Doug Wagner, Author at Sunwapta Solutions

2 Apr 2013

Blow Up The Walls That Hold You Back

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:30:57-06:00April 2nd, 2013|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

We all have them, the thoughts and beliefs that limit our
potential to achieve our dreams. These are the bricks that we use to build
walls in our mind; the ones that limit what we can and can’t do.

The thing is most of them were put there by ourselves.

Yes Sergeant!

Back when I was just out of high school and in basic officer
training (Canadian Air Force) I was quite shy and introverted. I jumped into an
environment that requires anything but. Besides the nightmares the biggest
things I learned is that I am capable of a lot more I than I thought and I don’t
quit. […]

28 Mar 2013

Scheme or a Viable Business

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:31:03-06:00March 28th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

The key attributes of a viable long-term business are:

Deliver more in value than you take in payment from each client,
Serve enough clients to sustain the business vision and need, and
Keep more money than you spend delivering the value to clients.

House of cards viable business success If all three of these are not true you don't have a viable business. If you can sustain it indefinitely you have a long-term viable business.

If point 1 is not true you are running a scheme. Tricking your […]

26 Mar 2013

Human Emotions Are A Key Part Of Business

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:31:14-06:00March 26th, 2013|Categories: Doug's Blog, Dream Teams, Leadership|

Your strongest memories are tied to your strongest emotional experiences. How you will initially respond to events in the present is tied to those memories.

This is not just about your childhood. These memories are being formed today.

At work. In your business. By everyone on your team.

The Strap

Back when I was going to school in rural Manitoba they still used "the strap". I got the strap 3 times from grade 1 until grade 4.

By today's standards, what I did to get the strap would seem trivial. Kids do those things all the time now. Back then, kids that finished their […]

22 Mar 2013

The Business Owner’s Dilemma

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:31:18-06:00March 22nd, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

Your business is a tool to get your products and services in the hands of clients or customers in exchange for payment.

Hopefully you've also tied it to a great mission or purpose.

You need to have all of the following in place:

A great product or service
Cash Management
Marketing
Sales
Customers
Client fulfillment
People
Processes and Systems
Strategy

The dilemma for every business owner is allocating scarce resources in the proper balance.

Get it right and your business can take off. If the balance is off…

You and everyone else will be drawn to what you like to do. Or the problems (if you don't avoid them). Or where you get the […]

18 Mar 2013

The 3 Sales Books You Need Most

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:31:27-06:00March 18th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

We recently hired a Sales and Marketing professional so I asked myself, "What are the 3 sales books that influenced me the most in the last year or two?"

So here it is, the three books (well actually it is 5) that will form the core of our initial Sales training program.

The 3 Sales Books You Need Most

The Go-Giver

The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John […]

15 Mar 2013

The Complexity of Simplicity

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:31:35-06:00March 15th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Technology|

Sometimes simple is simple. Sometimes making things appear simple is complex.

Things should be as simple for your clients as possible. They already have enough challenges without your products and services adding to them.

Brain maze complexity simplicity business solutions clients customers Our Example

We recently built a complex web-based tool for a customer. We designed one of the features to be super powerful.

But that required 12 plus different buttons to control that power. We were going to have to […]

12 Mar 2013

5 Questions to Avoid The Cost of NOT Thinking

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:31:48-06:00March 12th, 2013|Categories: Doug's Blog, Dream Teams, Leadership|

I recently came across two distinct examples of corporate wastage that could have been prevented fairly easily.

Two companies leaving money on the table and not even adding any extra value by doing so.

Actually they are eroding perceived value AND wasting money. Two cardinal sins of business.

The thing is, the solutions are obvious.

Nesting Eggs

Nesting eggs business wastage employee training

I opened up a big bubble wrap envelope today. Inside were four more bubble wrap envelopes.

Inside each bubble wrap envelope was a cardboard […]

7 Mar 2013

Start with Value

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:31:54-06:00March 7th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

There are a number of times in business where you are
tempted to jump to a solution without really considering your customers first.

This is a big mistake.

Setting Your Price

Recently we were trying to figure out where to position
ourselves for pricing of some of our products and services.

The obvious first step is to look at what your direct and
indirect competitors are doing and use that as a baseline. You can then pick
the low, mid or high point and go from there. They must know what they are
doing, right?

Wrong.

Start with Value, Customer First, Business Success […]