{"id":4423,"date":"2013-02-17T23:09:49","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T06:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/?p=4423"},"modified":"2013-06-14T15:45:58","modified_gmt":"2013-06-14T21:45:58","slug":"natural-selection-evolution-is-essential-to-business-survival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/articles\/general-business-advice\/natural-selection-evolution-is-essential-to-business-survival\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural Selection: Evolution is Essential to Business Survival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Renata<\/a>

Renata Golden, CEO, Golden Ink, Inc.<\/p><\/div>\n

Businesses, like people, need to grow to stay relevant \u2014 even if the owner wonders where she\u2019ll find the hours to devote to something that already consumes every hour she\u2019s not sleeping.<\/p>\n

Golden Ink reached that pivotal moment in 2012, when I had to decide whether to build it or to prune and risk killing it.\u00a0 The 100-hour workweeks had become unsustainable, but I was loath to stifle the natural expansion of a business I\u2019d worked so hard to build and hoped one day to sell.<\/p>\n

Business associates who had successfully positioned their companies for corporate acquisitions advised me that a growing company is more attractive to a buyer than a company that has reached a plateau\u00a0 \u2014 no matter how successful it is by the owner\u2019s standards. They assured me that expansion could actually make the business easier to manage because it would force me \u2014 as it forces the owners of other businesses in this enviable position \u2014 to find creative solutions to finite resources such as my own time and energy. Even if a business doesn\u2019t aspire to be a multinational corporation, growth of some sort \u2013 in scope, product line or size \u2013 is essential in today\u2019s competitive environment.<\/p>\n

Even though Golden Ink conducts much of its business in cyberspace from an office in Santa Fe, the steps I took to expand can apply to most ventures, including those housed in bricks and mortar.<\/p>\n

Structured Growth<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cadre of writers, editors, designers and lab developers who work for Golden Ink coordinate their work using shared files, conference calls and virtual labs and classrooms even though they live all over the world.\u00a0 They create certification exams and training programs, specializing in the information technology field.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s expansion involved hiring a full-time subject matter expert to work with the company\u2019s contract writers to raise the quality of our product. This allowed us to show clients how the business\u2019s capabilities had increased.<\/p>\n

We also found new ways to collaborate with competitors in a way that benefits all parties. When one competitor balked at a client\u2019s demand to take training materials in a new direction, Golden Ink demonstrated its ability and willingness to produce what other vendors can\u2019t or won\u2019t do.<\/p>\n

Some competitors subsequently joined forces with Golden Ink to complete difficult or large projects, thus broadening the pool of available work for all businesses involved. We begin all such collaborations by identifying our respective strengths and weaknesses so a high-quality product can be completed on time to the client\u2019s satisfaction.<\/p>\n

It also became necessary to hire someone to coordinate the daily chores normally done by a secretary or executive assistant so I could pay attention to larger business concerns. A virtual personal assistant put the company on a five-hour monthly retainer, arranging travel, scheduling appointments and identifying resources when necessary.<\/p>\n

Bottom Line<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forging business relationships with competitors and getting part-time help for some routine tasks allowed Golden Ink to reach a new stage in its life and gave me time to prepare for the next qualitative leap. The results vindicate the actions taken, as revenue has nearly tripled in one year.<\/p>\n

As the economy gathers steam, other small businesses in New Mexico will move to the next level. They can find help and resources at the Finance New Mexico website at www.financenewmexico.org<\/a>. To learn more about Golden Ink, visit www.golden-ink.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Download\u00a0281_ Evolution is Essential to Business Survival<\/a>\u00a0PDF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Businesses, like people, need to grow to stay relevant \u2014 even if the owner wonders where she\u2019ll find the hours to devote to something that already consumes every hour she\u2019s not sleeping. Golden Ink reached that pivotal moment in 2012, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4423"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4423"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4427,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4423\/revisions\/4427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}