Business Strategy Archives – Page 22 of 38

14 Sep 2010

Do Optimists Make Better Entrepreneurs?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:51:25-06:00September 14th, 2010|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

First Thing – Realists are Not Optimists

Most people don't want to be labeled as a pessimist, even if it is true.

It has been my experience that some people focus and dwell on the negative things as a habit or by nature.

When you are talking to them and feel the conversation is going into negative or blaming territory, you may be tempted to call them out; "why are you being so negative?" or "be patient things will get better", etc.

Someone who is an optimist by nature (temporary deviation) will pause, admit they are being overly negative, and then immediately brighten up […]

24 Aug 2010

If It Wasn’t for Friction…

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:52:09-06:00August 24th, 2010|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

I was just thinking back to my university days as an engineer and was thinking about motion and friction.

Newton's First Law states: Every body remains in a state of rest or uniform motion (constant velocity) unless it is acted upon by an external unbalanced force.

Don't worry, I won't get much more technical than this, after all it has been a long time for me too…

This Law applies to two things I was recently thinking about:

1. Cars

When a car goes around a corner at speed, the friction of the tires on the road as you turn your steering wheel […]

28 Jul 2010

How Much Is Your Business Really Making?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:52:25-06:00July 28th, 2010|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

Profits = Income – expenses

Profit margin is the percentage of profit over income. If you keep the ratio consistent, adding more revenue equals more profit. Relatively simple concept. (For simplicity let's keep income taxes out of the discussion.)

Yet it is interpreted very liberally and differently by small businesses.

The main reason is that most small business owners (practice owners) think of the business as an extension of their own personal accounts.

The formula becomes:

PersonalIncome = Profit = Everything left over is mine

Essentially, they exclude their own income from the business from the expenses and this inflates the profit margin.

I think this is a […]

22 Jul 2010

How to Succeed Like Apple

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-06T12:55:51-06:00July 22nd, 2010|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing|

Earlier this week I wrote a post on “i” dominating multi-platform support.

I just tripped across another well written post that gives great insight as to How to Succeed Like Apple, written by Jason Baptiste.

29 Jun 2010

Differentiating Your Product or Service

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:53:22-06:00June 29th, 2010|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

I recently saw a fido ad on TV. They usually have dogs in their ads and because of that they seem to catch my attention.

In the most recent one one guy is talking to another guy and hucks a big water bottle into the distance and a dog brings back a cell phone. Then the guy says something like, this cell phone contains parts made from a recycled water bottle. Apparently fido sells several that do.

Ok, nice.

But fido doesn't make cell phones. They resell cell phones made by other companies.

They provide voice and data services.

How much recycled plastic is in […]

25 Jun 2010

You Don’t Care Anymore, Do You?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:53:37-06:00June 25th, 2010|Categories: Business Strategy, Current Events, Doug's Blog|

If you are in the software development world, you've pretty much got to like or eat pizza once in a while.

I used to be a big fan of Panago pizza. The toppings and flavours were pretty darn good.

But Pizza isn't just about the toppings, it is about the part that holds the toppings as well. Would it be a pizza if the toppings were served on focaccia bread? How about un-cooked dough? Mastering the pizza dough is an important part of the great pizza equation.

The last few years, quality has been suffering. I think the pizza places are running the ovens […]

21 Jun 2010

10 Things I’ve Learned About Business

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:53:47-06:00June 21st, 2010|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

In honour of our 10 year anniversary (22 June) I have decided to write a few lists about 10. This one is about 10 things I've learned about business.

Running a business is harder than it looks (the lows can be really stressful).
Defining a core segment and sticking to it is hard (you could be doing so many things).
When you are getting going and even after, you need to develop skills you were unaware of when you started (even if you delegate or outsource functions, ultimately you still need to make informed decisions).
Reading, interpreting and negotiating legal documents is […]

18 Jun 2010

More from the Great Game of Business

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:53:53-06:00June 18th, 2010|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Software Development|

I've included a few more quotes and my thoughts on the book, "The Great Game of Business" and how it applies to what we do.

Cost/Value

"… to stay in business you have to be the least cost producer or have something nobody else has."

Being the least cost producer would give you some advantages, but I think being in the same range is probably strong enough for most companies in the commodity world. Of course having a unique or perceived value proposition is always better. But don't forget those costs, you don't want to be throwing money away; chances are, […]

14 Jun 2010

Entrepreneurs, Stories and Selling

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:54:05-06:00June 14th, 2010|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

Entrepreneurs who build software products really know their product inside and out and have a lot of a passion for it. This is great and bad. Bad because sales often become dumps of technology, facts and features instead of truly listening to the customer.

As well, technology companies tend to focus on the product first and sales afterward.

Telling a story right from the get go is a way to bridge the gap between building and selling.

Paul Kenny gives a good presentation on how this works (posted on Joel on Software). If you are in technical sales […]

4 Jun 2010

The Great Game of Business

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:54:26-06:00June 4th, 2010|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

As I have mentioned numerous times, I have been spending a lot of time studying what make some businesses succeed and what makes some people great. Our company builds a lot of tools that measure, forecast and analyze personal and business information to make better decisions.

So far if anyone has a magic formula for wealth, I haven't found it. Lots of great ideas for increasing your chances though.

Every once in a while it is good to go back and read some of the classics instead of just the "new" ideas found in more recent publications.

The Great Game of […]