Posts Tagged ‘small business’

Do You Measure Your “Critical Drivers” Daily?

By Alex Mandossian on June 4, 2009

tom-peters“Drivers” are key metrics that can expand (grow) or collapse (kill) your business or any business.  Critical drivers are those key metrics, tested and tracked daily, that assist you to anticipate the future.

As I once heard Tony Robbins say, “Anticipation is power.”  And I agree.  When you look into the past – each day – you can predict the future of your business.

I’ve read many business management books over the years and one of my favorite quotes comes from Tom Peters says, “Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast.

The age-old management adage, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” was probably first uttered (and discovered) by some bazaar merchant thousands of years ago in Babylon.

Yet it’s still positively accurate today!

In my experience, the easiest step to improve any business to begin measuring the critical drivers in the business and then celebrate and amplify what you want to see more of.  Case closed.

For retailers like Sam’s Club, a core critical driver may be the “dollars-per-square-foot” generated in each store.

For a real estate management organization like Remax, it may be the “number of new agency offices” opened each month.  For an insurance agency, it may mean the “dollars-per-policy” generated, or the “revenue-per-agent.”

The species or types of critical drivers you want to measure is (more…)

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3 Marketing Lessons Learned From Geese

By Alex Mandossian on January 20, 2009

Entrepreneurs can learn a lot from geese.  The next time you see geese fly overhead, take a closer look at “how” they fly and you’ll discover “why” they can fly farther, faster and with less effort. 

Got 2 minutes, 17 seconds to spare right now?  Grab your mouse, click on the picture below and watch this clever video.

As each goose flaps its wings it creates an uplift for the other geese that follow.  By flying in a “V” formation the whole flock adds 71 percet of extra flying range.

Lesson #1: Entrepreneurs who build reliable teams, “vendor networks” and strategic alliances accelerate the growth of their businesses faster, better and with less effort.

When a goose falls out of formation it  feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. Every goose quickly moves back into “V” formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the other geese in front.

Lesson #2:  Entrepreneurs who willingly accept feedback  from their target market accelerate the growth of their business faster, better and with less effort.

When the lead goose tires, it drops back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position. The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up with their speed.

Lesson #3:  Entrepreneurs who “honk” at their team members and vendors with encouragement accelerate their personal productivity and business growth faster, better and with less effort.

When a goose gets sick, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to assist and protect it.  Entrepreneurs who protect their their teams can grow their businesses even during economic downswings. 

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Blog Survey: Shall I Post 3X Per Week In 2009?

By Alex Mandossian on December 30, 2008

looking-down.jpgI made a public declaration about six months ago to consistently post 2X (two times a week) for the rest of 2008.  It was more work than I originally realized, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of “referrals” and “comments” I’ve received ever on this blog ever since. Many thanks!

As I indicated on my Dec. 26th post, I’m only focusing on 4 marketing tasks to grow my business. I plan on “outsourcing” my weaknesses to vendors who play at things I work at.  One of my strengths is Blogging.

Here’s The Survey Question: If I blog 3X per week vs. 2X per week, will you read and comment on my posts?  If your answer is YES, then say so and give me your brief reason WHY. 

As Jim Rohn says, “The bigger the WHY, the easier the HOW.”  So if your answer is NO, I want your candor to tell me WHY.  Deal?

If I get a “Net Score” of 101 YESes (Total YESes minus Total NOs = Net Score), then every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in 2009 at 8:44am Eastern, you’ll see a new blog post.  If I don’t get that “Net Score” I’ll continue at 2X/week.

Make your YES/NO vote in the “Reply Box” (click “Comments”).

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