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Ameen Ahsan

Why You Should Do An Industry Research

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Why Industry Research Matters?

Many times, promoters of new ventures ignore the trends that are happening in the industry on a global and national scale. They fall so much in love with their business idea, that they get short-sighted and see only the opportunity at hand. This can lead to very sad consequences. Imagine spending millions on a venture that gets disrupted by new technology or a shift in customer preference, and the venture goes out of business. If only the promoter had the common sense, to look up to the industry and see a Tsunami coming, he could have spent that millions of investment, his time, and effort on something that had a better prospect. 

This is applicable to those managing businesses at the moment. Before embarking on major re-investments or expansions, you need to study the future of your industry. If it has disruptions coming up, better shift that investment and effort, to something that has better prospects.

Doing research on your industry is not all about preventing a disaster from happening. It can also be a good means to identify new opportunities.

5 Reasons Why You Should Do An Industry Research

Industry research helps in changing ahead of your competitors.

It is common sense that you need to do things your competitors are not doing to stay ahead of them. Sometimes, these new measures or initiatives may not be things that can be done the next day. Especially if it involves substantial investment into say production, infrastructure or new training and grooming of staff etc.
So if your business is able to find a new disruption on the horizon, and you take the time in advance to invest and be prepared for it. Then when it happens, your business will be ready for it, while your competitors will need months to be in your position. By this time, you can capture their market share.
When consulting new ventures, we at AASC, ensure we do Industry trend studies in our Market Feasibility Studies, to ensure that such opportunities are not missed. Also when providing management consulting services to existing businesses, we do a process called Market Audit, where apart from studying the market, competitors and the customers of the client, we also study the developments in the industry to provide apt advice for the present and future.

Industry research helps in becoming a market leader

To know where the market leads and by acting on the clue, means naturally becoming the pioneer and the market leader. 

Industry research helps in better branding

Becoming a market leader, a pioneer or a thought leader creates a strong brand image among the target customer segments. It also makes the competitors identify your business as an industry leader.

Industry research helps in better understanding customers

Industry trends are usually triggered by customer changes or technological changes. Or industry changes triggered by customer preference changes, triggered by technological changes. Understanding these changes in customer segments or preference, helps in better communication, promotion, advertising, implementing internal changes and host of other important preparations. 

AASC assists businesses in these changes by studying these trends, and analysing its impact on the business and making strategic and tactical recommendations. And assisting your business to implement and manage the implementation of the recommendations.

Industry research helps in the diversification 

Industry research reveals the possible changes that can result from factors affecting the industry from technology, politics, climate, laws and customer preference changes. Every change is an opportunity. It’s about a river changing its course, not drying up. So knowing the industry trends means identifying new opportunities and diversifying into those areas. In certain cases, such opportunities can be beyond the capacity of your business (technological, knowhow, resource or capital constraints). In such cases, the diversification can be to a totally different industry. 

AASC is a Business Strategy & Management Consulting firm that serves Promoters to study, plan and set up new ventures, and Entrepreneurs to manage or grow their business, in a professional manner. 

To know more about AASC services for new ventures, please visit https://aascglobal.com/consulting-for-new-ventures-and-startups/

To know more about AASC services for businesses, please visit https://aascglobal.com/consulting-for-business-growth-and-expansion/

Call: +91-7558-900-800 or email info@aascglobal.com

Who Should Be In Your Board of Directors?

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There is a general tendency among entrepreneurs to include those who invest ‘the most’ as directors. While this might look logical, it has many dangers for both the business and the shareholder himself. 

It has been found that, becoming the Director of a business, is seen as a special attraction to most investors. In fact, it is so popular that entrepreneurs promote it during their capital raising campaigns. But this is not a good method for businesses that have long-term plans and vision.

So what are the reasons why it’s a bad idea to have Directors who are there by virtue of the amount they invested?

  1. Directors are the people to lead the business to achieve its goals and vision. This requires good leadership skills, exposure, and vision. These qualities may not necessarily exist in the person who invests the highest. So having him on the board is not going to help. Instead, there are chances of his interference negatively affecting the business
  2. Directors are the people who should guide the business during bad times. They should have the maturity and capacity to guide the company’s top and middle management, to come out of the storm. On the other hand, a shareholder may not  necessarily possess these skills and knowledge and may not be able to contribute, or his contribution can have a negative impact
  3. Directors are part of the vision. And visions demand focusing on not just profitability or Return on Investment. It might involve investing in long-term assets, or low-income investments, or diversion of company profits to new expansions, or a substantial investment into branding, etc. But an investor need not always share that kind of vision. They are mostly in, to get a good return now, or a faster ROI. Hence, if they are on the board, they won’t be supporting such moves, hindering the progress of the company towards its goals
  4. Inability to take tactical or strategic decisions. As the saying goes, “Empty Kettle Rattles More”, investors who are on the board, whose only qualification is the investment they made, can make brainstorming a major headache as they come with suggestions and objections that are not qualified
  5. Some companies make the mistake of making every single investor a Director. Thereby having a ‘huge’ Director Board.  Most often these board members are not active. What is the use of having such a big board? It’s quite childish and should be avoided
  6. Some companies have NRI investors as Board members. Unless the investor has significant value to add it’s better to avoid such placements. As at times, when all directors have to sign certain legal compliance documents, it becomes a pain

It’s not just for the company, even investors should be careful before becoming a director. 

  1. “Sleeping Directors” or directors who are not really active in the company, and are just Directors for the “prestige” matter, should be careful. If the company does anything illegal, they can also get into trouble
  2. If the company has many directors, most of whom are outside the country, know that the company can have issues in smooth operations. Would an investor want to be in a company that will be having such issues?
  3. A company with several unqualified directors means that the company is not professional, does not have a vision, and is not going to last long or win big. A celebrity director does not qualify as a capable director. 

So ideally, when businesses are looking forward to new investments, they should not offer Directorship as an offer to investors. Instead, Directors should be handpicked from among the shareholders, who can really add value in the Board Meetings. Such capable people can be invited to be shareholders of the company. In fact, it always helps, if such people are made shareholders and directors first so that using their profile they can canvas the rest of the shareholders. 

Investors should opt to become a director, only if they feel safe and that they can offer real value in terms of ideas, management, and leadership to the company. Else it’s better to be safe as a shareholder. 

Investors can also form investment companies, and these investment companies can invest in other companies. In such situations, the Investment company’s representatives (who should be qualified) can also be board members of the companies in which they invest.

Action

So is your company having a strong Board? If not, it’s time to repair it. Because the first cause of business not growing can be a weak Board. “Repairing” the Board will involve reshuffling the Board, drafting new agreements and Corporate Governance, etc. 

It can be a sensitive matter. And has to be handled with care. It is a good idea to engage professional Management Consultants, to ensure no ego issues develop between Directors. And that the new change is in the right direction. At AASC we provide this service. 

If you have any points, experiences to add, or if you don’t agree to the post, please comment below. 

AASC is a Business Strategy & Management Consulting (aascglobal.com) firm that serves Promoters to study, plan and set up new ventures, and Entrepreneurs to manage and grow their business, in a professional manner. 

To know more about AASC services for new ventures, please visit https://aascglobal.com/consulting-for-new-ventures-and-startups/

To know more about AASC services for businesses, please visit https://aascglobal.com/consulting-for-business-growth-and-expansion/

Is Management Consulting really worth it? Does engaging Management Consultants really help improve a business?

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Let me explain with an example, with an Apple.

Suppose I ask a group of people to draw a beautiful apple. And I place an apple before them.


Will the drawing of each person be the same?
Will it all look exactly like the real apple?

No, is the answer. Even if the apple is perfectly beautiful, the drawing capacity of the people makes it beautiful or ugly on their canvas.

Similarly, when appointed by a business to provide consulting, management consultants study the business and show the perfect method the business should follow (the apple), but it is the leadership (or drawing skills) of the Entreprenuer that determines what percentage of desired outcome is accomplished.

So is that the only role that consultant plays. No, depending on the capacity of the consultant they can more helpful.

To begin with, in real world the entrepreneur might not know what he really wants. There is so much noise by information that clarity of thought is normally lost. So as per our example, when the entrepreneur really needs an apple, he is looking at an orange or a watermelon. It’s the role of consultant to show him and make him focus on the apple.

Secondly, not all consultants are capable and perfect, like with any profession. So the quality of their advice depends on their capability. As per our example, it’s the difference between a consultant showing a fresh beautiful apple or a rotten apple. Both are apples, but one is relevant and the other is not.

Third, the right consultant is a guide, who will not only show you the right apple to draw but also helps you learn how to draw. The faster you learn to draw, the better, your drawing would be. In business it means, not just showing you what you should be doing, but also evaluating your performance and teaching you what you should do and when.

So for 100% result in transforming businesses, a good capable consultant and a good fast learning entrepreneur is essential.

That 100% will come down, depending on lowering the quality of the entrepreneur and the quality of the consultant.

Hope it was simple.

Do you agree or not? Share your thought.

To know more about how AASC can help you improve your business or prepare a feasibility study & strategy plan for your new ventures, please visit aascglobal.com

Know your customers

The Different Generations in Market & Why They Buy

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It is a wrong strategy to sell everything to everybody. Our products and services have to be customized to the needs of specific customer segments. Each customer segment has different needs, different pains, different jobs that need to be done, and different aspirations.

They are NOT SAME, hence what they need is NOT SAME.

So what happens when you sell the same to all customer segments? They will buy from you as long as they don’t have an option. And switch to a competitor the moment the competitor arrives with customized service or products. That’s the story of “successful” businesses having sudden death.

A study by McKinsey found some interesting insights about what drives consumption among each generation. And it’s worth knowing.

Consumption is viewed differently by each generation. For example, Generation Baby Boomers (born between 1940-59, those aged now at 60 to 79) viewed consumption as an expression of ideology (influenced by the global political turmoil of those times).

Generation X (born between 1960-79, aged now between 40 to 59), views consumption as a symbol of status.

While Generation Y or more popularly known as Millennials (born between 1980-94, now aged between 25 to 39), views consumption as an experience.

The youngest generation, Gen Z (born after 1995, that is aged below 25), views consumption as a search for truth. Their search for authenticity generates greater freedom of expression and greater openness to understanding different kinds of people and views.

So What Does It Mean To Your Business?

As an entrepreneur, you need to know who your customer should be. Which generation they belong to. And what prompts them to like your business and why they will buy from you.

Avoid targeting everybody. It doesn’t work long-term.

Now you know why they buy. Customize your business accordingly. The drive ahead is profitable but never easy.

Transforming Outdated Schools

Transforming Outdated Schools

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“We Have To Teach Our Kids Something Unique…” Jack Ma, Former Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group

This quote is the trigger for today’s post.

As the world progresses by leaps into work getting done more cheaper, faster, and efficient- human jobs are at stake. It’s a reality. It’s time for humans, societies, cultures, and organizations to evolve to survive.

It begins with what we teach our kids. Our schooling system is so outdated, one wonders who prepares its syllabuses.

School management and parents have to move from the comfort zone of standardized learning to the new age of individualized learning.

So how do we teach our kids, what machines can’t do? We teach them to be “more human”. But what does that mean?

We teach them values, so that they never create or use machines, Ai and robotics to destroy peace, instead use them to create a sustainable peaceful world.

We teach them independent thinking so that they become creative in innovations, discoveries and become masters of the very technology that can otherwise be used to enslave them. Present schooling does not promote independent thinking- it’s only what’s in the textbooks.

We teach them cooperation and teamwork so that they love and believe in each other. Help and support each other. Remove the present mark-based mindset, where one has to beat down the other to get to the next level or is measured in comparison to others. Where a lion is compared to a dolphin, while their skills are different.

We teach them leadership and the ability to take responsibility. Characters that are fast disappearing in the pleasure-seeking, me-me, materialistic generation. Students should be not just taught but trained, to take up responsibility, be accountable, be able to motivate others, take the lead, walk the talk. Be men and women of their words.

We teach them to care for others. That care is what is going to help the world and inhabitants, be at peace with each other.

We teach them the knowledge that is needed for life rather than in-depth science, physics, maths, and geography that is not needed for the vast majority who might not seek those streams. Instead, teach them young, topics such as basic finance & investment management(everyone needs it in life to manage personal finances, personal investments), economics (everyone needs to know how the economy functions), basic law (everybody is bound by it), political science (that’s what governs them). These are more important topics as they affect everyone. Only those seeking careers in biology, physics, mathematics, geography, and other conventional topics need to go in-depth to them. For these special clubs in schools can be formed. So interested students can go much deeper than their peers, based on their capacity. For the rest who are not seeking such careers, they don’t need to be tortured to study them.

We teach them how to be healthy and avoid lifestyle diseases. It is funny that we don’t teach our kids what to eat and what not to. It shortens their life. That’s not in the syllabus. We should have in curriculum topics such as food habits, what to eat and what not to, sleeping habits, exercising, natural herbs, organic home farming, natural therapies, first aid procedures. This not only makes them capable of making and eating right, doing right exercises, curing themselves with natural herbs (avoiding side effect medication), and being capable of rescuing life’s in danger; but also have a profound effect on the businesses around them. Junk foods providers will disappear, harmful nightlife businesses will disappear, the illegal drugs/ prostitution industry will disappear, the healthcare industry will be more ethical and responsible. These changes will not be driven not by law, but by enlightened people.

We teach them the value of family and relationships. It’s a topic that should not get restricted to a chapter. It should be a subject that will be studied from kindergarten to post-graduation. Because relationships are the foundation of human civilization. We should teach kids how to understand their parents, grandparents, siblings, relatives, and neighbors & how to behave with them in various situations. Kids today, do not really know it. We should teach how husband and wife should understand each other and behave with each other (it’s not something that can be achieved with a few hours of pre-marriage counseling). This reduces divorces, broken homes, domestic violence, wrong relationships, etc.

We should teach how parents understand and behave with their children. This opens up strong bonding. This prevents kids from drugs, depressions, suicidal tendencies. All these need to be learned when they are in their schools and colleges.

We should teach them about all religions in-depth. This helps understand every religion better and have a deep-rooted understanding that ultimately all religions are about peaceful co-existence and it’s evil people who divide people on religions.

We should teach them empathy and sympathy. It goes a long way.

Visualize a world where this is what people learn and do. Feel the peace and happiness. This is what we need to teach. The present syllabus has failed to create a good world. We witnessed all the world wars, civil wars, unethical corporations, corruption, exploitation- all by people who spend most of their childhood learning stuff that never was useful in their real life and decisions they took.

In these schools, it will be less of books and theory. More of exploration, activity, and doing. And the traditional marking and grading system? It will be in the dustbin- where it rightly belongs.

This should be the vision and strategy for schools, educational institutions, education boards/organizations, and education ministries.