Archive for the ‘Growth’ Category
Hyper-Competition: Lessons from John Sculley
Are your competitors dictating your business plans, your targets, your product offerings and your day-to-day operations? If they are, you’re in the throws of hyper-competition. So, how do you survive this intense and high-risk time in your business’ life? To get answers to this critical question, in BusinessCast #165, we sat down with John Sculley — the former President/CEO of Pepsi and Apple. John led these world-wide brands through some of their most turbulent and successful times — while thriving and optimizing hyper-competition.
Listen to BusinessCast #165 and you will tap into the insights and critical lessons from one of the world’s most successful (and for some, contentious) business leaders.
For another BusinessCast episode that provides relevant lessons, list to Big Lessons from Big Business – with Carl Yankowski, former CEO of Reebok, Palm and Sony Electronics who shares insights, stories and tips for all business leaders and managers.
Entrepreneur Bear Traps
As your business grows, have you ever hoped, perhaps secretly, for some way to avoid those costly and time-consuming pitfalls that are a natural, but painful, part of your inevitable success? Well as it turns out, entrepreneurs just like you often confide in Robert and me a desperate need for practical ways to steer clear of common business hazards.
That’s why for BusinessCast #162, we sat down with Rick Spence to uncover today’s most common “entrepreneur bear traps” — those traps that snare even the most thoughtful, innovative, well-funded and profitable businesses.
Rick shares our passion for helping entrepreneurs achieve professional and personal success. For over 20 years, he has shared his observations and insights in many of North America’s most widely-read online and offline business publications. Together with Rick, we identify and tackle today’s “entrepreneur bear traps” in business strategy, marketing, operations, financing and human resources.
Listen to BusinessCast #162 and avoid some entrepreneur bear traps before they catch you off-guard.
Amex Small Business Index
North America’s economy is a reflection of how entrepreneurs tackle challenges and embrace growth opportunities. That’s why it’s so important to review, analyze and understand the entrepreneurial mindset. And, that’s why for BusinessCast #161, Robert and I sat down with Eric Nielsen, the VP & General Manager, Small Business Services, Amex Bank of Canada.
Throughout the year, Amex conducts a rigorous National study that provides insights into entrepreneurial visions and expectations. The result: a good understanding of how entrepreneurs will be approaching business over the next several months. Listen to BusinessCast #161 as Eric shares some of the study’s key findings.
Social Media Metrics
Social Media — it continues to be a hot topic because of its implications for how every entrepreneur approaches and leads their business. That’s why over the last few months we’ve been bringing the insights of many of the world’s experts in the field of social media to the BusinessCast (see below, “A Selection of BusinessCast Episodes Tackling Social Media”).
And, that’s why in BusinessCast #160, Robert and I sat down with the father of web metrics, Jim Sterne. For over a decade, Jim has been helping business leaders across the world better understand the complexities (and myths) of online measurement strategies, tactics and tools. Jim, who also is the entrepreneur behind the world-renowned Emetric Summits, has just authored a straight-forward book that is essential for business leaders/managers: “Social Media Metrics: How to Measure and Optimize Your Marketing Investment“.
A Selection of BusinessCast Episodes Tackling Social Media
In episode #145 Fotobabble – A Social Media Innovation – we get the inside scoop from the mind behind what could be the next big social media business.
In episode #143 The Mitch Joel Interview – international author, successful entrepreneur and new media expert shares the secrets of his success and how to leverage social media.
In episode #136 Social Media – Part 5 – the co-founders of Biz Launch discuss findings from a study on how Canadian growth companies are using social media tools and technologies.
In episode #130 Choosing the Right Social Medial Tools – social media guru Michael Seaton shares with us the social media essentials for all entrepreneurs.
In episode #101 Leveraging the Groundswell – Going Social – Robert and I talk with Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell – – the book that has become the social media strategy bible — about how business leaders/managers can effectively leverage social media.
Lessons from Retail
Every industry has important lessons for entrepreneurs — and one industry that often goes untapped, because of its complexity, is retail. That’s why for BusinessCast #159, we interview Lloyd Perlmutter — former Canadian President of retail giants including, The Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy as well as EVP for Indigo Books and Music.
Lloyd cuts through the clutter associated with industry-specific dynamics and shares his insights about how the retail industry successfully tackles key business challenges such as integrating new technology, recruiting staff and harnessing the “customer mindset”. Listen to BusinessCast #159 and you’ll get some nuggets that you can use to ensure your business’ success — regardless of your industry.
Lloyd also shares his wisdom about the retail industry regularly on his blog: www.theretailthereapist.wordpress.com.
**Recommended event for business leaders/managers: Online Marketing Summit (in Houston on July 23).**