Most research in the post-pandemic period has defined two distinct categories of active companies in terms of performance. The first, the larger set, comprises firms that continue to operate within the pre-crisis structure, find it difficult to understand and keep up with the changes around them, and thus, faced with an increasing number of difficulties (business, organisational, generational), find it difficult to maintain their previous performance. The second, smaller set, comprises those companies that have proactively reacted to the signs of crisis and intervened at the right time to make the necessary improvements/refinements to their business.
The latter – a smaller set – of development-focused management thinking is illustrated by the example of a leading water treatment company with a unique chlorine-free patent in Europe, where the owners, in the midst of a pandemic, launched a completely new business direction, an international expansion-focused strategic business development. In doing so, they laid a solid foundation for the next decade of growth and were able to create the potential for further development by counteracting the drastic shifts in their industry caused by the pandemic and the economic crisis. One of the reasons why they made the right decision at the time is that companies that are now starting to develop, having realised the decline in their core business too late, are unlikely to have a significant impact on the market before 2025, and most of them will be able to raise the funds for development not from company profits but from private financing by their owners.
Complex business development means planning ahead
Complex business development was born out of the need for real solutions, arising from dissatisfaction with traditional business coaching and consulting, such as generated by the economic crisis of 2008 or the pandemic. This specialised, complex form of business development is business mentoring, which combines the benefits of both areas, building on each other and applying them in parallel to achieve business success. Its main task is to solve the business development problem, based on the owner’s well-defined objectives, by providing all the necessary consultancy services from a single source together with the owner’s development. It creates a product concept, as it has done for the market leader in the public and private water treatment market, where the uniqueness of the company is perfectly identified, putting this unique knowledge at the heart of a successful future.
Result: Watercomp Institute
One of the main challenges for companies with a strong professional background in the international market is that they can only show 20-30% of their real knowledge to the decision-makers of their target group in a way that, in addition to professional recognition, also maximises their sales revenue and profit targets. In the case of the company mentioned in our example, the main task of the complex business development was therefore to create a new international consulting business by transforming their existing knowledge into a product. To reach this, the aim was to expand the awareness of their nearly 28 years of professional, expert knowledge, their unique chlorine-free spa and swimming pool water disinfection patent, and their independent water testing laboratory background.
As a result of the first phase of business development, the company has created an independent international expert institute (Watercomp Institute) to complement its existing manufacturing and sales activities, which, after a detailed evaluation of the tested water sample, will provide its partners with a comprehensive recommendation for use, chlorine or chlorine-free disinfection, along with its expert opinion. This ensures not only the purity of the water but also the long-term health of the bathers.