Link Management Group = Consultancy, Interim and Project Management

An article on one of these issues wil be published in this section every month.

1) Governance - Planning for Success For a business development activity to be successful, you must have clear objectives and a plan of how to achieve them. This needs to be a living document as the tactical decisions you make will need to respond to external influences.

2) Entering New Markets
Where are the growth opportunities? Are they in new vertical markets, geographic locations or whole new unexplored product or service offerings? How best should you go about discovering, quantifying, selecting and engaging with your new opportunities?

3) Deciding your Route to Market What is the most effective way of gaining and maintaining new customers? Direct sales mean that you maintain an intimate relationship with all your accounts, however an indirect route through distributors, resellers and other sales partners may enable you to reach further and faster. But trusting your products and reputation to third parties needs very careful management.

4) Strategic Partnerships Everyone needs friends, and we all know that we are often judged by the company we keep. This is as true for businesses as it is for individuals, but in business we expect more than just good conversation – we need “friendships” to be beneficial to our business. How should you go about making the right friends and then turning those relationships into something more substantial and profitable for both parties.

5) Priming the Pump Success breeds success, and everyone loves a winner. So how do you go about making your company visibly successful and build a reputation your customers will support and your competitors will envy?

6) Which Growth Strategy is Right for You? For some businesses organic growth is a preferred option, but if your strategy is to be a market leader, there are other options open to you – including mergers and acquisitions.

7) Building Your Brand We live in a world where the perceived value of a brand translates directly to the monetary value of a company. Do you know how to build your company brand so that it has a positive effect on market perception and shareholder value?

8) Is your IT up to the Job? IT systems play a vital part in both business success and growth. But the costs and benefits involved are often hard to measure. What are the requirements for an effective IT strategy? How do you maximise the advantages while minimizing the risks?

9) Developing your People
Organisations are only as effective as the people they employ. But the type of people your company needs will change as your company evolves. Do your development plans consider the development of your valuable human resources?

10) Finance – The Fuel to Growth. As a company grows it needs to review what changes are necessary to fund that growth. What funding options are open to you and how do you measure the effectiveness of your financial arrangements?

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