A few weeks back many of us made personal resolutions- usually to improve something about our behavior, health or relationships. The intention always is self-improvement. It’s a noble effort but one that usually doesn’t get kept for long. It’s likely that the reason for our poor performance when it comes to resolutions is one of incentive. Would we skip dessert, sleep more, be more thoughtful to our significant others if we were compensated?
If you are like me and you think so- then why don’t more of us make a resolution for our businesses? - Where we know there is a financial reward for our “sticktuitiveness” or diligence.
It is easy to make a resolution, but not so easy to make the right one or one we can keep. We could resolve to make more money- or we could resolve to spend less. We could resolve to improve our customer service or our employee relations. But what is the right goal? Is $100,000 more or 15% better the right metric? What is achievable and realistic?
If you are not sure…try this on for size. Do it all, but set a low goal. I call it “The 5% Resolution”. Across every function and every metric, try and get 5% better. Note that I didn’t necessarily say spend or invest- I said get better.
• If your sales increase 5% and your costs are cut 5% (certainly an achievable goal)- you have a net affect on your bottom line of 10%. (Refer to our revenue and cost tress to see the different drivers of each and which you might best exploit). For example you might try and expand a little geographically or sign on a few more distribution outlets to increase revenue, or you might try and use materials more efficiently; sharing storage space for inventory or storing less inventory in the first place- you might even buy in bulk if inventory costs are cheap)
• If you improve customer service by 5%, you will have fewer complaints, higher customer satisfaction. This leads to improved customer retention (they keep using you) and more referrals. Both lead to marketing savings since you now get more business, just by doing business better! (Refer to our “How to price a product” page and see the drivers of value to customer. You could strive to be 5% faster or even 5% more reliable)
• If you improve employee relations by only 5%, this lowers employee turnover, increases loyalty and improves the service your employees deliver to customer (see customer satisfaction above). A 5% improvement could be a coffee machine or creating an employee of the month program (Even better if it includes a free lunch with the boss so you can get the inside scoop on issues and concerns that may never be raised elsewhere).
If you get just a little better or a little more efficient at what you do in multiple areas (not just one like sales) your return doubles and triples. A few percent better in one area and a few percent better in another add up nicely in profit. Not just for this year but every year to come! (I correlate it to compounding interest)
So try it and watch how 5% can add up fast.
Read more!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Making Smart Decisions with a Profit Tree
There is no shortage of decisions to make when running a business. Indeed, all the various questions and possible answers can be overwhelming. It helps to remember that, for the most part, every business decision is about profitability. Should I lower my price? Should I rent or lease? What level of insurance do I need? Should I name my business ‘sex’, ‘drugs’ or ‘rock and roll’? In the business context it’s all about maximizing our profit.
Below is a simple profit tree, through which you should run every business decision you make. The tree doesn’t answer your questions per se. Its value is in making sure that you are considering many or all of the implications as you try to answer your business questions. We will be referring to the profit tree regularly here at Simplrbusiness and will be going into much greater detail on all of the various branches. We start today with a basic overview.
Profit is a function of your revenue and your costs, in simple terms the money you bring in minus the money you have to pay out. Both of these are influenced by factors or “levers” --- for example the price you charge plays important role in your revenue, while your office rent (a fixed cost) is an important part of your overall costs.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say you sell teddy bears and I ask you your plan for being more profitable two years from now. You might say you plan to aggressively sell more teddy bears and get more market share by expanding into this new region or this new product line (teddy tigers?) because others are not offering teddy tigers. OK, that’s a start, but those answers sounded generic and lofty- more aspirational than actionable.
This type of response, which I hear quite often, is informed more by “gut feel,” not sound reasoning – it’s not very structured, thoughtful or comprehensive. Besides, the question was “profitability”. What was described is really expansion- not profitability. What about the costs associated with all the ‘more’, ‘new’ and ‘expanding’ that you have planned? Those ambitious plans just might make you less profitable. When I hear a response like the one above it suggests that someone doesn’t feel like they make enough money from their business today. If true, you might falsely think you need to expand to make more money when in fact, it could be the case that you simply need to address cost issues to make your existing business more profitable. In our next installment, we will run our question through the profit tree and get some better answers. Read more!
Below is a simple profit tree, through which you should run every business decision you make. The tree doesn’t answer your questions per se. Its value is in making sure that you are considering many or all of the implications as you try to answer your business questions. We will be referring to the profit tree regularly here at Simplrbusiness and will be going into much greater detail on all of the various branches. We start today with a basic overview.
Profit is a function of your revenue and your costs, in simple terms the money you bring in minus the money you have to pay out. Both of these are influenced by factors or “levers” --- for example the price you charge plays important role in your revenue, while your office rent (a fixed cost) is an important part of your overall costs.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say you sell teddy bears and I ask you your plan for being more profitable two years from now. You might say you plan to aggressively sell more teddy bears and get more market share by expanding into this new region or this new product line (teddy tigers?) because others are not offering teddy tigers. OK, that’s a start, but those answers sounded generic and lofty- more aspirational than actionable.
This type of response, which I hear quite often, is informed more by “gut feel,” not sound reasoning – it’s not very structured, thoughtful or comprehensive. Besides, the question was “profitability”. What was described is really expansion- not profitability. What about the costs associated with all the ‘more’, ‘new’ and ‘expanding’ that you have planned? Those ambitious plans just might make you less profitable. When I hear a response like the one above it suggests that someone doesn’t feel like they make enough money from their business today. If true, you might falsely think you need to expand to make more money when in fact, it could be the case that you simply need to address cost issues to make your existing business more profitable. In our next installment, we will run our question through the profit tree and get some better answers. Read more!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Product Improvement: Being good at what matters
Ok…sure, I’ll concede. Whatever business you are in- you are probably delivering a fine product or service. I’ll take your word that customers like you and I’m sure you work hard and do good work- whatever you do. But I’m also pretty sure you equate product improvement with “quality”; a nice haircut, a nice photograph, a nice toilet repair, a nice 1040 form.
Quality is important- maybe most important- but quality alone is rarely enough to make an impression in a crowded, disloyal marketplace.There are countless criteria that a customer might value that fall outside the “quality” categorization and more and more in-line with the “improvement” I am referring to here. For example:
-- That haircut might have been nice, but the customer may not come back because
she had to wait 45 minutes to get it.
-- That photograph would have been much better appreciated if it had been bigger or
come mounted or in a frame.
-- The toilet repair was well done but the experience would have been “improved” if
there weren’t grease stains all over the bathroom.
-- And that 1040 seems right but the customer is wondering why you took the
appropriate papers but didn’t ask any follow-up questions to try and find more
deductions.
Improvement is truly in the eye of the customer. In the examples above (from the top), improvement from the customer perspective means speed and convenience, value and flexibility, reliability and customization. These are only a few of the criteria that join “quality” in the lexicon of product improvement.
If you refer back to the revenue branch of our profit tree, you can see that the significance of improving your product or service is among the key drivers to increasing your sales volume. Why product improvement is special is that it is a key driver for increasing your market share- or the percentage of the market that does business with you or your competitors. Compared to other options for improving market share (increasing your promotional spending or expanding your distribution network, for example) product improvement can often be the least costly and most certain option.
A quick glance at some big name examples and you’ll see what I mean. Toyota improved its products not by turning them into Bentley’s, but by making them more “reliable”. Apple improves its products so frequently that it often disrupts its own businesses before competitors can by introducing new, “faster”, “sexier”, more “convenient” and more “customizable” products every 18 months. By the time competitors were ready with a product to compete with the first iPhone, Apple launched a new and improved version with built in GPS and other new features that blunts other offerings.
So expand your mind and your perspective. Even if you have a quality product or service (and you should ask your customers to be sure) that doesn’t mean that you don’t have ample opportunity to “improve” in all the areas that count the most.
Read more!
Quality is important- maybe most important- but quality alone is rarely enough to make an impression in a crowded, disloyal marketplace.There are countless criteria that a customer might value that fall outside the “quality” categorization and more and more in-line with the “improvement” I am referring to here. For example:
-- That haircut might have been nice, but the customer may not come back because
she had to wait 45 minutes to get it.
-- That photograph would have been much better appreciated if it had been bigger or
come mounted or in a frame.
-- The toilet repair was well done but the experience would have been “improved” if
there weren’t grease stains all over the bathroom.
-- And that 1040 seems right but the customer is wondering why you took the
appropriate papers but didn’t ask any follow-up questions to try and find more
deductions.
Improvement is truly in the eye of the customer. In the examples above (from the top), improvement from the customer perspective means speed and convenience, value and flexibility, reliability and customization. These are only a few of the criteria that join “quality” in the lexicon of product improvement.
If you refer back to the revenue branch of our profit tree, you can see that the significance of improving your product or service is among the key drivers to increasing your sales volume. Why product improvement is special is that it is a key driver for increasing your market share- or the percentage of the market that does business with you or your competitors. Compared to other options for improving market share (increasing your promotional spending or expanding your distribution network, for example) product improvement can often be the least costly and most certain option.
A quick glance at some big name examples and you’ll see what I mean. Toyota improved its products not by turning them into Bentley’s, but by making them more “reliable”. Apple improves its products so frequently that it often disrupts its own businesses before competitors can by introducing new, “faster”, “sexier”, more “convenient” and more “customizable” products every 18 months. By the time competitors were ready with a product to compete with the first iPhone, Apple launched a new and improved version with built in GPS and other new features that blunts other offerings.
So expand your mind and your perspective. Even if you have a quality product or service (and you should ask your customers to be sure) that doesn’t mean that you don’t have ample opportunity to “improve” in all the areas that count the most.
Read more!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Clarity on the Financial Crisis
This financial crisis is truly a mess. A very complex and expensive mess.
You may have heard of Warren Buffet and if you have, you know he is considered a rational and wise investor who has guided his shareholders through many market swings, delivering consistent returns- over 20% average annual return for the last 40 years- with steady hand and sound strategies. If you don’t know him you should.
In a not so recent (but still very relevant) interview with Charlie Rose, Buffet explains the current financial crisis in terms that the layman can understand. He offers hints as to what happened, what has to happen next and how he and his conglomerate holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, are responding. Buffet has recently gone on a bit of a buying spree of late, gobbling up a stake in General Electric and Goldman Sachs, two respected firms with long histories of solid returns and sound management, which are now very good bargains.
You will find a number of wonderful observations in this piece- particularly about human behavior and whats “rational” and not. But one key term you will hear and undoubtedly have heard in the press is “Leverage”. So let me provide a high level explanation of leverage as it’s a key element in many important business and personal decisions.
Simply put leverage is debt. Knowing what it means isn’t enough to be very helpful. Knowing how it’s used is what’s important. Corporations use leverage in some of the ways you might. When you take out a mortgage to buy a house, you are leveraging borrowed money. A down payment of $50,000 can buy you a $400,000 asset. You are borrowing $350,000, but you in a sense, own the asset. Now, yes, it’s true that until you pay off that mortgage, the bank owns the house- but only the amount owed to them. As that house appreciates you, not the bank, reap the appreciation on that asset. That appreciation is the benefit of leverage and its very attractive.
If you have $50,000 and you can either buy a house or invest it in the stock market (the long term stock market rather than the one of the last few weeks) how do you assess which is the best investment. Leaving out diversification of your investments and the utility or need you have for a house as factors in your decision, you would look at the rate of return on that $50,000 investment.
The stock market traditionally (not recently though) returns around 9% per year. The real estate market typically returns around 3 or 4% (again- not recently). You might think that stock market is the best way to go. But you should consider one very important thing. In the stock market you are getting 9% of $50,000 or $4500/yr- and if you mortgage a house you are getting 4% of $400,000 or $16,000/ yr. It’s the same $50,000 you put up, but in the real estate investment- by taking on debt- you are leveraging your money. This “levering up” to own a more valuable asset allows you to collect a return on an asset worth much more than the money alone. The higher the levering, the more debt you are assuming. Of course you need to pay off that debt- that’s the rub in the crisis today.
That is leverage in a nutshell. It’s a powerful tool. Potent when it works for you and devastating when it doesn't. Read more!
You may have heard of Warren Buffet and if you have, you know he is considered a rational and wise investor who has guided his shareholders through many market swings, delivering consistent returns- over 20% average annual return for the last 40 years- with steady hand and sound strategies. If you don’t know him you should.
In a not so recent (but still very relevant) interview with Charlie Rose, Buffet explains the current financial crisis in terms that the layman can understand. He offers hints as to what happened, what has to happen next and how he and his conglomerate holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, are responding. Buffet has recently gone on a bit of a buying spree of late, gobbling up a stake in General Electric and Goldman Sachs, two respected firms with long histories of solid returns and sound management, which are now very good bargains.
You will find a number of wonderful observations in this piece- particularly about human behavior and whats “rational” and not. But one key term you will hear and undoubtedly have heard in the press is “Leverage”. So let me provide a high level explanation of leverage as it’s a key element in many important business and personal decisions.
Simply put leverage is debt. Knowing what it means isn’t enough to be very helpful. Knowing how it’s used is what’s important. Corporations use leverage in some of the ways you might. When you take out a mortgage to buy a house, you are leveraging borrowed money. A down payment of $50,000 can buy you a $400,000 asset. You are borrowing $350,000, but you in a sense, own the asset. Now, yes, it’s true that until you pay off that mortgage, the bank owns the house- but only the amount owed to them. As that house appreciates you, not the bank, reap the appreciation on that asset. That appreciation is the benefit of leverage and its very attractive.
If you have $50,000 and you can either buy a house or invest it in the stock market (the long term stock market rather than the one of the last few weeks) how do you assess which is the best investment. Leaving out diversification of your investments and the utility or need you have for a house as factors in your decision, you would look at the rate of return on that $50,000 investment.
The stock market traditionally (not recently though) returns around 9% per year. The real estate market typically returns around 3 or 4% (again- not recently). You might think that stock market is the best way to go. But you should consider one very important thing. In the stock market you are getting 9% of $50,000 or $4500/yr- and if you mortgage a house you are getting 4% of $400,000 or $16,000/ yr. It’s the same $50,000 you put up, but in the real estate investment- by taking on debt- you are leveraging your money. This “levering up” to own a more valuable asset allows you to collect a return on an asset worth much more than the money alone. The higher the levering, the more debt you are assuming. Of course you need to pay off that debt- that’s the rub in the crisis today.
That is leverage in a nutshell. It’s a powerful tool. Potent when it works for you and devastating when it doesn't. Read more!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Give it away -- the Returns are Great!
Some people think that sharing their knowledge or expertise with customers in some ways means “giving it away for free.” Whether or not that is true isn’t really the point. The point is- what you are getting in return?
Your customers obviously find value in the service you provide them, but is that enough to keep them calling you and referring you to others. Sharing expertise sends powerful signals and they are all positive. It provides a rare opportunity to build a relationship that transcends a transaction. It also tells your customers that:
-- You are interested in their success and satisfaction
-- You are an expert in your field and stay current on trends and best practices
-- You are a trusted partner, not merely a service provider and worthy of a referral to your customers colleagues and associates
-- You careabout their concerns and challenges
-- You are distinctive among your competitors
Bells should be going off about now. Businesses invest significant sums of marketing dollars to tell potential customers that they care and can be trusted. The Return on Investment (ROI) for actually walking the talk is much higher than simply talking the talk.
Certainly you have examples in your business dealings that illustrate this point. We recently had some work done on our house and hired a variety of carpenters, plumbers, electricians and painters. All did a commendable job, but the ones we will hire again are the ones who talked to us about what they were doing and why. They shared their experiences from other jobs and showed us how to do some quick fixes on our own. They gave away a good amount for free- and what did they get in return? Loyalty. We knew we had found trusted advisors that we could call on for problems big and small and more to the point, these are the professionals we refer to friends and neighbors.
The old saying that information is power is true. So sharing that information with customers empowers them- it makes them feel better and they wont soon forget who it was that gave them that power.
For example. the team that did our heating and air conditioning worked in brutal heat to run ducts through our stifling and tight attic space. All the while explaining what they were doing, future options and how we can maintain the new system on our own. It was educational, like having an insider explaining all the things no one else wants to divulge about their industry or craft. I certainly felt empowered and eager to share this special group of people with my peers- as we are always on the lookout for trust-worthy businesses.
I think I’ve made what I will call the “soft”case for sharing expertise. If you want to think of it in “hard” numbers, the business case for sharing expertise is even more convincing. They could have been less helpful and less caring in doing their work and probably saved themselves some time and money, but either would have diminished our favorable opinion and positive experience. In the month after our job was completed, we referred this crew to three friends who each hired them to install central air conditioning in their historic homes. The math is quite simple. It was a tradeoff of a few hours of building trust, sharing knowledge and demonstrating expertise and professionalism at an estimated cost of a few hundred dollars, in exchange for over $30,000 of new business and free marketing for life (in the form of our hearty recommendations).
Sharing your expertise and taking an interest in your customers is the cheapest and most valuable kind of marketing. It makes you distinctive in a crowded marketplace, something that is priceless in competitive industries today. But its your choice. You can do brand building the hard way, over many years and many dollars in advertising, or you can do it the easy way by sharing your expertise and empowering your customers, reaping the benefits much sooner.
So don’t be afraid to share what you know. It’s not what you “give away” that counts but what you get back.
Read more!
Your customers obviously find value in the service you provide them, but is that enough to keep them calling you and referring you to others. Sharing expertise sends powerful signals and they are all positive. It provides a rare opportunity to build a relationship that transcends a transaction. It also tells your customers that:
-- You are interested in their success and satisfaction
-- You are an expert in your field and stay current on trends and best practices
-- You are a trusted partner, not merely a service provider and worthy of a referral to your customers colleagues and associates
-- You careabout their concerns and challenges
-- You are distinctive among your competitors
Bells should be going off about now. Businesses invest significant sums of marketing dollars to tell potential customers that they care and can be trusted. The Return on Investment (ROI) for actually walking the talk is much higher than simply talking the talk.
Certainly you have examples in your business dealings that illustrate this point. We recently had some work done on our house and hired a variety of carpenters, plumbers, electricians and painters. All did a commendable job, but the ones we will hire again are the ones who talked to us about what they were doing and why. They shared their experiences from other jobs and showed us how to do some quick fixes on our own. They gave away a good amount for free- and what did they get in return? Loyalty. We knew we had found trusted advisors that we could call on for problems big and small and more to the point, these are the professionals we refer to friends and neighbors.
The old saying that information is power is true. So sharing that information with customers empowers them- it makes them feel better and they wont soon forget who it was that gave them that power.
For example. the team that did our heating and air conditioning worked in brutal heat to run ducts through our stifling and tight attic space. All the while explaining what they were doing, future options and how we can maintain the new system on our own. It was educational, like having an insider explaining all the things no one else wants to divulge about their industry or craft. I certainly felt empowered and eager to share this special group of people with my peers- as we are always on the lookout for trust-worthy businesses.
I think I’ve made what I will call the “soft”case for sharing expertise. If you want to think of it in “hard” numbers, the business case for sharing expertise is even more convincing. They could have been less helpful and less caring in doing their work and probably saved themselves some time and money, but either would have diminished our favorable opinion and positive experience. In the month after our job was completed, we referred this crew to three friends who each hired them to install central air conditioning in their historic homes. The math is quite simple. It was a tradeoff of a few hours of building trust, sharing knowledge and demonstrating expertise and professionalism at an estimated cost of a few hundred dollars, in exchange for over $30,000 of new business and free marketing for life (in the form of our hearty recommendations).
Sharing your expertise and taking an interest in your customers is the cheapest and most valuable kind of marketing. It makes you distinctive in a crowded marketplace, something that is priceless in competitive industries today. But its your choice. You can do brand building the hard way, over many years and many dollars in advertising, or you can do it the easy way by sharing your expertise and empowering your customers, reaping the benefits much sooner.
So don’t be afraid to share what you know. It’s not what you “give away” that counts but what you get back.
Read more!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Tanking Economy -- Strategies Just in Case
When the economy is strong, revenues come kind of easy. We are consistently busy and cash flow is strong and stable or at least not worth panicking over. We focus on our operational challenges to help get as much work done and rake it in. Usually, businesses focus on growth during these periods, not efficiency. We are strengthening relationships with existing customers and suppliers with no real incentive to think strategically about the state of our business. When times get tough though, the cracks in the business model start to show, often too late to remedy.
With the economy teetering on both recession and signs of inflation, there is no better time to do a strategic diagnostic of your business. The goal is to take a step back and look at the foundation of your business model and diagnose how vulnerable you are to an economic downturn. In some ways it’s similar to a diagnostic that you might do at any time with a business regardless of the economic conditions. Only now, the idea is to preserve existing revenues and minimize exposure to vulnerabilities.
In some prior posts we discussed some of the financial opportunities that the mortgage crisis has presented. But what should someone do who has no debt to restructure, no house to buy and no big purchase to borrow for? How about investing in diversifying and strengthening your business for the future? Another way to think about is shaping part of your business like an annuity in the sense that cash flows are more stable and less vulnerable to the ups and downs of the economic cycle. To do this, ask yourself a few hard questions about your business. And of course don’t just answer truthfully, answer cynically;
-- How exposed am I (or how exposed are my customers) to economic downturns?
-- Am I overexposed or only serving certain sectors? Do I rely on one or two main customers for a majority of my income?
-- What can I do to diversify my customer base?
-- Is all my spending on marketing, labor, equipment and material justified? Am I using everything efficiently?
-- If business drops 50%, what would I cut first? Can I cut it now?
-- What happened during the last economic downturn? How did others in my industry stay afloat?
-- What are my customers biggest pain points? How can I ease those?
-- What power or leverage do I have to retain business
The answers to some of these scary questions will guide you on how to use your resources and money wisely in uncertain times like these. Some examples of you might come up with;
-- Investing in marketing yourself to customers that are less susceptible to tough times for example in government, nonprofit, utility sectors. Perhaps if you focus on commercial clients today, is there a way to diversify your client base with individuals or residential customers.
-- Could you train yourself or an employee to do something you pay a premium to outsource (e.g. computer service, data entry, or office admin).
-- You may even consider selling an underperforming part of your business (or part of your customer list) to a competitor so you can refocus on your core customers or line of business.
-- Consider changing your pricing structure. Can you build a contract model into your business so that customers buy a 2 year contract for your service instead of per use, guaranteeing you income regardless of the state of the economy.
If you are ahead of the curve and thinking about this now, you will be prepared to make the tough choices in time. If not, you wont know what to do and it will be too late to do it.
Read more!
With the economy teetering on both recession and signs of inflation, there is no better time to do a strategic diagnostic of your business. The goal is to take a step back and look at the foundation of your business model and diagnose how vulnerable you are to an economic downturn. In some ways it’s similar to a diagnostic that you might do at any time with a business regardless of the economic conditions. Only now, the idea is to preserve existing revenues and minimize exposure to vulnerabilities.
In some prior posts we discussed some of the financial opportunities that the mortgage crisis has presented. But what should someone do who has no debt to restructure, no house to buy and no big purchase to borrow for? How about investing in diversifying and strengthening your business for the future? Another way to think about is shaping part of your business like an annuity in the sense that cash flows are more stable and less vulnerable to the ups and downs of the economic cycle. To do this, ask yourself a few hard questions about your business. And of course don’t just answer truthfully, answer cynically;
-- How exposed am I (or how exposed are my customers) to economic downturns?
-- Am I overexposed or only serving certain sectors? Do I rely on one or two main customers for a majority of my income?
-- What can I do to diversify my customer base?
-- Is all my spending on marketing, labor, equipment and material justified? Am I using everything efficiently?
-- If business drops 50%, what would I cut first? Can I cut it now?
-- What happened during the last economic downturn? How did others in my industry stay afloat?
-- What are my customers biggest pain points? How can I ease those?
-- What power or leverage do I have to retain business
The answers to some of these scary questions will guide you on how to use your resources and money wisely in uncertain times like these. Some examples of you might come up with;
-- Investing in marketing yourself to customers that are less susceptible to tough times for example in government, nonprofit, utility sectors. Perhaps if you focus on commercial clients today, is there a way to diversify your client base with individuals or residential customers.
-- Could you train yourself or an employee to do something you pay a premium to outsource (e.g. computer service, data entry, or office admin).
-- You may even consider selling an underperforming part of your business (or part of your customer list) to a competitor so you can refocus on your core customers or line of business.
-- Consider changing your pricing structure. Can you build a contract model into your business so that customers buy a 2 year contract for your service instead of per use, guaranteeing you income regardless of the state of the economy.
If you are ahead of the curve and thinking about this now, you will be prepared to make the tough choices in time. If not, you wont know what to do and it will be too late to do it.
Read more!
Monday, January 1, 2007
Who we are
SimplrBusiness is a collaboration of two old friends named Michael and Dennis.
The more serious member of the team, Michael is an Ivy league MBA working for a global media company and is a former associate at a big-three consulting firm. The experience he brings to this blog was once sought after by blue chip corporations in media, telecom and consumer packaged goods as well as by non-profits and the US government. All of whom paid thousands of dollars per hour for his insights. Unfortunately they didn’t pay him directly…and don’t worry, neither will you.
Dennis is a successful small businessman who has been the envy of his friends for the past decade because he only works about half of the year at a job he loves, and still manages to pay his bills on time and invest regularly in his IRA. He spends much of the rest of his time doing things like paragliding in China, scuba diving in South America and trying to become a half-decent guitar player.
How did we get here?
This blog was born over beers one night as Dennis pumped his old friend Mike for free business tips (hiring the likes of Mike was way out of range for Dennis’ budget, as it would be for just about any small business person). Mike told Dennis how often he found himself giving business advice to self-employed friends. The conversation went off on a tangent as we realized that there were few options for small businesses looking for advice on streamlining their operations or growing their bottom line.
We thought of a peer of ours who runs a small business. A woman with lots of talent, energy and great people skills working in a market where she was in great demand—and yet she was always struggling to make a profit, pay her employees on time, and chronically stressed out with all the decisions she had to make! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this person, and those like her, had a trusted resource (like corporate CEOs have) that could help identify, prioritize and resolve complex business challenges?
What is SimplrBusiness?
The SimplrBusiness mission- as the name implies- is to be a vehicle for simplifying complex business theories, frameworks, tools and analysis. We want to allow independent and small business owners to leverage the same knowledge and expertise large corporations use to make smart business decisions. After years in the mix, Mike has seen first hand how communicating these concepts in plain English can have a powerful positive impact.
Specifically, we will:
--- Introduce business diagnostic tools and processes, walking you through a step by step process to analyze each function of your business (Marketing, Operations, Sales, Finance and Strategy) and provide a snapshot or baseline that you can use to guide strategic decisions and track your progress. This is a powerful tool whether you have a million dollar business with complex client and employee issues or you make your living playing guitar in a subway station.
--- Cover a broad spectrum of issues that we hope will enlighten and inform your business decisions:
o Explaining the pitfalls and opportunities with current economic conditions
o De-mystifying business functions
o Introducing frameworks and tools for sound decision-making
o Sharing case studies of business make-overs (good and bad)
o Reviews of valuable books and other resources
So please visit often and challenge us to be of value to you. If you have an issue or question you want discussed, or if you had success from anything you saw here, please let us know (…and support our sponsors!)
Remember a smart business is a SimplrBusiness! Read more!
The more serious member of the team, Michael is an Ivy league MBA working for a global media company and is a former associate at a big-three consulting firm. The experience he brings to this blog was once sought after by blue chip corporations in media, telecom and consumer packaged goods as well as by non-profits and the US government. All of whom paid thousands of dollars per hour for his insights. Unfortunately they didn’t pay him directly…and don’t worry, neither will you.
Dennis is a successful small businessman who has been the envy of his friends for the past decade because he only works about half of the year at a job he loves, and still manages to pay his bills on time and invest regularly in his IRA. He spends much of the rest of his time doing things like paragliding in China, scuba diving in South America and trying to become a half-decent guitar player.
How did we get here?
This blog was born over beers one night as Dennis pumped his old friend Mike for free business tips (hiring the likes of Mike was way out of range for Dennis’ budget, as it would be for just about any small business person). Mike told Dennis how often he found himself giving business advice to self-employed friends. The conversation went off on a tangent as we realized that there were few options for small businesses looking for advice on streamlining their operations or growing their bottom line.
We thought of a peer of ours who runs a small business. A woman with lots of talent, energy and great people skills working in a market where she was in great demand—and yet she was always struggling to make a profit, pay her employees on time, and chronically stressed out with all the decisions she had to make! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this person, and those like her, had a trusted resource (like corporate CEOs have) that could help identify, prioritize and resolve complex business challenges?
What is SimplrBusiness?
The SimplrBusiness mission- as the name implies- is to be a vehicle for simplifying complex business theories, frameworks, tools and analysis. We want to allow independent and small business owners to leverage the same knowledge and expertise large corporations use to make smart business decisions. After years in the mix, Mike has seen first hand how communicating these concepts in plain English can have a powerful positive impact.
Specifically, we will:
--- Introduce business diagnostic tools and processes, walking you through a step by step process to analyze each function of your business (Marketing, Operations, Sales, Finance and Strategy) and provide a snapshot or baseline that you can use to guide strategic decisions and track your progress. This is a powerful tool whether you have a million dollar business with complex client and employee issues or you make your living playing guitar in a subway station.
--- Cover a broad spectrum of issues that we hope will enlighten and inform your business decisions:
o Explaining the pitfalls and opportunities with current economic conditions
o De-mystifying business functions
o Introducing frameworks and tools for sound decision-making
o Sharing case studies of business make-overs (good and bad)
o Reviews of valuable books and other resources
So please visit often and challenge us to be of value to you. If you have an issue or question you want discussed, or if you had success from anything you saw here, please let us know (…and support our sponsors!)
Remember a smart business is a SimplrBusiness! Read more!
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