Ready, Set, Start-up

If planning is essential and story is imperative, what do you do with an idea and no beginning?

Entrepreneurs are those that are willing to plow ahead. They have an idea and they are able to drive through and make things happen. They still need a plan, but plans change. And a well crafted strategic plan lets you know when and how you can make changes in direction, without driving off the cliff!

Times like these are great opportunities for new ventures and start-ups. As major players strive to redefine, new opportunities develop. If you are sitting on an idea and looking for a way to make it happen then read “Blue Ocean Strategy,” one of my recommended reads.

Entrepreneur Jeff Stibel recently wrote at Harvard Business Publishing, “Great ideas are a dime a dozen. Action is what differentiates an entrepreneur from an inventor. If you want to focus on ideas, become an inventor — not an entrepreneur.” Read more… Are You an Inventor or an Entrepreneur?

Romance and Theater

The original design and intent of your business are important assets for your company. And it’s crucial that you don’t let the growth of your business squeeze out and overwrite your original design!

Years ago, Starbucks developers created a coffee house experience for its customers. In the words of President and CEO Howard Schultz, there was a “distinctive Starbucks experience” that was vital to the company’s original design. It was the “romance and theater” of a customer’s trip to Starbucks that was envisioned when their first coffee house was opened.

Yet the world’s largest coffee house chain experienced something less than distinctive in 2007 when sales slowed considerably.

Why? Customers understood what Starbucks management did not – the original design of a warm and intimate neighborhood coffee house had been replaced by automatic espresso machines, flavor-locked packaging, and mass-designed store layouts. All very efficient progress, but lacking the envisioned experience originally intended.

Redefining your own original business design may be difficult, but in the face of a slowed economy, it’s important that you maintain the culture and commitment to who you are.

Read more about how Starbucks is making changes in order to win back customers and return to its roots. Read Article…

Building Your Audience Preso

I recently spoke to the Tech Strategies group of the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce this February. The subject was Building Audience ~ Creating and Engaging Experience, and below is the Preso including the Strategy Canvas and the Power Point slides of my presentation Building Audience Preso.

This is a large presentation and you have to manually advance the slides.