Disorganization impacts all businesses regardless of size; however, SMEs feel it the most. In a recent survey of SMEs, 23 percent rated their businesses as disorganized, 1 in 3 accepted that disorganization lessens productivity and 75% of owners of struggling businesses believed that disorganization had a negative influence on their results.

Culture in terms of a business is defined as the ideas, customs, and behavior of an organization. A company’s culture directly affects its reputation, valuation and hence profitability. In an era where social media reigns supreme and reputations can be made and destroyed by the careless release of ‘news’, special attention should be given to how a business is portrayed, seen by the public and what the effects are on financial results and profitability. A company can re-invent itself and thrive on change.

Change is hard. We all know that. Changing a company is even harder. It is akin to steering a fully laden tanker on a totally different course while avoiding storms. But as hard as it is to make changes, the hardest decision of all is to acknowledge that change is needed and to start the journey. Once the decision is made and the journey starts, there are certain guidelines which can be applied:

There is an old saying that states ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’. Corporate behavior changes as a business grows but companies tend to follow the same general pattern. Let’s not be deceived by the shooting stars of the technology world. Media focuses on the spectacular success of a few but ignore the struggles of most businesses around the world. To build a successful business and survive, the business owner must remember that cash flow is king. Small business owners don’t work eight hours a day, they don’t pay themselves overtime, they don’t take holidays.

The SME market is undeniably experiencing exponential growth across the USA, the United Kingdom and Australia, resulting in hefty competition and countless challenges. While the gaps and opportunities for success and longevity are existent, the question SME’s are asking is how they can become more competitive and more innovative? What is an SME? Although there are different interpretations of what an SME is. it is important to first define the classification of ‘small’ and ‘medium’ as they vary between countries and the domestic economy of those countries.

The customer is always right. This slogan (which was originally attributed to Harry Gordon Selfridge, who established Selfridges Department Store in London in 1908) was coined to encourage staff to provide better service to customers. Over the years, different versions have evolved. The French quote: ‘le client n’a jamais tort’ (the client is never wrong). Germans say ‘der Kunde ist König’ (the customer is king) and in Japan, the motto is ’okyakusama wa kamisama desu’ (the customer is a God).

The performance of any organization, department or project is often symptomatic of the performance of the teams that support them. A great team results in a great outcome and vice-versa. This article covers four critical topics that can make or break a project team. A high-performing team requires strong leadership and support from Senior Management across the company. A study conducted by the University of Ottawa found that 33% of projects fail simply due to a lack of involvement from Senior Management

When embarking on a new project, people or teams aren’t able to look into or predict the future and, hence, must be willing to accept the likelihood of unplanned events occurring. An acceptance of the things that cannot be controlled is a necessary first step for project managers in order to maintain their sanity. However, being able to ensure that any project is a success, regardless of unanticipated and uncontrollable hiccups or roadblocks, defines a great project manager (PM). This article covers three areas which project managers must master in order to be effective managers at the very least and great managers at best.

Claiming that the marketing landscape has changed is not a revelation. And assuming that, for most businesses, marketing is critical to success is a safe bet. Contrary to some beliefs, not everyone is a born marketer; however, many people can be marketers, even without a lot of previous experience. Controversially, the best type of marketer is not the person with the longest work history. Instead, it’s someone who is aware of their knowledge gaps and actively seeks to fill these shortcomings by continuously improving and through having an open mind.

Every professional has worked or still works, with suppliers who consistently underwhelm in terms of the service they provide. Given that most businesses strive to improve their profitability and productivity levels, it would appear to be a strange contradiction that any professional would tolerate mediocrity. And yet the phrase ‘better the devil you know’ is frequently referred to by even comparably successful business people. This article addresses one of the most common oxymorons that has plagued businesses for far too long.

Standalone software can cause business processes to be complicated, often resulting in duplication, deterioration of services, and impaired profitability. As a business grows, its systems become more complex as it recruits more people to service more customers and, often, offers more diverse products. Over time, standalone software systems which have been deployed to make business processes more efficient begin to undermine the productivity of the organization. Leaders need to recognize the complexities created by separate or poorly integrated software systems and identify ways of simplifying these issues.

In an age of disruption, the great challenge for a business is to reinvent itself while maintaining strong momentum. Companies that sit on the laurels of past successes risk losing everything. Bold leaders recognize that a company must focus on improving performance as well as profits if it wants to maintain its competitive edge. The Simplicity Cycle – As a business grows, it becomes increasingly complicated with more customers, more employees, and more systems.