Category: Business Solutions
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Is a Consultant Worth $170,000?
There was an interesting article in the New York Times about First Quality Music, which is owned by the Sullivan family and manufactures banjos, guitars, parts and accessories in Louisville, Kentucky. The company was having financial problems that had been intensified by the recent recession. One of the family members had read “Profits Aren’t Everything,…
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Finding Your Ideal Client
Are you sick and tired of dealing with disrespectful clients? Wouldn’t it be nice to have customers who value what you offer, pay on time, and do their part in the client/seller relationship? Well, according to John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing, “when you properly target your clients, you will discover that you no…
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The Road to Hell is Paved With Good (Advice)
Expert advice is a huge industry. Today, there is an endless supply of experts that promise to solve your problems in the most modern, elegant way possible. Many experts have their clients best interests at heart and work to solve their problems as they appear. Unfortunately, there are experts out there that view their clients…
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2 for $7.99 – Pricing Strategy
Last week, I read a few articles written by Paul Hunt on pricing strategies for companies. His view on pricing is interesting and I found some points that may be helpful for your business. Most companies have yearly growth ambitions. Lets say your goal in 2011 is to increase profits by 12.5%. Now, where do…
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WestJet’s Competitive Advantage
Carrying on from last week’s blog “Finding Your Competitive Advantage,” this week we look at how WestJet found success by finding its niche in the airline industry. WestJet is a unique case because it was able to position itself as a company that offered both lower prices and better service than its competitors. That’s something…
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Finding Your Competitive Advantage
Before investing in a business, one of the most important things to identify is your competitive advantage. Answer the question “why would customers choose your product/service over competitor offerings?†What makes you stand out from the competition? I’ve found that not enough thought goes into what a company’s real competitive advantage is and many companies…
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What’s Better, Infallible or Successful?
While working with a client recently, an interesting issue arose. While generating reports, I was given specific instructions on what information was to be shared. More to the point, I was told what was not to be shared. The concern was the information would cast some people in a poor light. In other words, the…
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Lean or TOC?
When looking at ways to improve businesses, managers have resorted to many methodologies over the years. People around long enough remember Total Quality, Just In Time, Manufacturing Resource Planning and their modern counterparts: Six Sigma, Lean and Enterprise Resource Planning. While we have heard of the companies that have benefited greatly from these efforts, it’s…
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You can’t benchmark your way to prosperity.
CDHT3SDNHRBK Organizations use benchmarking to try to achieve a number of goals. Lots seem to make sense. It seems sensible to find out how you are performing against competitors. You will find out where you are outperforming your competitors and will find where they have the jump on you. A number of companies provide this…
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“Cost Accounting is Productivity’s Public Enemy Number One”
This quote comes from Thomas Corbett’s book “Throughput Accounting.” Corbett quoted this from the godfather of Theory of Constraints (TOC), Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt. This is a bold statement but is true. Cost accountants and business managers are not stupid, so how can this be? This blog explores these questions and proposes a solution. Why…