Gaining a standard is one of those things many of us want to but do not believe we have the resources (both time and money) to get. Let’s look at what kind of areas of business can be affected by standards. There’s quality management, environmental management, information security, risk management (and there’s a whole can of worms here), or data protection. How you approach one, or all, of these topics and can it significantly differentiate a business from its competitors.
This approach helps you to, primarily, structure yourself to meet the needs of your clients and how you are going to work with your suppliers so that you can get them to match your needs and goals, especially environmental ones.
This will also help you focus on what you can do immediately to move towards your goals without too much stress on any of your stakeholders. Bringing them with you on your journey with the minimum of fuss can be extremely beneficial.
Look at the list of items above, quality, environment, information security, risk and data. That’s a reasonable list, but it is not extensive, and providing a commitment to managing all these items within your business is going to require a significant effort.
What it tells your clients is that you have a commitment to protecting them from things that could otherwise spoil their experience of dealing with you, or indeed the quality of the products you produce.
It also tells them that you are self-critical. Not destructively, but realistically. Providing that message through appropriately worded marketing will provide evidence of how constructive these efforts are being within your business.
Many standards have evidence at the core of their recognition processes. Be that how your suppliers satisfy your requirements, or how you satisfy the requirements of your customers. If you can’t source the quality of materials you want from the type of suppliers you have, providing great products is going to be an extra challenge you could well do without.
If you have heard of the saying “you can’t make a silk purse out of a pigs ear” then you should easily be able to see where I am coming from. Checking the quality of what comes in and goes out is then one thing that helps build reliance on your products.
Reliance, on you, your company and your products, is where everyone wants to be. Gaining appropriate standards, or qualifications, or certifications, helps to show your desire to be better than those around you.
If you can show that the way in which you do things meets industry, or other recognised benchmarks then you are already proving that you may be more reliable than you were before – and than those around you.
By standing out as being committed to external standards you are setting a scene that others may not want to follow as they are happy to settle for the status quo, or the minimum expectations for your sector/industry.
Who will people trust more? Those who meet minimum expectations, or those who push themselves to gain external verification that they operate at a standard to allow meeting the requirements of these enhanced standards?
Being willing to be scrutinised by people you don’t know, and who are from outside your organisation, shows that you are different. It means you are willing to meet the enhanced requirement of the standard, or subject, being applied for.
The expected benefits of this action are to be seen to be different, focussed on those around them rather than just inward facing. Find system that are more effective, perform more efficiently and provide exemplary service.
Being effective can result in lowering costs in the long term. Being efficient can aid staff relationships (and they are a major stakeholder that many ignore), let alone reducing financial burden through better use of utilities (electricity, gas, water, etc.) and recycling waste products (some of which may have a value of their own).
Another benefit to be able to boast about is preparedness for the unexpected and known, like legal requirements. As we enter this next period of time, this new Parliament will see many changes which will need to be considered as additional responsibilities as business owners and managers.
All of these are worthy of reminding your customers and suppliers about as expectations of your longevity, as a business are improved due to obtaining appropriate standards.
What does this work get you? To put it bluntly – the opportunity to be seen differently. But you have to believe that too. You have to believe that your business can be different to move on to other, maybe bigger and better, things.
Being able to see a progression in a business, however small, should be celebrated. Sharing that celebration can get you noticed on its own. We all have our own view on what success is for our business – but remember this; Rome wasn’t built in a day (and you can thank the French for that quote) and that goes all the way back to the Middle Ages.
Your ultimate goal might be to become a tier 1 provider to a local authority, but where will you get your first retained contract? How will you build to having retained business of £10,000 a month (or £10 million for that matter). It all starts somewhere and builds, over time, to something you will believe is worthwhile.
In short, the opportunities you are after are out there. You have to find a way to find them, as they seldom come and find you. You have to look at risk, legal matters, how you operate, who you seek as clients, how you gather information for tenders and what evidence you have to back up all you say you can do.
Your biggest opportunity is to prove you can “walk the walk” and not just “talk the talk”.
Please look through the other blogs here Blog – Eye Bray Limited. Any additional information you want may well have been provided already. Some of what I provide is very detailed.
We would be pleased to answer your enquiry through enquiries@eyebray.com, by calling 0743211611, or 020 3026 5600.
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