Many startup founders I know avoid establishing a formal board of advisors and directors for as long as possible, with the excuse that this is just another burden, or it has more risk than value to the founder. Related Article: Do you Need a Board of Advisers? In my experience, just the opposite is true, since […]
How to Successfully Establish a Board of Advisors and Board of Directors Read More »
The Opportunity Discovery Canvas tool was designed to help entrepreneurs that have identified a problem to work through a basic framework to evaluate the feasibility of their solution.
Opportunity Discovery Canvas – How to Validate Potential Solutions Read More »
The collapse of a business or industry does not have to be a crisis. It actually represents an opportunity for entrepreneurs with vision who can act quickly
How an Economic Downturn Creates Huge New Opportunities Read More »
If you have the ability to act on new business opportunities during a bad economy, great fortunes may await you. It is time to work on that business idea.
Six Ways to Make Money in a Bad Economy Read More »
More workers are working from home. Here are some ideas to consider as you shift your workforce from working at company offices to a remote workforce working from home.
How to Effectively Deal with a Remote Workforce Read More »
A SWOT Analysis Looks at A Project or Business Venture by Focusing on The Strengths and Weaknesses of The Business Compared to The Competition as Well as The Opportunities and Threats from Changes in Macroeconomic Conditions.
SWOT Analysis – How to Conduct a Proper One Read More »
When considering key partners, you must consider the following questions: 1, Who are your key partners and who are your suppliers? 2, Which key resources are you acquiring from key partners and suppliers? 3, What key activities do your key partners and suppliers perform?
Key Partners and Your Business Model Read More »
The mindset of “execute the plan” should be more accurately stated as “Plan as you execute” to reinforce the idea that businesses need to test assumptions.
You Need to Validate Your Assumptions Before You Execute the Plan Read More »
Some industries are highly consolidated with few key players while others have few incumbents and are considered quite fragmented. We define these differences as an industry’s market structure.
What Is the Market Structure Read More »
Many businesses rely on observable signals when hiring or making promotions. Unfortunately, there is an entire class of people that are often overlooked and have the ability to really transform the fortunes of a business but often never hired or leave a company to become entrepreneurs based on what is known as information asymmetry
How to Crush Hiring by Recognizing Information Asymmetry Read More »
When you are firing an employee either for cause or without cause, the business should have a process that it follows to avoid the risk of a wrongful termination lawsuit.
What You Need to Know Before Firing an Employee Read More »
The ultimate goal when defining your key activities as part of your Business Model Canvas exercise, is to help you discover what activities you need to address in order to differentiate your product or service from your competition.
Key Activities and Your Business Model Read More »
A company’s key resources allow it to create and deliver its value proposition, reach its target market and maintain a quality customer relationship with them so that the business can earn revenue. For a company to produce a product or service, it needs access to physical resources, intellectual resources, human resources, and financial resources.
Key Resources and Your Business Model Read More »
A company’s cost structures represent the specific costs that the business will incur while operating under a particular business model. Through understanding the key resource, key activities, and its key partners, the business can determine its available cost structures. By choosing to be either Cost Driven or Value Driven and properly using Operating Leverage, the business can find its optimal cost structure.
Cost Structures and Your Business Model Read More »
When you suspect an individual may be lying, it may be time to ask a few questions to see how they react to give you further evidence of their deceptions.
How To Tell If Someone Is Lying Using Questioning Techniques Read More »
Wouldn’t it be nice to have your own personal lie detector to recognize if someone is being less than truthful? Well, there is a science that has identified ways to detect if a person is lying or being less than truthful just through observation.
How to Spot Lying & Deceptive Behaviors Read More »
Lying in business situations is very common. Most people are poor lie detectors because we want to believe the lie rather than look for clues that the other person is lying.
The Truth About Why Lying in Business is so Common Read More »
When it comes to defining your revenue streams, especially when you are developing a business model canvas, there are many factors that you need to consider that affect your potential income source. Will you use a fixed or dynamic pricing mechanism, and is your revenue based on transactional and reoccurring sources of revenue?
Revenue Streams and Your Business Model Read More »
Abraham Maslow theorized that people are motivated by five types of needs. How an employer meets these needs changes with each level and contributes toward employee job satisfaction resulting in lower turnover and higher employee retention.
How to Improve Employee Retention with Maslow’s Hierarchy Read More »
Do you know what it costs when you make a bad hire? Do you know what it costs if one of your star employees leaves you to work for a competitor?
How to Calculate the Cost of Employee Turnover Read More »
The old economy had limitations on shelf space and the ability to target niche markets and as a result, companies only invested in offerings that appealed to a very large population. Today we live in the Long-Tail Economy, where a business can target a very specific and often very small market segment for next to nothing and distribution bottlenecks are vanishing, making the offering of niche products and services not only possible but more desirable by consumers.
The Long Tail Economy-What You Need to Know Read More »
For companies that have to compete for skilled talent, the world is getting harder every day. This is based not only on economic expansion but also on the demographics of the workforce.
How to Become an Employer of Choice and Why You Need to Read More »
The role of CEO and President, and sometimes Chairman of the Board are often used interchangeably. In a small business this might be true, but each title has a different set of duties.
CEO vs President – You Need to Know That Their Roles Are Different Read More »
As a small business mentor, I see so many startups willing to risk everything on an untested idea. Since they like their idea, they are sure they know everyone who sees it will too.
Have You Defined Your Leap of Faith Assumptions? Read More »
Leadership and management are both essential elements of business success. Leadership is closely aligned with the role of a CEO and Management to the role of the President. Even though there is a difference between leadership and management most people use them interchangeably which is incorrect.
What is the Difference Between Leadership and Management in Small Business? Read More »
Word-of-mouth marketing is not just making a good product or delivering a good service, and magically your clients will tell their friends how great you are, which will, in turn, lead to a greater number of sales. To achieve an epidemic you must employ some specific strategies.
How to Achieve a Word-of-Mouth Epidemic Read More »
Running a small business is complicated, especially if you have employees. As a manager, you have many tasks that have to be organized into a chain of subtasks and to assign responsibility to team members and subordinates if you want to succeed. A RASCI chart is the answer.
RASCI Chart – How to Manage Employee Roles and Responsibilities Read More »
What if you had a crystal ball that would let you see into the future to see if demand for your product or service was going to get stronger or weaker with time. Well, you can stop wishing. There is such a tool.
How to Predict the Future with Demand Curves Read More »
Do you get calls from vendors nearly every day trying to pitch you on their products or services?
Self-Weeding Your Economic Garden Read More »
Have you ever felt overwhelmed with tasks? Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night fretting over the next day’s tasks you have to accomplish? What if there was a better way to organize all the task you need to perform. Well, there is.
How To Make The Best Use Of Your Precious Time Read More »
Many businesses fail not because they have a bad product or service. They fail because they are not located in the right location.
Why Your Location May Be Bad For Your Success Read More »
Every day, business owners face the challenge of finding ways to differentiate their products and services while remaining relevant in an increasingly competitive market.
The 4 Dimensions That Will Transform Your Business Model Read More »
Have you ever heard the saying “any customer is a good customer” or that “the customer is always right” Did you know that such mantras have destroyed many a business?
How to Quantify a Customer’s Economic Attractiveness Read More »
The Buyers Utility Map is a valuable tool to help businesses document the buyer’s experience, and discover areas that can be leveraged to create a leap in value.
How to Create a Leap in Customer Value with the Buyers Utility Map Read More »
A business that offers products and services just like everyone else’s in their industry are viewed as a commodity. Commodity businesses compete on price meaning low or often negative margins, especially for a new small business. Instead of just following the crowd there is a better way.
Why Compete – How To Find An Uncontested Market for Profit Read More »
People like to work with and buy from people that they like. However, sometimes you need them to change their direction without leaving a stink on your relationship. Here are three strategies that can be used to help you get what you want in business relationships, with the added benefit of making you come out smelling like a rose.
3 Simple Business Relationships Strategies to Get What You Want Read More »
In the world of business, there are eleven popular business models that have survived the test of time.
VIDEO: 11 Tested & Proven Business Models That Drive Profit Read More »
When it comes to service-related business, one of the biggest misconceptions about business is that the more things a business can do, the more valuable it will be in the eyes of the customer. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Profitability comes from being an “inch wide and a mile deep”.
You Need to Be an Inch Wide And a Mile Deep Read More »
As consumers, we often have no personal experience with a new business and subconsciously look for observable clues to make our decision. I think many prospective clients, consciously or sub-consciously, judge a business by what they see.
How to Make a Business Look More Professional with This Simple Trick Read More »
One of the first things most new business owners do is register their entity with the Secretary of State. While this may seem like a logical first step there are several important questions that need to be addressed first that you will come upon once you begin the application process.
How to Properly Register a New Business Entity Read More »
Insurance by definitions is a hedge against catastrophic loss. Having personal property insurance has its benefits. However, when it comes to insurance for a business, having too much insurance is not a good thing.
Insurance – Your Friend or Your Enemy? Read More »
Many small business owners come from corporate America and adopt their outdated contracting and payment processes when they set up their project and billing processes.
The Best Way to Contract and Get Paid as a Service Business Read More »
As an entrepreneur with employees, it is unrealistic that you will always be the smartest person in the room in all aspects of your business. You will need employees that are smarter than you in their assigned areas.
The Power Of Selling The Passion For The Vision Read More »
Your customer acquisition costs are likely one of your single biggest indirect expenses, yet most entrepreneurs design an economic model based on a single transaction. As consumers, we often have a recognized need for a product or service. Perhaps we are going fishing this weekend and need some new gear or notice that our home
Do You Sell The Second Glass Read More »
It is usually not easy to decide to do either project A or project B because we cannot accurately measure the return on investment (ROI) on dollars spent or the return on effort (ROE) on time spent. You don’t have to do everything, but you do have to do something. Action almost always trumps inaction and there are things that you can do in 30 minutes or less to add value and create positive momentum.
The 30-Minute Recipe for B2B Revenue Growth Read More »
As business owners, we make a lot of assumptions. Many of them turn out to be true however many times we do not have enough information to make a good decision. This is especially true when it comes to the way that we expect our customers will react to our product or service.
Every day, entrepreneurs invest huge amounts of time and money to build a business that they think will be better than the competition. However, all too often entrepreneurs struggle to articulate how their value proposition is fundamentally different from their competition. These businesses are what I call clone businesses.
How to Transform your Clone Business and Stand Out Read More »
The convention wisdom about hiring a new employee is to ask for a resume to screen candidates followed by a face to face interview of a few candidates that made the cut and to ask then a series of frequently asked questions. This old-school process is no longer effective.
How To Hire An Employee The Right Way Read More »
It is important for every business to benchmark their business against others in their industry and in their local area from time to time to see how they stack up. A free tool offered by the SBA called “Size Up” can help.
Powerful Free Tool to Benchmark Your Business And Make More Money Read More »
History especially when it comes to war is chocked full of lessons for the small business owner if they take the time look at the messages and consider how they might apply the lessons to their own business.
How The Graf Spee Can Teach You To Be Successful In Business Read More »
Every once in a while, a business comes along that creates a revolution in its industry that is so profound competitors have a hard time following suit. Southwest Airlines was one of these businesses. Today businesses can take some of the lessons from Southwest and apply them to their own industry to change their trajectory.
4 Amazingly Simple Lessons From Southwest Airlines Read More »
Many nascent entrepreneurs simply roll up their sleeves and try to do everything themselves in the hopes that it will save them money. Unfortunately, the most valuable asset entrepreneurs have is their time. Doing tasks that can be done by less expensive experts prevents entrepreneurs from focusing on the most important aspects of their business. Freelancing platforms exist to help the business owner outsource non-key tasks to experts in their fields for a fraction of what most experts cost locally.
How to Leverage Experts and Crush the Competition Read More »
It is often far better to see what the market leader is doing and just be a little different in your value proposition. Being the first to market means you will make lots of costly mistakes that your competitors can learn from and then capitalize on at your expense. Keurig and Xerox were not the first movers but today they dominated their markets by capitalizing on the dominant players mistakes..
Watch the Leader and Profit by Capitalizing on Their Business Mistakes Read More »
The culture that a company embraces can say a lot about the eventual success of a company. In a study performed by sociologists James Barron and Michael Hannan, they tracked the culture of 167 Silicon Valley startups over an extended period of time. The study identified five primary cultures embraced by most startups. Engineering Model This
Your Corporate Culture Defines Your Success Read More »
Businesses employ both offensive and defensive strategies. However, when it comes to rewards, it is the offense that gets all the attention. If my company makes a sale through the results of my actions, it is not uncommon to receive a reward or commission. However, if I prevent a sale to a customer who would
Why You Should Reward People That Avoid Bad Outcomes Read More »
We have all heard that an oil tanker or large container ship cannot change direction very quickly. In fact, it often takes them several miles to change their direction. This is because these vessels have a lot of mass. The more mass an object has, the more energy is required to change direction. Mass in
Is Your Business Like a Pirate Ship? Read More »
You Can’t Assume You Can Capture a Portion of The Total Available Market (TAM) W/O Understanding the Served Available and Service Obtainable Market (SAM/SOM)
What Is Your Real Market Potential? Read More »
We prioritize tasks based on our return on investment (ROI). If we undertake a task that we think should take one day to complete and we find ourselves still working on it two days later, it is time to reevaluate our efforts. For the most part, human beings are all poor estimators. Remember the last
What To Do When You Exceed Your Estimate Read More »
The other day I went to a restaurant that I had never been to before with an old colleague. Upon opening up the menu, I was presented with over 100 choices and I’m not talking 50 different types of burgers. Can you even imagine the logistics involved with stocking all the ingredients and trying to
Is It Time to Clean House? Read More »
I’m writing this post while sitting in a hunting blind with lots of time to think about life and business. Last night after sunset, I located a farmer by the name of Ryan Britten. I have known him since he was a small child. I hopped aboard his Caterpillar tractor and we took several laps
Turning Trash to Treasure Read More »
My youngest son, Hank, works in an upscale country club restaurant. He works in what is known in the restaurant business as the “back of the house,” a.k.a. the kitchen. The hostess, waitresses, and bartenders work in what is known as the “front of the house.” Many businesses are set up in a similar way
Is Your Organizational Model Flawed? Read More »
What if one of your best employees was forced to move to a new city or wanted to leave for a better opportunity? Would you do whatever it took to keep them, such as making a job for him or her to work remotely or would you encourage them to leave? I was faced with that
Be Willing to Let Key Employees Go Read More »
While the underlining ability to write content that people want to buy is the same for both the magazine and the book publisher, the design considerations mirror many of the same issues entrepreneurs go through when they try to define their business and economic models.
4 Super Valuable Business ROI Lessons From Publishing Read More »
My 89-year-old mother lives in an independent living facility that has several businesses connected to them. They have a bank, a maid service, and even a beauty parlor as my mom calls it. During a recent visit, my mom was telling me about how her hairdresser was let go because she was in such high
Are Your Employees Free-Agents? Read More »
A Business Model is Customer-Focused And Is Your Value Proposition. Most Businesses Can Be Categorized Into 1 of 11 Different Types Of Business Models.
11 Common Types of Business Model Read More »
Most Entrepreneurs Want To Scale, But Scaling Without Adoption Is A Common Trap. Discover Why Early Traction Matters More Than Your Growth Strategy.
From Idea to Traction: Why Startups Must Prove Demand Before Scaling Read More »
You Don’t Have to Be First to Win in Business—Just Better. Discover Why Execution, Not Innovation, Is the Real Key to Entrepreneurial Success.
The Real Secret Behind Successful Startups? It’s Not Innovation Read More »
As I write this post, I have just returned from a motorcycle rally in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This rally is often referred to as just “Sturgis.” As always, the trip was full of lessons for entrepreneurs. Now, you may be surprised by that, but stick with me and you’ll discover these lessons
Four Business Lessons From The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Read More »
When the Spanish arrived in the new world, they encountered Montezuma, head of the Aztec Empire. The Aztec civilization was a command and control society. By killing Montezuma, the Spaniards easily defeated the remaining Aztecs since their entire society was built around a single, all powerful leader. As they continued their advance, the Spaniards used
Taking a Lesson from History Read More »
Most people work from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. It always perplexes me why some business to consumer (B2C) businesses are open during these same hours. How can they build their business when their customers are all trapped at work? It doesn’t make any sense! Increasingly, many successful business owners see the folly in
Hours of Operation Read More »
When it comes to fighting a war, Americans think about the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines. Each of these branches practice a strict command and control hierarchy. In command and control structures, the higher up in the command structure someone is, the more skills they have. From this prospective, it makes total sense to
What Businesses Can Learn from ISIS Read More »
In 1913, five investors each contributed $100 in cash to a new enterprise. Each also brought a special skill to the enterprise. There was a salesman, accountant, miner, banker, and lawyer. After forming the company, they raised $75,000, which is just shy of $2 million in today’s money. The founders hoped to create a super-concentrated
Is it Time to Bleach Your Business? Read More »
How John Chambers Sizes Up Company Culture in Just Five Minutes. Learn What He Looks For and What Your Office Might Secretly Be Saying About Your Business.
What Your Office Space Says About Your Company Culture (And Why It Matters) Read More »
Henry Ford said that if he asked customers what they wanted, they would say a faster horse. Gathering customer insight is not about asking the customer about what they want, but talking to customers about their daily challenges and developing a deeper understanding of their needs. Another challenge is knowing which customers to listen to.
How Zip Car Built a Business Model Based on Customer Insight Read More »
Rather than attract and retain key talent in-house, have you ever thought about building or using a platform like innocentive? Innocentive connects seekers of solutions with solvers. By using this type of platform, you can pay talented individuals based on the number of transactions you need instead of retaining them for a reoccurring salary. They
Buy and Sell Innovation Read More »
Understanding The Hype Cycle Of Disruptive Innovation Can Help Small Businesses Avoid Costly Mistakes. Learn How To Time Your Tech Investments Wisely.
How Small Businesses Can Navigate the Hype Cycle of Disruptive Technology Read More »
One has to ask “Are corporations past their prime?” Corporations came into being to allow multiple investors to invest a portion of their capital across several risky, but potentially highly profitable endeavors. Corporations Come Into Existence When sailing ships were constructed to carry on world trading, it was a highly lucrative proposition but was fraught
Are Large Corporations Past Their Prime? Read More »
Once you have made a hypothesis regarding your customer segment and value proposition, you need to gather insight to validate your hypothesis by designing questions or experiments to take to potential customers. If you are designing questions, it is important to avoid questions that will influence the customer’s response. In other words, avoid leading questions
Testing Your Customer Segment and Value Proposition Hypothesis Read More »
Now that you have a potential list of products or services that you plan to incorporate as part of your value proposition, you need to see if it creates the benefits your customer expects, desires, or would be surprised to see. You can use the following questions to test your value proposition’s products and services
Testing Your Value Proposition’s Ability to Deliver Gains Read More »
Now that you have a list of potential products or services that you plan to incorporate as part of your value proposition, you need to exposed them to the first test. You can use the following questions to test your value proposition’s products and services. These questions will help you determine if your products or
Testing Your Value Proposition’s Ability to Alleviate Pain Read More »
After you understand the customer’s job, their pain points, and their gain points, it is time to define a value proposition to deliver to them. The products or services that you will provide can come in four different flavors: With these flavors in mind, make a list of all the products and services your company could deliver.
Defining Your Value Proposition’s Products and Services Read More »
Once you have a pretty good idea of the job your customer segment has to do, it is time to ferret out and define their gain points. Use the following questions to describe the benefits your customer expects, desires, or would be surprised to receive. After answering these questions, attempt to rank your customer’s gain
Understanding Customer Segment Gain Points Read More »
Once you have a pretty good idea of the job your customer segment has to do, it is time to ferret out and define their pain points. You can use the following questions to more accurately describe the customer’s negative emotions, undesirable costs and situations, and risks they experience before, during, and after their job.
Understanding Customer Segment Pain Points Read More »
Once you have a good idea of your target customer segment, it is time to dig a little deeper. To do this, describe the specific tasks your customer segment is trying to do in their core job, the problems they are trying to solve, or the needs they are trying to satisfy. Besides the customer
Understanding Customer Segment Jobs Read More »
When fleshing out your business model canvas, you need to define your customer segment and value proposition. However, it is sometimes necessary to consider both the economic buyer and the end user when defining your customer segments. For example, the other day I took my grandson to a Chuck-e-Cheese. The end user was my grandson
Serving Economic and End User Customer Segments Read More »
Assembling a Diverse Team for Your Business Model Canvas Session Can Uncover Insights No Group of Experts Alone Ever Could. Learn Why Diversity Beats Expertise in Idea Generation and How to Build Your Team for Success.
The Secret to Better Business Ideas? It’s Not Just Creativity Read More »
Ignore the status quo and don’t build a better mousetrap. Stop focusing on what your competitors do. Instead, challenge orthodoxies. To do so, start with any of the nine business model building blocks and build outwards. While we typically start with customer segments to build a customer-driven business model, there are four common starting points.
Inside Out Business Model Read More »
To apply the Blue Ocean Strategy, you start with a Business Model Canvas that describes your industry and then look at your the business model canvas from three different perspectives: the cost perspective, value proposition, and the customer segment.
Applying the Blue Ocean Strategy to the Business Model Canvas Read More »
The term “red ocean” refers to all the industries in existence today, otherwise known as “the known market space.” Blue oceans, by contrast, denote all the industries not in existence today, otherwise known as “the unknown market space.” Red oceans are contested markets while blue oceans are untainted by competition.
What is a Red Ocean vs. Blue Ocean Strategy Read More »
Is Free a Sustainable Business Model? Discover How Freemium Products, Ad-Supported Platforms, and Open Source Tools Turn “Free” Into Profit.
Can You Build a Business by Giving Away Your Product for Free? Read More »
When completing a Business Model Canvas, it is helpful to guide the discussion through the use of questions. When it comes to looking at macroeconomic forces that will affect your business model, the following set of questions should help you in thinking more critically about your business model. These questions are broken into four categories:
Critical Thinking About Macroeconomic Forces Read More »
When completing a Business Model Canvas, it is helpful to guide the discussion through the use of questions. When it comes to looking at industry forces that will affect your business model, the following set of questions should help you in thinking more critically about your business model. These questions are broken into three categories:
Critical Thinking About Industry Forces Read More »
When completing a Business Model Canvas, it is helpful to guide the discussion through the use of questions. When it comes to looking at key trends that will affect your business model, the following set of questions should help you in thinking more critically about your business model. These questions are broken into four trends:
Critical Thinking About Key Trends Read More »
When completing a Business Model Canvas, it is helpful to guide the discussion through the use of questions. When it comes to looking at market forces that will affect your business model, the following set of questions should help you in thinking more critically about your business model. These questions are broken down into five
Critical Thinking About Market Forces Read More »
When it comes revenue streams, they are generally either “transactional,” resulting from a one-time payment, or “recurring,” resulting from ongoing payments that deliver value or provide post-sales support. When it comes to defining a business’s revenue streams, I find it helpful to consider a list of different types of revenue streams to guide me and
Choosing a Revenue Stream Read More »
The type of customer relationship that is right for your business depends on your customer acquisition costs, customer retention goals, and need to up-sell the customer on an add-on or related products in the future.
Choosing a Customer Relationship Type Read More »
When considering your unique value proposition, I find it helpful to consider a list of common value propositions to help guide me and my client’s thinking. To that end, here are eleven common value propositions that businesses might offer to their selected customer segment. Review the following value proposition types and determine which one is
Choosing a Value Proposition Type Read More »
The first step for a new business or an existing business coming out with a new product line is to define the customer segment they are targeting. During the early stages of the process, I recommend starting out with a broad definition of the customer segment. The following is a list of five common customer
Choosing a Customer Segment Type Read More »
Discover How Disruptive Innovation Transforms Complex Markets Into Simple, Scalable Opportunities. Learn Why Starting Small Might Be the Key to Big Success.
How Disruptive Innovation Can Help You Conquer a Market—One Niche at a Time Read More »
Many Believe Bigger Boards Are Better, but Small, Focused Boards Often Provide Better Oversight and Real Leadership. Discover Why Less Can Truly Be More.
The Surprising Power of Small Boards in Business and Nonprofits Read More »
