Sunday night I got started reading my first book in a while (it is hard to get as much reading done when you’re not riding the train for two hours a day). Luckily it is one that I’ve been looking forward to – Change by Design by Tim Brown (CEO of IDEO). I have heard great things about the book […]
Category Archives: Blog
Out Of The Box Opportunities
There is a great article in this week’s BusinessWeek magazine entitled ‘Fertile Ground for Startups’ that illustrates the opportunities that are at hand for truly innovative ideas in today’s economy. The article outlines that investment by angel investors and venture capitalists is up significantly over the first half of this year, and that as many as 50,000 […]
Appropriate Management Controls for Small Business
For those that read this blog regularly or who have spoken with me at one of the various networking events that I regularly participate in you know that my passion is in creating growth through value innovation, but I have had a couple of conversations in the past week with colleagues in other businesses about […]
Tips to be a more effective Networker
As small business owners, one of the key sources of new business will be your network. That means that the more effective you are at the art of networking, the more likely you are to generate quality leads and increase your business and professional footprint. For those seeking new employment, the principles are the same […]
Interesting Small Business Statistics
While these statistics aren’t particularly new (they come from a 2005 Industry Canada report) I came across them this week while working on a white paper and I think they bear some brief discussion here. In Canada, 94.6% of businesses by number are ‘small’ meaning that they have less than 50 employees. The actual number startled me […]
The 80/20 Rule and Your Market
We all know the 80/20 Rule, also known as the Pareto Principle. We’ve heard it over and over and seen the power of the rule in our own businesses. 80% of our business comes from 20% of our customers. 80% of our problems are solved by 20% of our efforts. The richest 20% of the […]
Packaging Matters
As I noted in my last entry, platform thinking is a problem when you try to communicate the value of your product or service offering to a potential client. The problem is that I have been struggling with the same issue for the past couple of months and only now have been able to put together the […]
Value is in the Eye of the Beholder
I’ve had some great conversations with some really smart people in the past couple of months since I got started working with small businesses and new Entrepreneurs in this capacity. There is one common theme that seems to be emerging though as I work particularly with young technology entrepreneurs: unclear value. Perhaps a good way to […]
Great Business Books for Small Business
I’ve been known for some time as a voracious reader and I’m often asked for recommendations of good books for specific situations. I promised in an entry earlier this month that I would list some of my favourites, so that’s what today is all about. This list is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully it […]
It’s All In The Follow Through
It’s been said many times that follow up is key to success, but I would suggest that it goes deeper than just a simple follow-up if you want to dominate in your field. Just like a good golf swing, the best hitters in baseball, and a great slapshot, the key to exceeding the expectations of […]