It is becoming more and more challenging to find a profitable niche in the marketplace, with more and more businesses competing with commodities and/or commodity pricing everyday. How do you escape from that rat race? One way is by beating your competition through innovation/ research and development (R&D). Innovation [...]
In the last few years, I've spent significant time studying businesses and investments, and I found a commonality for achieving results - leverage. Leverage is the advantage or power gained by using a lever. A classic example is the story of David and Goliath, where David was able to [...]
Between 70-80%+ of mergers and acquisitions fail to produce the results originally expected. Yet, there are still many venture capitalists and companies aggressively searching to merge and/or acquire a business. Why is the success rate so low? And, why can't 70-80%+ of the merger/ acquisition leadership teams find a [...]
Expand globally - expand your thinking of your customer base to GLOBAL. For example, as China and India expand in purchasing power, your customer base can expand exponentially. If you don't go after it, your competition will. Value add - think about your value add. Even though it's likely [...]
As the majority of companies are searching for ways to cut costs and pinch pennies due to the sagging economy, it is time to step outside the crowd. Instead of reducing headcount, finding ways to combine roles so that one person will do the job of two (or more), [...]
As the global economy is in turmoil, almost all businesses are thinking about how to succeed during this turmoil. In some cases, businesses are struggling to survive and in need of turnaround strategies. In other cases, the business is achieving targets but concerned about future growth. Or, the business [...]
No day passes by without all the news media reporting on the economic crisis and its effects on businesses, employees and the long term effects on the economy. There is no doubt that these constant negative reports can lead to increased stress and panic in the workplace - neither [...]
2008 has been a challenging year for most people and businesses, so here are a few tips to ensure 2009 is a success. Consider last minute tax strategies - this is always a smart business and personal consideration, as there is often times a significant amount of potential savings [...]
Not only do I continue to see more evidence of the "new normal" business environment discussed in last month's issue but, in my discussions with clients and service providers, it's apparent that embracing and understanding how to thrive in the new normal is critical to success. As a reminder, [...]
The business environment has changed and will not "return to normal"; instead, a "new normal" is emerging. The U.S. and the world economy have been in a recession for at least a year, and the media is starting to discuss a slow recovery. Whether the recovery is weak or [...]
