3 Ways To Improve Credit Risk Models For Financial Lenders
Joel Blake
July 11, 2023
There are many ways to grow your business, yet growth can be so difficult to achieve consistently.The decisions you make can be dictated by the level of resources that you have, the norms of your sector, the efficiency of your processes and systems etc.
There are many factors to consider and routes to take, and whilst the complexity it is all part of the business journey, one must be mindful of the fact that the decisions you make today, may not necessarily give you the results that you want tomorrow.
However, in my experience in helping businesses to grow, I have met several ambitious business owners and leaders who have identified with 5 key elements that tend to have some consistency across businesses of all sizes and sectors Strategy, Operations, Talent, Marketing, Sales.
Let's break these elements down into a little more detail:
Having a business growth strategy is important. It gives you a sense of direction and focus. But it is even more important that you clarify what the end goal of the strategy is, to give it meaning and feeling. Clarification creates an emotional and motivational attachment, that turns a dream into a more solid manifestation of actual work and value creation. For example:
"I want to have a million-pound business in 5 years" is not a strategy. A clarified strategy would be, for example, more like "In five years, my business will consist of A staff, including additional B freelancers for specific projects, operating out of two locations, with a client base of C, generating D revenues, giving us a revenue of £1million" etc. etc.
Which strategy feels more robust? But to deliver on the strategy, you must then engage...
Simply put, ensure you have efficient processes and systems in place, that will that enable you to deliver the work need to achieve your strategic goals.
In this modern world of technology, it is easier to automate many processes. But do ensure that they remain adaptable and flexible too - the ability to respond to external needs, in as real-time as possible, will help you maintain a level of consistency of progression.
But, even when you have the greatest systems in place, you still need the following to drive them.
In my humble opinion, the more your business follows a pattern of traditional hierarchy, the more the team look, speak, act and operate like each other. That is OK when building an inclusive culture, as you want to create a sense of unity and a strong 'one people' philosophy towards achieving your goals.
But don't forget that you need an inclusive workforce that is diverse of gender, race, (dis)ability, perspectives, experiences, sexuality, cultures etc. to continually innovative and keep the business on the front foot. It is the enhanced level of diversity that will ensure your process and systems remain agile and flexible, as you will have the type of diverse workforce, that is always seeking to improve the structure in place.
Innovation in this way, drives the next link in the chain...
Imagine.... every day, your team were creating new ideas on how to improve your products and services, to open new revenue opportunities, from both existing and new markets....erm, sorry NEWSFLASH..if you must imagine that, then your business may already be in a state of stagnation!
This approach must underpin how and what you are marketing to your target audiences/customers/partners/suppliers/team on a much more frequent basis - your ability to innovate, to exceed the needs of your stakeholders must be the priority. Regarding customers, marketing the wrong thing, to the wrong people, in the wrong way, will result in you having NO cash coming in.
No cash, no business...eventually.
I think the current societal view of a USP (Unique Selling Point) as the core function of a sales transaction, is not entirely correct.
Why?
Well..as humans, we buy on emotion - market what I need, at the right time to me, with the right conditions to buy, then you don't need to sell me a thing. But in addition, I believe that in business, the emphasis on what you are really 'selling', ought to be the promotion of an SVP (Solid Value Proposition).
How?
If an individual validates the future value of your proposition PAST the transactional opportunity, then an individual's emotional choice to buy, becomes based on the justification of the value that you are creating for them. So, what you are really 'selling' is the value, not the thing.
At GFA Exchange, we are passionate about actionable insight from data, being the real driver for value with our financial partners so they can pass on this value to their clients – ambitious high growth businesses who demand more from those can help them to be the best that they can be.
