential already untapped and still yet lots more to be created, to ignore it would be crazy.
Portland is not so special that it's businesses can ignore it, although because of Portland's word of mouth power it is likely to have a bigger impact here, so Portland's businesses need to be more aware of it.
Portland is a good microscopism of society.
It's all down to one thing for me... gadgets!
Or more accurately, how customers use those gadgets, in this day and age everyone is far more connected than ever, the speed at which good and bad experiences can spread is shocking and powerful
This really is the age of viral voice, will the voice be good or bad, when they talk about your business?
For an example, it's not so far fetched to imagine customers in a shop, restaurant, seeing what they get (meal, say) and feeling a little let down, grab their smart phone, take a pic, shoot it up to their blog, pic album, whatever and share their thoughts with the world...all that so easily done before the waiter reaches the kitchen again after serving you.
In fact, people could, and likely do this now, it's doable, on the other hand, what if they praise it, and do the same thing, share with the world?
Customers entering a shop and using their phones to scan bar-codes on products, compare the prices with the shops around you, to get the best deal.
You tell me...is that serious power in the customers hand?
Is it what any business would like to have some influence over, when it comes to their customers?
We on Portland already know the power of WOM (word of mouth) and the speed it can spread, while reaching almost everyone on the Island, only the sea stopping it!
Now it just got a whole lot faster, and a whole lot easier!
What can you do about it if you are a business owner, trader?
Adapt and implement the small changes that will make a difference, and it needn't cost the earth when you consider the viralness of WOM, not to mention the sheer cost that most businesses throw into advertising, so much of it unmeasurable, I see the same ads in different papers, and then again the the yellow pages etc... yellow pages and half a newspaper ads and such I know cost a few bob.
If it's not measurable it's a waste.
It's not about spending more on advertising or even cutting back on advertising, it's about diverting the cost of the losers and using it better, to create more winners, clearly what already works obviously works well enough to pay for itself and should be done.
Change and measure where the cost go, stop the losers and use that saved funds to implement some new ways of doing things, moving with the changes that are happening anyway.
That is, you should start empowering you customers to help you grow, this is how the biggest companies online you know about grew, their customers accelerated that growth and all because the companies empowered them to do so.
Maybe your local business can't be compared to those big ones, for one, these are web based unlike the local shops, businesses... but your business can implement lessons from these big companies that would suit your business, of which I think are many, granted some businesses wouldn't benefit much, some would benefit hugely.
And I am not talking about just having a website for your business, far from it, I am talking about leverage, leverage of the capabilities with the internet and gadgets, and using them to empower your customers to help your business grow, although having a website for your business is a good start, that leads to another issue to consider.
Our Portland business has a website, or, we don't need one.
Some business don't need one and that much is true and in those rare cases it's likely neither do your competitors, but the website itself is not everything, and there is nearly always some aspect of the Internet that could help your business grow, after all it's likely your customers do use the internet!
Even if your business has one, having just the website sitting there is not enough, it should be growing your business and therein lies a problem which is a catch 22.
Most businesses do not run their website "in house" and it's almost never run by the business owner which is mainly because the owner is to busy running the business, that much makes sense.
If you do run your website "in house" you are in a better position to adapt and grow with the changes, this is because you can look behind the scenes of the website, IE, statistics, conversion of any visitors, what works, and what doesn't, being in the position to make those changes, in order to change.
If it's outsourced it's likely outsourced to a "website building" company, nothing wrong with that except, they are not marketers in any sense it will help your business... they just create what their customer (business owner) ask for.
They do a good job of that but it is not in their interest whether what you asked for works at growing your business, they are growing their own, and because they created the website you asked for, they are also likely to know from the way its created, that businesses they create websites for will do almost nothing with them...
Because as we know, most business owners are very busy running their business, from this it's fair to consider they are less likely to know what is the best solution for them and the business online, what the website should be like and what it will do for their business, how they will use it, are they even looking at it?
If it's all outsourced it's unlikely the business owners will never even know what works and not, what to change, what not, no-one is watching it, that's crazy when you consider it's 100% measurable, therefore 100% influence-able.
It's simply not enough to outsource the website and be done with it, leaving it like some static billboard online that no-one sees, for it to be worth having and justify it's place it should be building your business in some form or shape, you can only do that by making changes, changing the way your business uses the website, changing the way your website works for your business.
It doesn't mean all business should drop the people who created their website, after all they are a business and we don't want to more of them go under, it means you should know what your business wants, needs better and that should be what your website builder creates for you.
Done right, small changes equal big effects.
That is the real beauty of utilising the internet to help your business and empower your customers, one small thing can have a big effect, a result... to any business that includes the bottom line of income, profits.
No-one knows your business like you do, therefore no-one is better placed to know what your business needs in order to grow, all you need is the right pointers to see what changes to make, where these changes will work, what you need to implement in order to take advantage of the changes and allow your customers to be empowered, and help your business grow.
I know from my own experience online that most businesses here on Portland are missing out on alot of potential and they are unaware of it, or even the thought of the "internet" means they don't think about it, it's almost dismissed as something they having time for being busy running the business.
The missing ingredient in this for most businesses is simply internet marketing, marketing your business online the right way, to get results, results that you can build on and grow your business.
Marketing is a part of every business, internet marketing should now be a big part of that.
It is so measurable, therefore testable, it lends itself to growth and with that, benefits to the business and it cost less than most think to implement changes, yet it is also a very large diverse area, so many different aspects to internet marketing it's easy to "get lost" within it and end up doing the wrong things at the wrong times which get you nowhere.
.
Get it right and it will self feed, that is, what works will keep on growing and what you do to empower your customers will keep empowering them, thus spreading that empowerment too.
It's time to take advantage of the internet in some form to grow your business if possible, change is happening and businesses are part of that.
One important thing is time, time on the internet is like dog years, really... things change so fast and things out-date fast, keeping up with it all or at least trying to, would be a bad move, just implementing what matters and at the time it matters, the way it matters is the better way to do it, then measuring it.
Test and track, change, grow. You see results of changes quickly with the "internet time" as it is... it means small changes, big effects.
How can I help you and your business, if at all possible?
This site you are reading is likely getting more visits daily than most businesses on Portland who have one, and small changes over the last few months have doubled the visits here too, again... small changes, big effects.
As just one site of many I have, it means I have tried and tested alot of different aspects and learned from the data going back 6, 7 years, I feel I should put that to use with local businesses that would benefit, and having looked at many of the local businesses websites (if they had one) I can already see changes that would suit them.
Some businesses very surprisingly didn't have any online presence. If you know of a business owner who could benefit, please share this post with them.
If you think this post is just useful, please share it.
If you feel I could help you with your business, please feel free to email me and include the business website if you have one, if not, the business name is fine. email : deafdad+pbill@ gmail.com (take the gap out after@)
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