5 Ways to Leave Your Competition in the Dust

Competition is what business in a free market is all about. Wouldn’t it be great if we have a competitive advantage that our competition couldn’t duplicate? The question becomes what do you have that our competition does not? The culture of a company is a distinctive and unique advantage. Think of it like DNA or a fingerprint but for a company. You want to be sure that you foster the right culture that will give you an advantage; here are 5 ways to do that:

1) Empower Employees. One of the most underutilized resources we have is our people. The people who work any given process are usually the ones best for solving its problems.
2) Train, Train, Train! If you’ve empowered your workforce then you need to make sure they are resolving problems correctly and are staying sharp. Having a robust training program lets us make sure everyone is aligned on how we solve problems and it also keeps them knowledgeable about the latest and greatest techniques and information.
3) Policy Deployment. If you have everyone working on fixing problems you want to make sure they are all aligned.
4) Think Like a Profit Center and Not a Cost Center. Many times we make decisions based on the fact we are just running an operation. If we start thinking like we are a self contained business then are decisions become different. Instead of cutting cost we look at how we can generate revenue.
5) Learn from Others. It is helpful to benchmark your performance to others in the industry as well as look at operations in other industries. By benchmarking we get more ideas get another company’s perspective on an issue.

These tips are just a starting point but ultimately they will help us obtain a culture that no one else can duplicate, a culture that is always looking for more efficiency and revenue opportunity. The transition to this state is not easy but with support, determination, and discipline it can be achieved.