Time to get a handle on what your customers want (and control your debtors)
Most businesses that have taken a Christmas break start back at work today. There will be a range of different levels of energy in your business, from those that are refreshed after a break and really keen to get back into making things happen, to those that just don’t want to come back. From a leadership perspective, this is a great time to show the way, and demonstrate the standards you want maintained. In many ways, you will find your people ready to accept some of those changes that you have been meaning to get around to, but just haven’t …
What are the most important ingredients in that elusive recipe for success?
So if there are three critical aspects to business success, and focus is important to achieving success should you focus on only one aspect or are each of them equally important? It really does depend on where you and your business are right now as to what drives your activity and focus. I can recall the times in a number of businesses that I have been involved in where everything seemed to run perfectly. The customers were happy and paid on time, new business was generated by referrals from satisfied existing customers, our market was buoyant even though the economy was reportedly …
The aspects of your business that help you define success
There are a range of drivers that help define success for a business, and a lot has been written about what it takes to achieve success in a diversity of books, articles and blogs. No one but you can define what success means for you. While we all have our own view of what success look and feels like, and it is arguable that the criteria for personal and business success are different, there are many “core” elements in all our versions of success. Some of these include achieving a level of financial sustainability beyond mere survival, fulfilling a worthwhile function …
Reshaping our future
I gave a presentation to a CPA Australia SME discussion group this week and found the discussion very interesting. I am a presenter for The Climate Project http://www.acfonline.org.au/default.asp?section_id=193. The first half of the presentation provides an overview of what climate change is and why it is important to start to do something about addressing the causes now. The second part of the presentation is a discussion about innovative businesses that are taking positive and profitable steps to reduce their impact on the environment. While we discussed reducing waste and making conscious decisions about how we do business now, we also discussed how successful those …
The success of failure
I have found it difficult to get the rhythm and discipline of regularly posting. How to say something original and provide value rather than add to the volume of noise already on the web. Earlier this week I spoke to a group at RMIT studying entrepreneurship, and found the experience rewarding, and insightful. The slides from the presentation are attached. Growth – RMIT 14 September 2010 Final The insight that I have gained by sharing my experience was very powerful. Yes, I did talk about the things that worked, however the best discussion and most meaningful part of the presentation came when …
Where value lies
The value proposition for any business is defined by what value is delivered to the customer. 12 micro caps presented to a room full of investors earlier this week, and the customer proposition was clearly defined in only one of those presentations. I understand the pitch was focused on returns to investors, yet I was intrigued that only one company provided insight into the value they delivered to customers, and coincidently that company seemed most investment ready to me, a somewhat scary proposition, given that all companies are listed on the stock exchange. I don’t recall any sensitive information being …
The subtlety of trends
I recently reviewed my accounting software, and thought it time to upgrade both my process and software. As I started looking around, I became aware that the best solution for me existed in the “cloud”. I have heard of cloud computing, however my experience has been relatively limited. I explored the options around application service provider (ASP) some time ago, and found the value proposition unattractive. The ASP value proposition has been developed significantly, and the current wave of Software as a Service (SaaS) providers have established a great business model that is cost effective and a great value proposition. …
And so to the second question
– how are we assessing investment proposals? Recently I was advised that a proposal to install solar generation to replace existing power just didn’t stack up economically, and the question posed was how will renewable energies ever replace current technologies for power generation when they aren’t economical? My initial response was that the business model we are using to assess these proposals needs to be questioned. The two alternatives were assessed as if the outcomes were considered identical (i.e. a certain number of kilowatt hours of power generated for a certain cost). However the outcomes aren’t the same. Power acquired …
Current presentations
Just updating the current presentations available for you to download. If you were attending Centering on Excellence in Brisbane the presentation is here : Web version Climate_Project CPA – Centering on Excellence Brisbane 26 May 2010 If you were attending PAC in Lorne, the presentation is here: Web version Climate_Project CPA – VIC PAC Lorne 28 May 2010 If you are interested in the software offer I discussed the code is “CPA Lorne” and the link to the software is via the following URL: www.eqlomg.com/ease.html Thanks for engaging in the discussion and participating. …
Two challenges – first reporting
Thanks to the participants at CPA Centering on Excellence in Perth on 13th May for engaging in an interesting discussion and providing two very challenging questions. The first question asked if I had seen any government departments provide meaningful sustainability reports. My response was that I was aware of a good report from the Victorian government from 2008 (released in November 2009), and that can be found at the following web site: http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/CA256F310024B628/0/16B5DC07267852D8CA257679000CEE68/$File/DSE+SER+Response.pdf The report is very comprehensive, makes a series of recommendations about dealing with environmental issues and gives a number of references for future reporting. I have also …