Adapt or die – warnings of an online world

Today Graham pulls no punches as he outlines the need for businesses to have a proper strategy for utilising new technology fully or face the plight of those that didn’t adapt quickly enough, such as Kodak or Polaroid.

Most businesses could collapse in the next decade

Let’s face facts: the digital world is fundamental to all businesses. Even if you sell offline or operate mainly in the “real world”, the digital world has an impact on your business. Whether it is for communications, such as email, or as a starting point for buyers researching your business, the Internet is central to customers.

The problem is that most businesses themselves use the Internet as a “nice-to-have” and not as central to their business. When I speak to Chief Executives and point out this difference they nod their heads in agreement. But then they say it is “impossible” to change their business to focus on the Internet because it would involve too much change.

Now, though, they are in for a shock. The highly respected consultancy firm Forrester has said that unless businesses make this change they will “face an extinction event” within the next decade.

They are saying this because their latest research shows that only 21% of companies have a clear vision for the future use of digital within their business. That’s in spite of 90% of firms agreeing that digital will revolutionise their sector within the next 12 months….! And they are not the only consultants sounding the warning bell – just three months ago Capgemini published their own research suggesting that businesses simply have to make the Internet central to their company, regardless of their sector or industry.

According to Forrester, businesses are now just “bolting on” the Internet to their existing business structures. But what is required, they say, is a complete “re-set” – a fundamental shift in the way businesses are structured and run. Business leaders I meet are totally unprepared to do this because of the seismic shift required. Yet the warning from Forrester is stark: do it or die.

When you look at successful businesses online they are mostly businesses which focus their firm on the Internet – Google, Facebook, Amazon for instance. But it is not just technology-based companies like these online startups which have embraced digital as central to their business. Back in 2012 Starbucks transformed itself into a digital centric company.

Business leaders, used to a non-digital world, find it hard to make the transformation necessary. So, what is the solution? The first step must surely be to conduct an immediate review of the kinds of people setting strategy and plans for your company. The data from Forrester and Capgemini both point to the need to use the services of those “digital natives” in central roles in your company. The future of your business could well depend upon giving the strategic reins to your grandchildren.

Graham Jones

Adapt or die – warnings of an online worldDominic2023-12-01T12:39:06+00:00

Business owners heed lessons from online retail

Graham Jones is a man that knows a thing or two about the web and our relationship with it. He is an internet psychologist with a lot of useful insights, in particular for those that own or run a business in the UK. Here is his latest piece to get business owners thinking – which includes me. So let me know how I can help you too.

Business owners heed lessons from online retail

Where do you go to buy things these days? The chances are you use a variety of sources – local shops, out-of-town retail parks, town-based shopping centres and, of course, the Internet. However, increasing amounts of evidence show that the starting point for our purchases is the web, with Google being our “number one” place to go to start our shopping journey.

The latest piece of research comes from the incentives company, Parago. They found that the majority of shoppers begin their decisions about what to buy on the web. It means that if you are not using your website as central to selling, you are missing out – big time. Only for groceries, building supplies and pet supplies do people choose a retail store as the first port of call – though second on the list is either Google or Amazon for those shoppers.

But look deeper into the figures. They show that your products and services need to be found on Google – but that you also need to be on Amazon and have your own retail website too, if you are to pick up the most shoppers. Indeed, even for subscription services, people prefer to look for you on Amazon than in social media.

The study also found that the time taken to buy something is now down to 2.25 days. That suggests that if you don’t follow-up website visitors immediately, then you are losing out on sales because the decision to buy will have already been made if you wait more than a day or two to contact people.

In other words, to sell these days you have to be fast and you must have the web as central to your sales process.

Graham Jones

Business owners heed lessons from online retailDominic2023-12-01T12:39:04+00:00

Small Business Marketing

Small Business Marketing – A New Look Website

Small business marketing simply doesn’t have the budget to compete with hours of focus group research, constant test-piloting of messages and so on. However, what we do possess is hundreds of hours each year meeting real people that actually use our services. Social media also provides a network of helpers that can provide helpful insight and ideas about what it is that we stand for. Marketing as far as I’m concerned is about attracting the right clients (not simply attracting everyone). It also acts as a way of reminding our existing clients about our main messages. So we now have a new website which is a based upon what we have done, where we are going and input from our existing clients and those with an interest in the firm.

Your Feedback

We will be updating the new site, but if you have any thoughts I would like to hear them. The blog will now be found properly within the website and should be easier to find. The original blog has reached nearly 38,000 views and I am keen to build upon this, but ensure that the content is relevant to our clients. From this point forward I intend to locate all my new blog posts here.

Independent In Name?

Those that are in the know, will recognise that I am a great advocate of independent financial advice and to my mind clients want impartial advice, which I would argue can only be provided if the adviser has access to all products without any bias between them and paid the same whatever product (if any) is arranged. This in mind, we have the task of selecting the best name to use for our website. The choice is between solomonsifa.co.uk or solomonsfinancialplanning.co.uk I wonder if you would care to comment.

Small Business MarketingDominic2023-12-01T12:22:57+00:00

How to use LinkedIn

2001: The Business of Strangers – Stettner

As a holistic financial planner my main role is to help my clients. Normally that means creating a workable financial plan, getting investments right and making sure that clients achieve their goals. However there are other aspects too – such as putting clients in touch with others that can also help them through my own network of connections – such as Accountants, Solicitors, Marketing Specialists and Business Consultants to name a few.

Yesterday I invested time in gaining better knowledge about social media as the more I read about the way people connect now and in the future, it seems that this is something that a forward-thinking successful business, organisation or service will need to master. So I spent a highly valuable day with social media expert Phil Calvert who specialises in helping IFAs around the world with this topic. He provided really helpful insight into a variety of social media applications such as LinkedIn and has given me much to think about and put into action. He demonstrated how whilst originally considered to be little more than a business job site, LinkedIn is an invaluable business tool to enable networking, sharing, understanding, communicating and a great search engine. In essence it helps to communicate who you are and business wisdom is that “people buy people”. So whilst networking and LinkedIn can appear to be a collection of business strangers, it can, when used correctly (suggests Phil) be everything that Facebook is not and rather more.

I shall be taking his challenge seriously and will be improving my use of LinkedIn and many other aspects of communicating with clients and contacts, so do keep an eye on my LinkedIn profile and link to me. If you have a LinkedIn account, I now have some tips to share on how to make this a better business tool.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

How to use LinkedInDominic2023-12-01T12:48:05+00:00

11-11-11- eleven, eleven, eleven…lucky number eleven?

Solomons-financial-advisor-wimbledon-blogger

11-11-11- eleven, eleven, eleven… lucky number eleven?

Here’s a chart, it could be the current volatility of the world markets. It isn’t. If you’d like to hazard a guess about what this chart is and are the first to do so correctly, as it’s my birthday I will send you a celebratory prize.

Send me an email to enter your answer.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

11-11-11- eleven, eleven, eleven…lucky number eleven?Dominic2023-12-01T12:48:46+00:00

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