Tag Archives: new business

The New Information Direction: Push Over Pull

Ever since we started using computers in virtually every business, we’ve been putting data into them. Unfortunately, the issue has been getting information back out. In the middle 1980’s I ran a manufacturing company together with a couple of Australians. They thought … Continue reading

Posted in Management, Marketing and Sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

One Response to The New Information Direction: Push Over Pull

  1. Mike Wright says:

    We built a company around this in the 90’S. What we need now is for the computer to tell the recipient of the information what they should do with it. Then we will have actionable information. Very Interesting!

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Help Your Friends, Not Your Competitors’

I hear it all too often. “A customer just called us for a quote. They have always done business with our competitor. We’re going to give them our best deal, and see if we can take their business.” Before you … Continue reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

One Response to Help Your Friends, Not Your Competitors’

  1. CS says:

    Brilliant. Great summary of the possible reasons and excellently explained reasons why you don’t jump at every chance to bid or propose.

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Time to Grow Up

Young industries no longer have the time to grow up. The cycle of maturation has long been accepted as  a fact of life when a new concept becomes a business. There are a few pioneers (defined here in Texas as … Continue reading

Posted in Marketing and Sales, Thoughts and Opinions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

3 Responses to Time to Grow Up

  1. John Meetz says:

    WOW what are we doing in the TAB business? Are board meetings and coaching sessions obsolete? Maybe they should all be done on SKYPE! Is the ExitMap engagement a dream beyond the basic assessment, appraisal, and action reports – do they really have time or want a consultant in the process?

    • John F. Dini says:

      John,
      Most TAB members have no intention of building a national market-dominating player. As I said in the beginning of the piece, there’s always room for hundreds of differentiated small companies. In the past, some of those would grow up to be regional players, then national ones. The odds of that happening are much longer now.

  2. Richard H says:

    Couldn’t possibly disagree more. I assume that’s the response you were expecting.

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Talk to Your Competitors

In my two decades of managing over a dozen peer groups, I frequently had the opportunity to sit in meetings with a business owner who competed with a member of another Board. I occasionally had to bite my tongue as someone vilified … Continue reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

2 Responses to Talk to Your Competitors

  1. Good article.

    There is another reason to understand competitors. If you understand their methods, philosophies, and other aspects of their business, you can find other ways “Not to compete” with them. Since you are “different from the crowd”, perhaps your customer will conduct business with you without being price sensitive!

  2. Cathy Locke says:

    As usual a great lesson,especially for small businesses.

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The Seventh Entrepreneurial Sin — Pride

Every business owner should be proud of his or her business. If you are the founder, you built every system, and probably landed the biggest customers. If you bought the business, you took what was in place and made it … Continue reading

Posted in Building Value, Entrepreneurship, Exit Planning, Leadership, Management, Marketing and Sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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