Working on the Business Archives

7 Oct 2024

Planning Tips to Avoid the eCommerce Iceberg

By Doug Wagner|2024-10-07T17:26:07-06:00October 7th, 2024|Categories: Business Strategy, eCommerce, Sales, Working on the Business|Tags: business advice, business growth, Business Planning, business strategy, business success, Clients, Creating Value, eCommerce, Inventory, marketing, Marketing Strategy, sales, small business, success, Working on the Business|

Implementing eCommerce at scale is not for the faint of heart. Yet, with some good eCommerce planning it can be done in phases and reduce both stress and risk.

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Once you attempt to scale any part of the business, you must make that part of the process more efficient. Once you do, you will inevitably find that some other part of your business becomes the limiting factor.

This moving bottleneck problem is true for eCommerce as well.

eCommerce Bottlenecks

Suppose you have a decent retail component […]

10 Feb 2021

When Saying “Be Careful!” Isn’t Enough

By Doug Wagner|2021-02-10T23:35:03-07:00February 10th, 2021|Categories: Leadership, Manifast, Working on the Business|Tags: Accidents, business, business advice, Business Culture, Business Risk, Business Safety, Employee Training, happiness, Health and Safety, leadership, Safety, Training, Trucking, Work, Working on the Business, Workplace Safety|

It is snowing, and the roads are slippery. One of your team members is about to hit the road, so you say, “Be careful out there!” as they depart.

You are about to head out for a wintry walk on the icy sidewalks of Calgary, and a friend texts, “Be careful!” before you bundle up and head out.

Did your chances of staying safe improve from the well-intended reminder?

The Safety Illusion – Looking Back

I was a relatively confident walker before I […]

16 Sep 2020

How To Profit From Your Business Safety Needs

By Doug Wagner|2020-09-16T23:34:10-06:00September 16th, 2020|Categories: Business Strategy, Manifast, Sales, Working on the Business|Tags: adding value, advice, business, business advice, Business Culture, business growth, Business Safety, business strategy, business success, Creating Value, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Generate Cash, Maslow's Hierarchy, profit, small business, small business owner, strategy, Working on the Business|

Entrepreneurs are risk-takers by nature. Often that means putting aside safety but, it doesn’t have to. Thinking a little more like an investor can mitigate risk and build some security into your business.

In my last article, I talked about Maslow’s hierarchy and its impacts on consumers (or overall market), your customers, and the people inside your business.

A business also has a hierarchy of needs distinct from the people in it.

For example, human physiological needs correspond to the parts […]

24 Jun 2020

Sunwapta: What Is Up With All Of The Water?

By Doug Wagner|2020-06-24T16:08:33-06:00June 24th, 2020|Categories: Business Strategy, Marketing, Working on the Business|Tags: business, business advice, business growth, business strategy, business success, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, profit, small business, success, sunwapta, Sunwapta Solutions, Working on the Business|

As we pass our 20^th business anniversary for Sunwapta Solutions, I spent some time reflecting on some of the most popular questions we’ve received over the years.

How did you come up with your company name?
What’s up with all of the water?

It All Started When

Like all business owners, we spent a lot of time trying to come up with a name that was: interesting, meant something to us, and wasn’t already taken.

After much discussion, I searched a map of Alberta and landed on Sunwapta as a […]

18 Sep 2017

How to Avoid Setting Your New Salesperson Up For Failure

By Doug Wagner|2017-09-19T12:25:35-06:00September 18th, 2017|Categories: Marketing, Oilfield Pulse, Sales, Working on the Business|Tags: business, business growth, business strategy, business success, CRM, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, inbound marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing and Sales, Marketing Strategy, Oilfield Hub, Oilfield Pulse, sales, sales process, Sales Teams, small business, small business owner, smarketing, Steps of the Sale, Working on the Business|

As you grow your business and hire a new salesperson, you are likely leaving money on the table. Are you making one or more of these mistakes and setting your team up for failure?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve met several people who were hired to work […]

25 May 2017

Do You Know What Makes You Successful At Sales?

By Doug Wagner|2020-07-02T16:19:19-06:00May 25th, 2017|Categories: Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales, Working on the Business|Tags: adding value, business, business advice, business systems, Challenger Sales, entrepreneur, inbound marketing, marketing, Marketing Strategy, sales, sales process, small business, small business owner, Steps of the Sale, Working on the Business|

Most small and mid-sized businesses cannot clearly define the process they use for successful sales. This lack of clarity severely limits the growth potential of an SMB. Here’s why.

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I didn’t say YOU can’t sell. If you’ve been in business or sales for a few years and are still around, you’ve probably figured something out that works for you.

In fact, I haven’t met very many business owners who don’t think they can sell or at least have someone on […]

2 May 2017

Change or Die: Thriving In Turbulent Times

By Doug Wagner|2017-05-02T00:37:18-06:00May 2nd, 2017|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Oilfield Pulse, Working on the Business|Tags: Boom and Bust, business, business advice, Business Culture, Change Management, Corporate Culture, Entrepreneurship, Incremental Improvements, James Bond, Mark Watney, Miracle Max, Oil and Gas, Princess Bride, Slash and Burn, Systems and Processes, The Martian, Working on the Business|

The oil and gas industry is notorious for riding the boom and bust cycles inefficiently. When oil is over $80 a barrel, the profits are large enough companies choose to ignore innovation and spend on growth instead. The problems compound the faster you grow until you can’t survive below $70 per barrel.

When prices are low, there is a slash and burn reaction because the company was never set up to be efficient. Now, the money and resources are not there to support creating efficiencies. […]

24 Apr 2017

Small Potatoes, Time, and Inbound Marketing

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-27T18:48:22-06:00April 24th, 2017|Categories: Doug's Blog, Marketing, Working on the Business|Tags: business, business advice, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, estimating time, inbound marketing, marketing, planning, project management, time management, Work, Working on the Business|

When you make mistakes, it is best to learn the lessons they teach you. Sometimes the lessons are about something else entirely – like time management and inbound marketing.

Counting Potatoes

It all started when I was making my supper. I was a bit hungry and grabbed some baby potatoes to roast. I would usually eat one large potato or two medium ones. Baby potatoes are much smaller. Obviously, one large potato is the equivalent of about 50 baby potatoes.

Having made this mistake before, and being considerate of […]

12 Apr 2017

5 Powerful Exercises to Rehab Your Business

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-12T16:44:29-06:00April 12th, 2017|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Oilfield Pulse, Working on the Business|Tags: business, business advice, business strategy, Creating Value, Ideal Clients, Increasing Sales, innovation, marketing, O&G, Oil and Gas, Oil and Gas Industry, Oil and Gas Service Company, sales, strategy|

In rehab, you engage with experts and specialists to get through the first few stages of recovery. You can also speed it along by outsourcing to clinics outside of the public health care system.

At some point, you have to do some of the work on your own. If the exercises are too complicated or time-consuming, most people won’t do them.

So here are some simple but powerful exercises you can do to rehab your business. You will get stronger faster, by pushing the exercises […]

28 Mar 2016

Stuck? Begin With the Start in Mind

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:11:26-06:00March 28th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, The Good Men Project, Working on the Business|

Begin with Start - Writing Business Ideas

Are you excellent at picturing the end-solution and then working backwards? There are times when that approach fails.

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As an entrepreneur, I can imagine, in great detail, a lot of possible things I could do or build. I’ve run into plenty of others in the same boat. Ideas are rarely in shortage.

Call it chasing the squirrel or the shiny blue ball syndrome.

The solution in most cases is to […]