Success 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 MoreJelena asked me to provide a picture of myself, in a suit, to update my LinkedIn profile. It occurred to me that I haven’t worn a suit in at least a year. Working from home and meeting people from the waist up sort of negates the whole suit idea. This “going to work” is an interesting concept that has become normal over the last year. That physica...
Read MoreONE:You need to obtain a high-level view of the market. This needs to be from your perspective, not a distributor or potential agent who will have inherent bias. Think of it as a 30,000-foot flyover to understand how the market works today. This will give you an indication of your potential revenue from this market. And it will give you a sense of...
Read MoreImagine you are running your country’s summer Olympics team. You have athletes in almost every discipline – swimming, water polo, skateboarding, volleyball, boxing, rugby, fencing and so on. As head of the team, your mandate is to win medals. In the next Olympics, your athletes will be competing against the best in the world. This is no longer loca...
Read MoreEveryone I speak to and everything I read is pointing to a tremendous surge in demand for almost everything. Canada is sitting on about $100 billion of excess savings, which is looking for somewhere to go, and the US is spending trillions on recovery. It also has a huge personal savings stash that's going to go somewhere. We have got people locked...
Read MoreWhen you go to a new market, you consider both your best opportunities to obtain new clients and protect yourself from the competition. If you can identify your competition's asset baggage, you can rest assured you will find your sweet spot.Asset baggage includes a company's brand, staff, IT systems, distribution network, marketing collateral, inve...
Read MoreSherlock used powers of observation to understand causation. Here's how to apply that power of observation to determine what causes people to buy. If you can identify that 'inflection point' you can be there at the right time with the right messages. Homeostasis is a biological system's ability to maintain an internal equilibrium in response to ch...
Read MoreMost of the time when people come to us they are looking for help to grow their businesses. And when you think about it, there are actually only five ways to grow a business. Here they are: OneDouble down on the niche that you already serve. This can be done through better-selling processes, better marketing processes, improved channels, but essent...
Read MoreEverybody in the world is now only 24” apart. Don’t believe me? On your next Zoom call, measure your nose to screen distance… COVID has changed things. We have learned that we can connect with anyone, anywhere in the world. We know that distance is dead. However, an interesting way to think about it is that everybody in the world is just 24 inches...
Read MoreAn area that people get wrong all the time is pricing. Some people price high based on the profits they hope to achieve. Some base it on some sort of average industry “cost-plus” rule. Some are afraid to charge too much. Still, others simply add a few percent to last year’s price. So before you set your next price or quote your next deal here are...
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