Business Strategy Archives – Page 16 of 38

5 Jul 2012

Innovate, Imitate or Replicate?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:37:15-06:00July 5th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast, Software Development|

You can either do things the way everyone else does them (imitate) or the way it has always been done (replicate)… or you can innovate and come up with something (hopefully) better.

We had this discussion today at our Manifast development team meeting.

When you are building a single user web application or one where only one person needs to interact with a piece of data at a time, things are relatively simple.

When you have an enterprise (even a small enterprise) software package where many people have to view and edit the same data, you have to address concurrency. Concurrency […]

26 Jun 2012

12 Years in the Making – Manifast Your Dream Business

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:37:21-06:00June 26th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast|

Only 4% of businesses make it past 10 years. Sunwapta Solutions just celebrated 12 years in business.

Woohoo. (insert fireworks,marching bands and the Flintstones).

For that I am extremely grateful.

This is also my 400th blog post and 2nd video blog.

It has been quite a rollercoaster ride over the years. Bootstrapping with a $100 initial investment. Not getting paid much for the first year(s). Long hours. Watching our baby grow… and stumble.

I wouldn’t trade it. It has been 12 years of University, Graduate School, Internship and Hard-Experience.

Because without this experience we would not have been […]

19 Jun 2012

Chasing Lots of Rabbits is Not a Strategy

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:37:34-06:00June 19th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

If you are a coyote and you are chasing rabbits and try to catch them all at the same time you are likely to come up empty handed and go to bed hungry. If you catch one first then catch the next one after that you are likely to be well fed for a long time.

Les McKeown (author of Predictable Success and The Synergist) just posted the following tweet earlier today.

LesTweet
It has a very important message because I think a lot of business […]

11 Jun 2012

Fascination, Value and Relationships – Day 2 of the Go-Giver Retreat

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:23:36-06:00June 11th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Mindset and Motivation, Sales|

The Fascination Advantage

One of the speakers I really, really wanted to hear was Sally Hogshead. However, due to the events mentioned in my last post I unfortunately only caught the last 15 minutes of her presentation. I can say that her message about how to fascinate using the 49 personality archetypes is powerful.

Mine is the Veiled Strength (Mystique and Power) which is only loosely related to being a Ninja.

Despite missing most of the talk I look forward to further understanding her work and figuring out how to use my triggers to fascinate.

The Law of Value

[…]

28 May 2012

Master Minds, Southwest & Receptivity – More from The Go-Giver Retreat

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:38:21-06:00May 28th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

Master Minds – The Panel

MentoringPanel-sm

(L-R) Dondi Scumaci, Sally Hogshead, Mark Sanborn and Bob Burg with Dixie Gillaspie (not pictured) as moderator.

"Two factors for success:

Focus
Reciprocity

Tension between who can help you and who you can help." ~ Mark

"Ask really hard questions" ~ Sally

"Solving a business problem" ~ Dondi

"Aligned with organizational priorities" ~ Dondi

"Info is easy, insight is powerful" ~ Unknown

Overall: Don't go it alone. Use master minds, coaches and mentors for personal and business success.

Colleen Barrett – All 5 Laws at […]

24 May 2012

Influence and the Truth – Lessons from The Go-Giver Retreat

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:38:25-06:00May 24th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

Like most people that go to a business conference, seminar or retreat… I tend to get very pumped up and enthusiastic. Then I get back to the office and get busy. Then after some time passes, most of the lessons are forgotten and put aside.

One way around this is to revisit your notes a while after the conference and reflect on the points that resonated the most with you. After you've done that, pick a few and figure out how to integrate them into your business and personal life by implementing and making them habits.

All of the speakers were truly […]

10 May 2012

Things Change – Do You Really Notice?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:38:36-06:00May 10th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

Change is often like the fable of the frog in boiling water.

The frog starts out in cool water and the temperature slowly rises. As the temperature rises the frog should realize the trend and hop out. But because the change is gradual the frog doesn't notice until it is too late; poached frog.

The point is not whether this fable is true (or not or to go try it out).

My Observations

I went to West Palm Beach Florida to attend the Bob Burg Go Giver Retreat in April.

I first met Bob on Twitter. At the time I had around 50 […]

3 May 2012

Essential Business Processes and Training for Excellence

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:38:43-06:00May 3rd, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

At a certain point of growth, every business needs to start formalizing "how things are done here". These are your processes and systems.

In "Predictable Success" by Les McKeown, he pretty much says outright that you can't get to predicable success unless you put enough (but not too much) systems and processes in place (plus some other things).

Too many people think formalizing processes and systems means taking all initiative and creativeness out of business and replacing it with lowest common denominator bureaucracy. Or they think it means everything is handled exactly the same. Or they just don't want to […]

17 Apr 2012

Mission, Purpose and a Video Challenge

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:38:57-06:00April 17th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast, Marketing|

I've been taking the words of wisdom from Carrie Wilkerson, author of "The Barefoot Executive" to heart lately. After all, she is a force of nature when it comes to getting things done.

The challenge was simple on the surface. Video blog. One take only. Talk about something you know (extemporaneously) for 3-5 minutes. Minimal editing.

Armed with an HD camcorder, a tripod, and some basic editing software this video is the result. There is something a little nerve wracking about actually recording yourself especially when you have no redo. It is much easier talking to real people, even a […]

26 Mar 2012

Know Who You Are (It Simplifies Decisions)

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:39:31-06:00March 26th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

Are you one of those people who chases every business opportunity you see hoping to cash in on the next great thing? Are you not finishing what you start because you are juggling too many things?

Stop it.

The people who make the most money over the long-term focus on one thing at a time and get it finished. They have a vision of where they want to be and single-mindedly pursue it through to success.

Real Life Example

Our business was recently approached with an offer to front another business in the consulting body shopping business and make some easy money on the […]