Momentum Building · 01. June 2016

Customer Attraction/Retention: Part II of II - In Part I, I covered the key aspects that are important to gaining interest and the ultimate purchase from a prospective customer. These included: Convenience factors of location, accessibility and time; soundness of offerings and capabilities; track record in business; accuracy and reliability; and value for time and money spent. Getting a customer to purchase from you initially may seem like the most critical hurdle to leap over. However, what...

01. May 2016

Customer Attraction/Retention: Part I of II - Over 32 years in interviewing thousands of customers of clients in almost every industry, I have been able to document key factors of attraction and retention of customers that every business should pay heed to in order to realize a continually growing and loyal customer base. If you feel that you must always be pursuing new customers, chances are you are not truly understanding how successful businesses attract and keep customers through how they...

Momentum Building · 01. January 2015

The New Year always brings a new resolve for how business is going to get done. For many, it is also the impetus that results in the decision to finally start a business. Starting a business is hard work, there is no doubt about it. Where newbies misstep the most is in how they don’t build their business before it officially opens.Too often, the focus is on the basic operational set-up before and then surface-level promotion after the business is open. They ignore what should and could be...

Value Building · 01. August 2014

The dictionary definition of "bankable" is: "to be considered powerful, prestigious, or stable enough to ensure profitability." If your business is bankable, it means it has earned status worthy of people investing their time, money and attention.When you are looking to grow your business requiring additional resources to achieve this growth, then analyzing how bankable your business is in the eyes of the marketplace is key to consider. Important to note is that I am not just talking about...

Value Building · 01. September 2013

Too many business owners are broadsided by the fact that the company they have put their blood, sweat and tears into is not worth what they emotionally believe it should be worth when considering selling or being bought out. When the company was built on solid principles and values, and has realized good profits and steady growth, it begins to make the owner wonder why they put so much of themselves into building the company for such little return when ready to cash out. However, that may be...