The Keys and Strategies to Sears Business Success
Coming from a little, one-man business to the multibillion dollars retail chain that Sears is today requires careful study by entrepreneurs and business managers who desire to have their businesses experience equal success.
Here are the key decisions, strategies, and actions that were instrumental to the company’s monumental success over the decades.
Preparing For Great Business Ideas And Opportunities
Nothing really happens by chance. You have to be prepared and ready to be able to perceive great business ideas and seize the opportunity. Most people miss out on golden opportunities to plant profitable businesses because they cannot see it that way, which is as a result of the fact that they are not prepared for it.
By using his spare time to trade on coal and lumber, Richard Sears was preparing his mind to perceive profitable business ideas and opportunities when they do come. And when the rejected watches came to his attention in 1886, he immediate saw a good business opportunity.
Looking For A Dire Need To Meet
Any business that seeks to continue to provide solution to a serious need of large number of people at a reasonable cost to them stand a great chance to continue to thrive. This is the foundation upon which successful companies are built.
Sears, Roebuck and Co prospered right from its beginning because they enabled rural duelers who were more in population than those in the cities buy items at far reduced prices than they were getting from the few rural retail stores available.
Knowing Your Customers Deeply
Your business will succeed if you know your customers (the people it is established to serve) very well. And there is no other way you can truly have this knowledge than to live, work, play, school, sleep, and eat with them for long. By this, you will have a true understanding of their feeling, expectations, and desires, then you will be able to serve them to their full satisfaction – and you will continue to get their patronage.
For the fact that Richard Sears knew the needs and desires of farmers (his customers) so well, he was able to write ad copy that strongly appealed to them to order from him.
Recognizing Your Limitations And Getting Better Hands
No one can be master of all things, and no one can run a business all by themselves. To have a business established you must recognize the functions of your business where you don’t have the skill or expertise to produce the best result, or don’t have the time, and get people who have the ability to give you the quality that you want.
This saves you lots of time and money, as well as from losing your customers. In all, it helps you build a solid business structure that can keep functioning without you physically present.
Sears realized he wasn’t that good at setting organizational structures, managing orders economically and efficiently, so he sold a part of his company to Rosenwald, an experienced manufacturer, in 1895.
Expanding Your Business Is Crucial
Successful companies always have plans to expand as quickly as possible. This brings in more revenue, and saves your business from totally depending on sales from just one market (the founding location of the business).
Sears expansionist program, which began in 1906 continued in the 1940s with the company spreading to foreign countries.
Recognizing The Changes Taking Place Around You
As the days and years roll by, people’s taste, behavior, and way of life will undergo changes. Societies don’t remain the same forever, changes will definitely take place, and it is therefore important that you observe how your business is being affected by the changes so as to make the necessary changes on it too; otherwise it could be made irrelevant with time.
Sears recognized how fast American societies were changing by 1925 with lots of people leaving for the cities. The company’s management realized the enormous negative impact it would have on its business and decided to also target city duelers instead of remaining as it was and be left with a tiny population of rural duelers to serve.
Working Towards Being More Efficient
Being more efficient in running your business will save you lots of time and money, and it will also rub on the satisfaction you give your customers. It is therefore important you continue to seek ways of improving on your business operation’s efficiency.
To increase its efficiency at running retail stores, Sears developed a comprehensive code of retail operating techniques for use by its staff.
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