The most potent competitive tool few have ever heard of. OODA.
We are all looking for ways to increase the competitive leverage we can bring to bear. It is tough to find the sources of that leverage, and then apply it effectively in aggressive and often homogenised markets. However, there is a thought process that few have ever...
Make the ‘About us’, ‘About them’, and sell more.
Almost every 'About us' dropdown on websites is, as expected, about the owner of the website. Who started the company, where they went to school, how they came to be in Sydney, Seattle, or Bullamakanka, how great you are, and some soppy stuff about your story....
How to identify where your potential competitors will come from
How do you identify those who might emerge as competitors? Might as well ask what the weather will be like next week, or next year. Just looking out the window will not help much, as things tend to change pretty quickly. So it is with identifying potential...
7 tactics to increase the accuracy of your forecasting
Certainty in forecasting is the holy grail, being certain of the future means success. However, as we know the only thing we know for certain about the future, is that it will not be the same as the past, or present. Quantifying uncertainty appears to be an...
9 reasons you should implement checklists
A key part of managing activity is to record it as necessary to be done, check it off when done, and make any observation necessary for next time. This holds true from the development of a strategy down to the daily activities on the shop floor, and...
How to calculate a robust number that reflects ‘value’?
It is easy to define the value of a piece of machinery. It is the revenue generated by the machine, divided by the costs to generate that revenue. Accounting with the benefit of hindsight is easy. It is not so easy when forecasting what the future value may be....
That fatuous claim of total commercial infallibility.
I just had another of those moments that caused an unpleasant 'tummy churn'. A post from a so called 'business coach' that promised a 'business turnaround in 90 days'. Perhaps they know something I do not. Having stumbled around in this arena for 35 years, I have not...
The single common denominator of all successful strategies
Over 45 years I have seen all sorts of strategies. Some work, some fail, some are elegant articulations of a vision and mission, some are a few words on a sheet of paper. Some are data driven, some full of a breathless accounting of what they will make the...
How to avoid brand suicide
Any marketing activity falls somewhere on a continuum between tactical and strategic. Most are trying to generate activity and profit today, as well as investing in your brand for the long term. Getting the balance wrong is delivering your brand to the slaughterhouse....
The single question every entrepreneur should ask themselves. Often.
Every business starts small. The biggest on the planet all started somewhere, in a garage, dorm room, lab, somewhere between the ears of the entrepreneur. Most fail, or at best deliver a return that would have been dwarfed by the interest on the same investment...