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Today’s market is becoming increasingly competitive. Every ukbusinessupdates.com and company strives to be the market leader and develop the latest and greatest innovations to disrupt the market and position themselves in the best possible way. The road to success is often not easy and many companies fail to achieve the necessary goals. But why do some companies achieve great success and rapid growth while others do not?
Many of the world’s fastest growing companies share common traits that others can adopt to increase growth and differentiate themselves from the competition.
This is how they excel in the market:
1. Innovate new products and services with clear strategic intent
In a constantly changing environment, it is essential to understand and adapt to new consumer trends. The most successful companies understand the company’s strategic purpose and effectively develop an innovation agenda, often with strong new combinations of products and services. They go to market with the latest “must haves” for their customers, often giving them a competitive advantage.
Studies have shown the positive impact that product and service innovation can have on a company’s top and bottom-line trajectories. Hopper, a travel booking site, has focused on innovating and developing their app and cloud technologies. You can now book flights, hotels, rental cars and homes in one seamless transaction. Hopper complements their travel products with peace of mind services such as price reductions, freezes, cancellations and a premium VIP experience.
The company’s strategic intent is clear: to be the most seamless, convenient and price-competitive travel portal on the market, especially for new users. This dedicated effort has a $96 million investment from Capital One Travel “to accelerate the company’s growth on several fronts,” following $170 million in fundraising in 2021.
Related: Keep innovating your products or die a slow death
2. Carefully explore new business arenas beyond their core
Companies need to reinvent themselves and expand into new arenas to grow. Consumer needs are constantly changing, and fast-growing companies excel at identifying new markets to enter based on new consumer behaviors. However, new business arenas are inherently more risky and costly to explore due to their distance from their core. Hence the common question: how much attention should one pay to speculative areas while maintaining and improving core business? The answer is thoughtful exploration through sequential steps that build on each other and stack up to drive real transformation.
from Roku Inc business strategy illustrates this. Twenty years ago, Roku became an add-on to existing HDMI TV ports. In 2007, Netflix chose not to build its own hardware and instead invested in a partnership with Roku, starting the path of Roku. The company then launched a service that allowed advertisers to serve ads to Roku users, followed by the launch of the Roku channel, and in 2014 released their first Smart TV. This is a sequence of step-by-step, well-sequenced steps that take the company beyond its core while still laying the groundwork for true transformation.
3. Wholeheartedly invest in their people
Employees are the engine of any company. They often represent your brand to customers better than anyone else and critically express the corporate culture for attracting new talent. Leading companies provide opportunities for their employees to learn new skills and advance their professional development, foster an inclusive environment of respect and collaboration, and offer flexible work arrangements. This translates into high retention rates, increased productivity and a strong reputation for the company.
That’s why companies like ClickUp invest in their people. They prioritized new workplaces with employees first. New offices include open floor plans, standing desks, rooftop terraces and gyms. In the meantime, Airbnb has experienced over a million new prospects visiting their job portal since announcing their “continuous work from anywhere” policy. Additionally, LinkedIn provides a wellness benefit of $2,000/year for people to spend on activities related to physical or mental wellbeing.
Related: To Grow Your Business Start focusing on your employees
4. Carefully monitor and adapt to new technologies
Every business must have the ability to adapt to new technology or be left behind. In addition, companies can increase productivity and reduce costs by tailoring technology to their needs.
Campbell Soup, the iconic brand that has been bringing its soup products to American dinner tables for nearly three centuries, is using artificial intelligence (AI) to better inform its product development. According to Food Diveuses Campbell’s “Insights Engine” AI to scan billions of data points that their innovation team then uses to predict where a strong trend is emerging, whether it will last, and whether any of their brands are positioned to exploit it. informed about the launch of oat milk based soups and FlavorUp, a cooking concentrate that improves the taste of food, enabling new products to account for 2% of annual net sales with a sightline to reach 3.5% by 2025.
Related: How to Make Your Business Adapt to New Technologies
5. Focus on customer experience and really understand their customers
According to Forrester, companies that lead in customer experience outperform laggards by almost 84%! With the rise of digitization, the most innovative companies offer more customized support with 24/7 customer service. Both parties benefit by exceeding the expectations of potential or existing consumers: customers have a positive experience and businesses grow.
L’Oréal turned its attention to people with reduced mobility by launching its novel HAPTA make-up applicator at CES 2023. The applicator uses “built-in smart motion controls” and “adjustable attachments” to increase the user’s range of motion, allowing the customer to open product packaging and apply makeup with precision.
Companies that continue to innovate their products and services, explore new business arenas, invest in their people, adapt to new technologies and focus on the customer experience will set themselves up for success in 2023 and beyond.
