Many clients I speak to are looking for a home run or flagship clients. Their logic is since it takes the effort to sign up a new customer, why not sign up a few large customers vs. many small customers? However, this is a misguided goal of building a healthy business. Ideally, you would like […]
Too Much of a Good Thing Read More »
When a business advances from stage 3 to stage 4, the business transformation is nearly complete. During stage 4, company decay can often begin to set in as the administration of the business is placed in the hands of a “guardian.” The primary motives of the business guardian are comfort and security. Unity towards a purpose
Stage 4: The Guardians of Business Read More »
For a business to advance from stage 2 to stage 3, the business undergoes a substantial shift from being on the offensive and growth-oriented to becoming more defensive and focused on process improvement through business segmentation. The business segmentation associated with stage 3 sets up the business for shared leadership and management by creating multiple
Stage 3: The Athletes and Performers of Business Read More »
For a business to advance from stage 1 to stage 2, the business requires that the role of the Oracle be supported or replaced by a business development person. I refer to this new leader as the “General.” In our McDonald’s example from a previous post, it was a guy by the name of Ray
Stage 2: The Generals of Business Read More »
Stage 1 encompasses the pre-start-up and early start-up period of a business. A company is started by a founder who is essentially the idea person behind the business. I refer to this person as the “oracle. In classical antiquity, an Oracle is a person who can see and predict the future. The Oracle of a
Stage 1: The Oracles of Business Read More »
People leave the lights and T.V. on in hotel rooms all the time. There are no economic consequences for leaving them on like there are in your house so why not? Hotels sometimes leave messages on a card in the bathroom or on the nightstand to appeal to a person’s desire to be more environmentally
What is Choice Architecture Read More »
The year was 1990. Microsoft just released its first successful version of the Windows Operating System. The TCP/IP protocol went global and the internet was now within reach of users with a personal computer in their home. Prodigy just went public and launched a marketing campaign with a war-chest worth nearly a billion dollars and
A Better Path to the Customer Read More »
The other day I was asked if a person’s idea would make a good business. Unfortunately, I had to tell them that it would not be a good idea for them to pursue. While the idea might have been a novel and been a successful venture in the right hands, they didn’t have access to
Your Best Chance to Succeed in Small Business Read More »
Customer relationships can be either; face-to-face (like buying a car), phone (like Zappos), automated system (like Dell), or self-service (like WalMart).
Customer Relationships and Your Business Model Read More »
When we refer to channels in the Business Model Canvas, we are speaking about marketing channels or distribution channels. Here are 5 you should address: 1, Awareness 2, Evaluate 3, Purchase 4, Deliver 5, Customer Support
Channels and Your Business Model Read More »
