All about Business Guides for Success
Archive for September, 2009
How To Audit Your Business Strategy
Sep 29th
Why conduct a business strategy audit?
Nearly all the major initiatives undertaken by corporate executives today are called “strategic”. With everything having high strategic importance, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between the many priorities and imperatives that are initiated in organisations. When everything is clearly strategic, often nothing strategic is clear. When everything is designated as a high priority, there are, in reality, no priorities at all.
However, when the overall strategic direction is clearly understood by everyone in your organisation, the following benefits occur:
- organisational capabilities will be aligned to support the achievement of your strategy
- resources will be allocated to different business processes in priority order – according to the importance of that process and its contribution to competitive advantage
- your company or organisation can excel in the market place or in its business/commercial sector.
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Loading ...Top 10 Ways To Improve Your Sight Reading
Sep 26th
Ready to play on the spot? Here are some great ways to improve your sight reading:
1. Learn every bit of notation that you can get your hands on. The more notation that you learn, the easier it is to interpret the notes you see. Don’t just stop at the basics. Go on to learn intermediate notation and advanced notation. Sure, the deeper that you delve into notation, the more advanced and complicated the music becomes — but don’t let that scare you. You’re in the learning stage right now, so have at it. You’ll thank yourself for all the hard studying you’ve done once you’re placed into the spotlight.
2. Check out the key. When you’re faced with a piece of sheet music, look at the key. This will quickly let you know which notes are sharp and which notes are flat.
3. Try to hum the song before playing it. If the crowd that you’re playing for is patient, give the notation a good look-over and hum it as you read it. If you’re lucky, there’ll be a friendly musician standing by who’ll walk you through the piece before you begin.
4. Hear or know the song before you read its notation. You’ll be even luckier if you’re already familiar with the song that you’re expected to play! This is where the benefit of exposure begins to shine. The more music that you expose yourself to, the easier it is to “know” how a song is supposed to “go.”
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Blackberry Bold 9700 for business
Sep 24th
Blackberry bold 2 9700
With the reports of flagging Android sales this week and with RIM updating their flagship model with a sleeker and more powerful model – the Blackberry Bold 2 9700 – will we see Blackberry regain the market share of the business mobile phone market that they enjoyed for so long prior to the i-phones and other smartphone releases?
Featuring an improved processor and latest UI, can this phone really take the i-phone for a run for it’s money? And also from my personal view point – the HTC Desire?
With the bold, Blackberry tried to produce a model that was a viable cross over between the business and consumer user and it has worked well, but in this market there is a constant need for progression and that’s where the new BlackBerry Bold 2 9700 comes in.
The first thing that RIM have improved is the size – this phone is not only faster than its predecessor but it is lighter and smaller – 5mm shorter and nearly 1cm thinner – obviously an incredibly noticable difference.
The Blackberry Bold 2 9700 then has a smaller keyboard as it is a still endowed with a QWERTY. so can you still type effectively? hmm, i’ll come to that.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...An Ideal Business Strategy
Sep 23rd
Strategic management is an ongoing process that assesses the business and the industries in which the company is involved; assesses its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reassesses each strategy annually or quarterly [i.e. regularly] to determine how it has been implemented and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by a new strategy to meet changed circumstances, new technology, new competitors, a new economic environment., or a new social, financial, or political environment Most people work hard for a lifetime, yet the majority (65%) can’t stop working at retirement age because of financial reasons. Let’s be honest with ourselves. You’ve been working at your career or profession for decades, but how financially free are you?
What would happen if you stopped working for six months? What about twelve months? If you’re like most people you’d be in serious financial trouble.
Strategy at Different Levels of a Business
Strategies exist at several levels in any organisation – ranging from the overall business (or group of businesses) through to individuals working in it.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Business Strategy versus Tactics
Sep 21st
When it comes to running your own business, everyone seems to have a plan to make you successful. You can read and study and even mimic the greats but that doesn’t necessarily mean you will succeed. To really rock the business world, you need both strategy and tactics that work and you need them to work effectively together. This is where many people in business fail because they miss one or both parts of this equation. A better understanding of strategy and tactics as well as how they work together will help you prepare properly for your business.
Your strategy is the plan of action you want to take to achieve success in your business. Your business tactics are the specific steps you take to achieve those goals. It is important that you know and understand the difference between the two and how they are applied to business. When it comes to your business, before you start any marketing or advertising campaign, you need to have a strategy and you need to implement that strategy into your techniques.
What is Strategy?
Your strategy is the act of creating decisions that will benefit the future outcome of your business. Strategy is the set of directions you make or your situation and position within the business community. Strategy often also refers to your timing in the marketplace and strategically choosing the most beneficial time to launch your business or your campaign.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Five Sights to See on a Barcelona City Break
Sep 20th
Barcelona is a Spanish city with a population of about 1.5 million. It is the second largest city in Spain. With a busy port, one would expect the city to be bustling with activities day and night. It has a seasonal climate, with the coldest months in December, January and February. In those months, temperatures can drop to as low as 9 degree centigrade. However, during summer, the weather can be as hot as 38 degree centigrade. So be prepared to dress appropriately depending on when you visit Barcelona. Here are some sights that may wish to consider visiting.
Ciutat Vella (The Old Town)
Every city with rich heritage and history will have a city center. For Barcelona, the name of the city center is Ciutat Vella. In ancient times, Barcelona was only a small Roman settlement that was protected by a massive defense wall. During the 14th and 15th century, the little settlement started to grow quickly. Buildings were erected, and winding streets were laid. The best way to explore this ancient town center is by foot. To appreciate the town center, one must not be in a hurry. Take your time to soak in the breath taking architecture of the ancient town center.
El Raval
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...How Human Behaviour Shapes Successful Business Strategies
Sep 13th
People are fundamentally sheep – isn’t that what we’re always told? Sure, everyone likes to think that they are an individual and that they make individual decisions about what they do and how they choose to act, but the reality is that most of what we do is heavily influenced by the behaviour of others.
This is human behaviour, which is herd-like. As social creatures, what we do or don’t do is often based on what others are doing or not doing. People don’t really think about their actions. In fact, Mark Earls, a leading human behaviour and strategy expert, would argue that very often thinking comes after the fact – people act and process it later. He would also say that there’s not much point in asking people why they do what they do, because they don’t actually know.
Now, the trick is to harness the power of human behaviour to create successful business strategies and to build powerful brands. If you consider the power of crowd mentality in your strategies (which perhaps goes a little against conventional wisdom about how people make choices) you are virtually guaranteed to have a strategy that will succeed. Why? Simply because you will be able to develop strategies that work by understanding peoples’ behaviour. You will understand how new ideas really catch on and are disseminated, and how to create momentum and longevity behind your strategic objectives – whatever these may be.
Considering people are the number one resource in business today, it’s surprising how little we consider the true nature of human beings within the scope of business strategy. A century ago, the main resource of a business was capital which bought the things a business needed to thrive such as land, materials, transport and so forth. Today though, up to 85% of the economy in developed countries is based on human interaction at a variety of levels.
This is why it’s important to understand human behaviour and to shape strategy around it – because people (staff, customers, suppliers and distributers etc) are an essential resource in today’s business world.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Business Strategy Fundamentals
Sep 10th
Over the years, I have met and worked with literally hundreds of business owners. At one time or another, many of them have written a business plan. But very few of them have a working business strategy. A business plan and a business strategy are two very different tools. A business plan normally is prepared for a financing partner, either a bank or an investor. The purpose of the plan is to let investors know about the business and its potential for success in order to encourage them to invest in the business.
A business strategy is quite different. Rather than a document for investors, this is a plan for the owner to follow. It begins with an evaluation of the business’ goals. Where does the business owner want the business to be in 5, 10 or 20 years, both in terms of fair market value and cash flow? What are the plans for exiting the business? Will it be sold to an outside party or to key employees, or will it be turned over to the owner’s children?
Next, we have to do a thorough evaluation of the current state of the business. This includes a valuation of the business and an evaluation of the business’ strengths and weaknesses. The more thorough the evaluation, the better the potential outcome, but even a cursory evaluation is helpful.
Most businesses have a tendency to identify strengths and weaknesses solely from input from top management. The approach needs to be broader than this to get a true assessment. A broader approach includes interviews with key personnel and surveys of all staff levels. A side benefit of the interviews and surveys is it provides significant insight into the opportunities of the business.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Sep 6th
Most of us have heard the phrase “out of sight, out of mind” all of our lives – we’ve heard it so much that it’s become a cliché. Cliché or not, it happens to be especially true when it comes to small business marketing.
Most of the time, you want your business to be on the minds of your customers and prospects. So don’t let your business stay “out of sight” for too long! Keeping your company name and message in front of customers on a regular basis can help trigger buy events and increase customer mindshare, which ultimately helps drive sales. Here are some ideas for keeping your business in-sight and in-mind so your sales continue to in-crease!
- E-Newsletters – Monthly E-newsletters are one of the most effective marketing tools available to small businesses today. They are typically inexpensive to send (especially when compared with their printed counterparts), and E-newsletter campaign results are completely measurable (e.g., how many clicks, opens, bounces, etc.). It’s also a great way to make sure that customers see your company name in their inboxes each month, reminding them that your business has the products/services that they need.
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