Archive for the ‘Growth’ Category

Six Sigma. Process Re-engineering. Continuous Improvement. Total Quality Management. Entrepreneurs have been hearing about these involved methodologies for years. And yet, many entrepreneurs are very successful without implementing any of these structured approaches for improving the performance of work processes and productivity. So, why should entrepreneurs care? We answer that question in BusinessCast #154 — The Lean Enterprise.

We sit down with Richard Shaw of the EnPower Group (enpowergroup.com) as he shares with us some guiding principles (and practical tips) that all entrepreneurs can apply for developing and honing “lean” work processes — i.e. those that are as productive as possible. Since every entrepreneur wants to minimize inefficiencies, lessons from BusinessCast #154 are business essentials.

**UPCOMING EVENT FOR ENTREPRENEURS**: MarketingSherpa and MarketingExperiments are hosting a series of one-day seminars across North America. Check out the Online Marketing ROI conference (coming to Toronto in June) where you can also win an iPad.

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Entrepreneurs are insatiable — always striving to grow, learn and innovate. So, it’s no surprise to any BusinessCast listener that entrepreneurs find themselves leading some of the world’s most successful companies. In BusinessCast #153, we tap into one such entrepreneur: Carl Yankowski who has been CEO at Palm, Reebok and Sony Electronics — as well as holding senior positions at Polaroid, Cadbury Schweppes, Pepsi and Memorex.

As a lifelong entrepreneur himself, Carl shares his insights, great business stories and valuable lessons for entrepreneurs who want to bring exciting products to market and always be exceptional.

**UPCOMING EVENT FOR ENTREPRENEURS**: MarketingSherpa and MarketingExperiments are hosting a series of one-day seminars across North America. Check out the Online Marketing ROI conference (coming to Toronto in June) where you can also win an iPad.

Subscribe to the BusinessCast Podcast at iTunes

According to Intuit — the folks behind Quicken software — entrepreneurism is “alive and kicking” in Canada. And, while many of North America’s leading entrepreneurs have demonstrated that spirit during recent turbulent economic times, it’s great to have this sentiment validated. So, in BusinessCast #151, Robert and I sat down with Gene Lewis, Intuit’s Canada Country Manager. Gene shares some of the key findings of Intuit’s study — providing details on key topics such as:

• Current level of entrepreneurial enthusiasm
• Obstacles to today’s/future entrepreneurs
  
• How entrepreneurs factor in the HST
• Concerns about finances and key financial tools

Entrepreneurs often share with us how difficult it is to wrestle themselves away from the day-to-day challenges to get a sense of important trends. Listen to BusinessCast #151 and you’ll capture some key insights about entrepreneurial trends that could ensure your continued success.

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Marshal Cohen has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Fortune and Time Magazine. He’s also been a guest on The Today Show, CNN and ABC World News. As Chief Industry Analyst for the NPD Group, he provides critical advice and insights into why people make the purchase decisions that they do.

Do you know why prospects purchase your products/services? I mean, do you really understand what’s behind their thinking, their feelings, the obstacles they have to overcome, the choices and trade-offs they make? Because most entrepreneurs experience a disconnect between their sell cycle and their customers’ buying cylce, Marshal Cohen set out to answer these questions in a succinct and practical way in his compelling new book, Buy Me!

For BusinessCast 149, Robert and I sat down with Marshall, the Chief Industry Analyst from the NPD Group — one of North America’s leading market research and consumer marketing firms. Marshal gives real-life insights that will help you:

• Understand the buying process of your current/future customers
  
• Shift buyers’ attention from your competitors’ offerings to yours
• Move buyers’ attention from features to value

Whether you’re focused on consumers or businesses, listen to BusinessCast 149 and you will gain valuable insights that will help you to re-tool your products/services and can beat out your competition.

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We continue to talk with entrepreneurs and thought leaders about why, how and when to leverage social media. Now, we’ve got something special: In BusinessCast #145 — Fotobabble, we get the inside scoop from an entrepreneur who is actually launching what could be the next social media tool.

And, while there are several common themes whenever you’re developing/rolling-out a product or service, bringing a new social media  tool to market has some unique business lessons and challenges.  Listen to BusinessCast #145 and find out what you can take away from Fotobabble’s innovation in action.

Reminder: Next month, the world class event, eMetrics Summit, is coming to Toronto. If you’re a leader or manager looking to truly leverage your online presence, you ask yourself the following questions:

• What online metrics should we collect?
• When should we collect them?
• Where should we collect them?
• Who should collect/interpret them?
  
• How much time/effort/resource should we spend on online metrics?
• How should/can these metrics integrate with offline metrics?
• What do these online metrics truly mean?
• How can we apply the learnings from these online metrics?

The eMetrics Summit helps you get a handle on answering all of these critical issues.

Subscribe to the BusinessCast Podcast at iTunes