As we continue to work with more and more manufacturers coming into North America, we are seeing a sharp increase in the number of companies that are exploring a Direct-to-Customer (D2C) model. The advantages of this are many, including: In the manufacturing segment, markups are typically 100% on the wholesale cost before it goes to retail. Innova...
Read MoreWhenever the name Thomas Edison is mentioned, people often think about ‘the man that invented the light-bulb’, and most are aware of the many variations of his famous quote about trying to make the lightbulb work: “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work”.
Read MoreIn my first job as a Key Account Manager in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods industry, I was trying to sell a couple of pallets of Carpaccio to my client in Riga. The client kept ignoring my calls and I was starting to feel very frustrated. I had only been on the job for about a month and was starting to feel that I would never succeed at this. I cal...
Read MoreA few weeks ago, I tried to connect with the national sales manager of a North American appliance manufacturer. I went through a fairly torturous auto-attendant reception tree to try and find the individual. I eventually spoke to a live person who offered to transfer me – and I was put on hold, indefinitely. I dialed back in and then went throug...
Read MoreSuccess in business is a rare thing, in fact 70% of businesses fail within their first 10 years. And that number holds true for all types of business. Of those that don’t fail, only a few really soar. Why am I saying this? Simply to suggest that you be careful when you think about emulating your peers or you may well be joining a pack of lemmings h...
Read MoreFor many companies, the idea of just having clients sounds good, and the more the merrier. However, the quality of your clients could have a considerable bearing on the success not only of the individual relationships, but on your company too. But what does a ‘quality’ look like and how do you find ‘better’ clients? Well, ultimately, they will ch...
Read MoreTwenty years ago, Salesforce invented the phrase “Software-as-a-Service” or ‘SaaS”. Since then, the growth of this concept has been phenomenal. A few years ago, I was collating Latvian SaaS companies into a single database to facilitate investors. Now, categorizing SaaS enterprises is not a straightforward activity as they fall into so many differe...
Read MoreOne of my favourite movies is A Knight’s Tale. It’s its 20th anniversary, so I watched it once again to mark the occasion. Without giving too much of the plot away, there is a point in the story where Geoffrey Chaucer (yes, THE Geoffrey Chaucer) is invited to join the small protagonist group; this group had grown to know each other very well, wi...
Read MoreThere really is nothing quite like a good bowl of soup; warming, nutritious and tasty. The thing about soup is that there is almost an infinite variety of possibilities of what you can make – whether it is using a different combination of ingredients or a slight variation of the same ingredients. Adjustments to the cooking time or temperature, or...
Read MoreOnce I heard about someone who made an Excel Spreadsheet to determine if his girlfriend would be a good life partner. There was a set of criteria with various values and a total sum to drive a go-no-go decision. Now, that is perhaps a not-so-common practice in a relationship setting.
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