Business Strategy

6 Oct 2016

The Hidden Costs of Failing to Innovate in Sales

By |2017-04-04T17:45:18-06:00October 6th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Oilfield Pulse, Sales|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

What are you doing to innovate how you market and sell your products and services? If you are trying to survive and even thrive at today’s oil prices, these two functions are the key to competing and staying profitable.

6 Sep 2016

How Does Your Value Stack Up In A New Market?

By |2017-07-12T19:42:21-06:00September 6th, 2016|Categories: Branding, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Oilfield Pulse|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Target Misunderstood Value in Canada - A New Market

If you are unprepared or desperate, entering a new market can kill your business. Deep pockets won’t always save you either.

Remember Target expanding into Canada back in 2013? They had deep pockets and resources. Then after a series of missteps, they pulled out roughly two years later, incurring financial losses in the billions.

Target Canada made a lot of mistakes starting with […]

7 Jul 2016

Are You Riding The Trends Or Being A Trendsetter?

By |2017-04-03T11:08:55-06:00July 7th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Oilfield Pulse|

Riding Trends or Trendsetter

Earlier today I was reading the Calgary Metro (Monday, June 6, 2016). The story “Albertans see it half-empty” quoted the results of a poll of Albertans that stated:

  • 47% think things are going to get worse before they get better, and
  • Only 38% believe we’ve hit bottom, and things are going to start recovering.

Is it going to rain on August 15th?

The trend is for a warm, dry summer. August is usually pretty decent in Alberta. I […]

27 Jun 2016

Who is the Hero In Your Story?

By |2017-04-03T11:09:16-06:00June 27th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales, The Good Men Project|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Who Is The Hero in Your Story

Great leaders and businesses have a story to tell. The best understand who the hero should be.

Many men have lost their place in the bigger story. We bought into one narrative that has not worked out and are now struggling to find a new one as the world rapidly shifts underneath us. Some are looking for a hero, and some are seeking to become one again. We […]

24 May 2016

How Having Momentum Behind Money and Ego Can Suck Out Your Life

By |2017-04-03T11:10:13-06:00May 24th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Mindset and Motivation, The Good Men Project|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Man At Airport

Sometimes you can take a path in your business that isn’t right for you. Your choices matter.

I know more than a few men who’ve started what they thought was the perfect business for themselves. Once momentum kicks in it can get hard to change direction. The biggest trap ends up being the one we make in our heads.

One example is the expert industry. There are variations, but the formula is pretty straight forward. You start […]

16 May 2016

Finding Balance On The Road To Competitive Advantage

By |2017-04-03T11:10:29-06:00May 16th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Oilfield Pulse, Sales|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Elephant on Tightrope - Balance

Businesses must walk a fine balance between innovation and standardization.

I don’t usually mention this, but I initially studied to be an engineer before circumstances sent me off on a different path. Maybe that training causes me to notice things or maybe seeing patterns is just a part of me.

Quite a few years ago, I observed something about Calgary road designs. It seems like every major intersection project was an […]

12 May 2016

Need More Money? Take a Close Look at How You’re Creating Value

By |2017-04-12T11:29:28-06:00May 12th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Manifast, Marketing, The Good Men Project|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Tough Times Curve In The Road

When times are tough it is tempting to play a safe game. You might want to reconsider that strategy to win in business.

In tough times, it is tempting to tighten the belt and keep doing what you do.

Our natural inclination is to reduce the bigger risk by taking fewer risks at all; to seemingly play it safe. If you are the sole breadwinner it feels like every business mistake is taking food out of your family’s mouth.

So we get paralyzed with […]

28 Apr 2016

Your Relationship with Time and Money Is Hurting You

By |2017-04-12T11:43:17-06:00April 28th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Manifast, Mindset and Motivation, The Good Men Project|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Time and Money

Your ability to invest and leverage resources determines your success in business. How do you measure up?

The Internet has taught us we can be experts in anything we choose. So we try to be experts in everything. Or worse, we learn just enough to fool ourselves into thinking we are experts because we don’t have the time or passion for achieving mastery.

I see this a lot with small business owners.

For example, they figure out how to build their website and do online marketing because […]

11 Apr 2016

Being Self-Aware Enough to Know Your Value is the Path to Creating Exceptional Value

By |2017-04-03T11:11:02-06:00April 11th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Mindset and Motivation, The Good Men Project|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Team of Self Aware Business People - Startup

With people walking the Earth claiming to be the “greatest” at everything, it is easy to lose sight of your personal potential for greatness.

When I think of personal greatness, I don’t mean the narcissistic “look at me, look how great I am” of an adult child clamoring for constant approval. A little limelight is good for the soul. Tying your sense of self-worth to the […]