If you do a quick google search "how small business can compete" you will find a load of articles from Forbes, Foundr, Entrepreneur and other similar websites.
These sites provide some great advice, but none of them hit the nail on the head...
Suggestions like "pick your niche", "focus on customer service" and "optimize marketing" are all pretty standard suggestions made across most articles.
I am not saying these are wrong...far from it! As a small business owner I too have picked my niche, focused on service delivery, and optimized my marketing amongst a number of other things.
Start with talent, and the rest will work out just fine.
I cannot stress this enough...Talent is your silver bullet!
Of course, I am a little bit biased running an executive search firm, however this doesn't detract from the accuracy of this statement.
Many successful CEOs like Bill Gates and the late Jack Welch prioritized, and consistently interviewed, potential employees because of the value that top talent has to offer.
McKinsey's global managing partner Dominic Barton has done a podcast on:
'Putting talent at the top of the CEO agenda'
The people you call your employees, colleagues, acquaintances, peers and friends are the most valuable assets in your business. Not only for surviving global pandemics and other unforeseen crises, but thriving in them - growing your business, taking on the giants of the world, and beating them.
Without Talent, the customers in your niche will leave your for your competitors who have a better reputation, smarter employees, and way more resources.
Without Talent your customer service will be subpar missing out on buy in signals, stumbling on red herrings, and not identifying opportunities that are presented on a silver platter but disguised as something completely different.
The list of where talent adds value to your business is a never ending list. Every inch of your company needs top talent.
Sports teams are great advocates of continuously sourcing top talent - businesses should be too!
The easiest example I can show you of this is Tom Brady.
Being English, I am not knowledgeable on the entire history of the NFL but I would guess that Tom Brady is the most talented Quarter Back to ever play the game.
Not only did he win the Superbowl 6 times with the Patriots, but he went on to win it with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now I am not saying it was all down to Brady, but it's kind of a coincidence...
The first season he joins they win the Superbowl? Not only that but this was the first season the Buccaneers qualified for the playoffs since 2007!
As this is my first article I am going to keep it quite brief and leave it at that. There are going to be more articles coming soon that will focus on the growing importance of talent in today's business world.I will also be writing about how companies can separate themselves from the competition by identifying, engaging with, hiring and retaining top talent consistently throughout their journey.
Whether you are new to talent acquisition, or have been in the game for many years, the articles posted will have useful content for everyone to enjoy and benefit from. I encourage constructive comments and discussions on each article and will be happy to field direct questions if you would like a more private conversation.
