Has Woolworths done enough?
I have been around long enough to see Coles and Woolworths swap places a couple of times. It seems that just like most blood sports, there is room only for one at a time at the top. This is understandable given that between them they have 70% plus of grocery sales,...
How desperately does politics need a strategic makeover?
The train smash that doubled as the recent Australian federal election, and more tellingly, the 'cluster-intercourse' (politeness overcame me) that is the US presidential race have something in common. They both lack any sort of the foundations for prosperity that we...
4 questions every business owner should ask themselves. Now.
In principal, business is simple, sell something for more than it costs you too produce it. After that it gets more complicated, but is always tangled up with the word "Value" It is a word with many meanings to different people in different contexts. How do we create...
Is technology killing advertising, and ruining our lives?
A while ago I asked the question 'Is the net killing marketing creativity' and came to the conclusion that the instant gratification now apparently demanded in all phases of our lives has indeed killed creativity. Perhaps tritely I put it down to the not so bright...
9 point plan to create your business model
One of the major things most small and medium businesses give little thought to, and which can have a major impact on their financial outcomes is their business model. There has been much written over the years, huge volumes of academic and consultant driven tomes ,...
How to build a sales process for your human salesforce.
These days great sales people, real ones, those that go and talk to customers and potential customers are expensive, and hard to find. Most often in a B2B environment their role is not just closing a sale but developing a relationship that is deeper and longer term...
Social media, Wholesalers of eyeballs.
The business models of all major social media platforms require a profit, and they generate that by being wholesalers of eyeballs. They do not do it for free, any more than your wholesalers of produce at the city markets provides their service for free. Social media...
The 4 dimensions of project planning.
Lessons in project management are hard won, and stumbles can be very expensive. My hard won experience supports the contention of that great management thinker Albert Einstein, noted above. In every project that I have done that delivered sub par outcomes, at least...
How to create a persona that will deliver sales
Three key questions all marketers (should) ask themselves at some early point in marketing program development, and obviously have a great answer, are: Who are we talking to? Why should they listen to us? What do we want them to do now? These are the exact questions...
When template business plans are useless
In Australia, only around 5% of new businesses survive past the 5 year mark, and make money in excess of the cost of capital. Scary, because most of them had a business plan, certainly if they ever borrowed any money from a bank, they had one that probably doubled as...