April | 2015 | Teik Oh

Four Steps to make a Merger Work

Apr 27 2015

One of the most difficult operational issues is the merger of two corporate cultures.

If you are running a micro-business or even a small business at the smaller end of SME’s, you might think this does not apply to you. I disagree.

From time to time small businesses will “merge” with another culture. You may buy a business that is already operational and with staff who have been there for some time. In this case you will need to “merge” your personal business culture with that of the business you just bought. If indeed you already run a business, you might buy a smaller one – that’s a merger of two cultures. Perhaps you are in a situation where one of your competitors or colleagues suggest you “get together” – that’s an obvious merger.

Whatever the situation, if you are faced with having to put together two people or two groups of people, it is not a simple equation of 1+1=2. Different organisations have different values, different processes, and different ways of doing things that are justifiable to each. The key is to get together and start working efficiently as soon as possible.

Mergers can be successfully managed if you understand some key success factors and there is actually a “formula” that you can apply.

The key success factors of a merger are:-

Effective planning and execution
An overall and well communicated vision of why this is taking place
Effective and quick alignment and integration
Fast and focused transition.

I summarise the implementation of these key success factors as “Plan well, Fit Quick, Work Quick, and Grow Quick”.

Comment 13

Do you live up to your “Brand”?

Apr 24 2015

What is your “Brand”? Do you live up to it?

Branding is not about your logo, or corporate colours, it is about the way your team behaves in front of customers and other stakeholders. Your brand emanates from your Vision. Your Vision should provide a clear and distinctive picture about what you aspire to be, and it should have inherent in it the types of values you uphold – this is what we do, this is how we do it, this is who we are.

Instilling your brand culture into your people is as much about leadership as it is about marketing. If your people believe in the vision, and behave in a way as if they are already there, then they will display to the inside and outside world what kind of business you are. If you talk about the “quality” of your business but your people can’t deal with customers in a quality way, you are being hypocritical about your brand. If you talk about “customer service” but your people don’t return phone calls, who will believe what you say?

I was facilitating a planning session for a Not-For-Profit recently when it struck me how similar “branding” is with For-Profit companies. Are you doing what you do best? Do you do it as if you were living your Vision?

As usual, the best comes after the viewing – come to the website https://teikoh.com and tell me what your brand is. Tell me how you live it (or not!).

While you’re there, sign up with your name and email address and I’ll make sure that these tips on growing your business get sent to you. Oh and don’t worry, we value our subscribers and we will never provide your information to any spammy people!

Comment 13

Are you ready for anything?

Apr 20 2015

If you have been running a business from before the GFC, you have hopefully recovered over the last couple of years as the global economy, while still cautious, has been picking up. For many, times are starting to look difficult again as the possibility of a double-dip looms.

The difficulty in this scenario is that like many others, you had probably implemented many disciplines at the GFC downturn which stood you in good stead, but since, have allowed some of these disciplines to slacken as business became easier in the last few years.

Once the pressure is off, it is easy to slip back into the old ways and gradually allow costs to rise once again. Making disciplines implemented during a difficult period into institutionalised procedures is not as easy as it seems when day to day survival is not such a big worry.

When the economy is good and sales are growing, it is easy to allow discretionary spending into initiatives like “change management”, but when the mood is in withdrawal, you instigate disciplines quickly. Without the proper processes of change management, some of these changes just don’t “stick” and as soon as the belt is loosened, old habits come back.

It is in this atmosphere that the business owner or leaders need to lead by example. People have to be shown what is the right thing to do, and why, and leaders need to make sure that their behaviour is sending the right message to their teams. Read More

Comment 13

The New Way of Working

Apr 17 2015

Once upon a time (I’m a Baby-Boomer) when my boss said jump I asked “how high”. This just isn’t true anymore. With Gen X and Gen Y you need to really engage your workforce – and if you do, you will reap the effective and optimal performance that comes from an engaged and motivated workforce.

So what is “engagement”? It’s not just about liking where you work, it’s about being invested in the time you spend there, believing so much in the value of what you do that you provide discretionary effort – in other words, you jump before you are asked because you see that it is needed. Engagement is about making people believe that the business’ success helps them, helps others, and is worthwhile, and that its success is their success.

This week’s video lays out this “new” way of working.

So how do you engage people? Read More

Comment 13

4 Myths why I can’t start a business

Apr 13 2015

Starting a business is not easy, nor is it something that should be taken lightly.

You do need to do your homework; you do need to research the industry, especially if it is not one you have previous experience in; you do need to do your strategic and business planning; and you certainly do need to look at your personal characteristics and beliefs to see if you and your family really want to make the commitment.

However I have spoken to many people who seem to me to have a viable idea for a business, but are put off starting their own business even before they delve further into its feasibility. Their objections are not about being under-prepared; their objections are often based on things that are simply untrue.

I call these the four most common myths that stop people starting their own business.

Myth 1: I’m not smart enough to have my own business:

Perhaps you’re not, but I find that doubtful. Starting and running a business is not for everyone, but I rarely find the reason as being lack of intelligence. Some people are better employees than business owners due to the way they react to the different type of responsibility, but if the question is do you have the smarts to run a business, it is more than probable that you do and you can learn the skills along the way. Read More

Comment 13

Increase your sales through a highly focused marketing plan!

SMART Marketing: In this book, the owners of a small business are led through the SMART Marketing 7 Step Process to produce a marketing plan targeted at their most desirable customers. Any business can use these principles and in 4 to 6 weeks implement a plan to get them through the door! Find out how...

The SMART Marketing Workbook: Companion to “SMART Marketing”, this workbook sets out the SMART Marketing process in 7 workshops for you and your staff to complete questionnaires and templates that at the end, form the marketing plan you need to sell your REAL product to your REAL customer! View now...

Archive - April 2015

Get FREE weekly ideas to grow your business

Four Steps to make a Merger Work

Do you live up to your “Brand”?

Are you ready for anything?

The New Way of Working

4 Myths why I can’t start a business