Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2020

According to a classic Harvard Research study, first inventors spend at least a third more on their initial technology than later innovators. Market research can thus be based on real customers and a previously tested market. Studying and learning from the mistakes of others is the best way to reduce your own risks.

Startup 157

Startup Social Media Study Research 157

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

If you aren’t yet adapting to the market and your customers, you are falling behind. I define business agility for my consulting clients as the ability to change your business rapidly to meet customer and environmental changes, with minimal organizational disruption and cost. Adopt some key metrics to measure your change agility.

Competition 148

Competition Metrics Demand Customer 148

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

A broken process or a subtle quality issue can generate a flood of customer satisfaction problems, cost overruns, and loss of market share. Without this mindset, and the determination to make a decision, nothing happens, and customers find alternatives. Build motivation through rewards and incentives.

Satisfaction 152

Satisfaction Mentor Study Startup 152

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2021

Recent studies indicate that less than ten percent of business leaders show this balance today. Unfortunately, technology doesn’t create a vision, and usually frightens customers away, unless they understand the vision and value first. Listen to customer feedback and tune your vision. Every balanced leader does marketing early.

Technical Review 133

Technical Review Satisfaction Metrics Startup 133

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2021

Kaplan is a leading expert in building innovation cultures, and speaks from his real-world experience with many companies, as well as academic study. Frame the way you want to change the world, and make it about the customer. Decide what to measure and create metrics. You only get what you measure. Ideas are the beginning.

Develop 135

Develop Development Startup Metrics 135

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2020

It’s important to note slippage indicators, including less internal feedback on requirements to fight competitors, and more focus inward than outward on customers needs and trends. Assess many change initiatives have come to fruition from your team, visit a couple of key customers and listen for future needs, and study your newest competitor.

Metrics 122

Metrics Training Satisfaction IBM 122

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2022

True business success and leadership starts with real personal values, extends to building a team, and finally to inspiring customers and your community. I fully support and appreciate his case studies and conclusions on specific required personal initiatives, and how these can change people, organizations, and even entire industries.

Case Study 139

Case Study Customer Custom Tool 139

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 28, 2020

In business vernacular, targets are usually called metrics. A good metric has to be easily measurable, and directly correlated to results, rather than hours worked. For example, for a sales person, this metric number would likely measure new revenue or new customers. Provide incentives to focus everyone on real results.

Metrics 124

Metrics Entrepreneur Satisfaction Study 124

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. Increase change agility. In summary, change will happen.

Startup 116

Startup Training Statistics Summary 116

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 30, 2021

Yet I still see many companies focusing on what I believe are ineffective approaches to turning this productivity challenge around, including stricter processes, more metrics, and financial incentives to improve motivation. Every study shows that people are really engaged in their work, if they feel that it has value and purpose.

Satisfaction 168

Satisfaction Coach Resource Tool 168

InfoChachkie

MARCH 3, 2014

August Scott began her Zappos career in their customer support call center. I started in the call center, in the customer loyalty department. I love assisting our customers and I realized early on about Zappos that the opportunities are endless. Zappos is renowned for its focus on its customers and employees.

Coach 182

Coach Startup Study Customer 182

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2021

Nimbleness and urgency to get the job done will set you apart from your competitors in so many ways, particularly with customers. Well-articulated goals and metrics. Study their moves and engage your team for an analysis of updates. Build it at the start and don’t ever lose it. Maintain an intimate knowledge of the competition.

Startup 154

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Metrics 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2014

According to a recent Harvard Research study, first-time inventors spend at least a third more on their initial technology than later innovators. Market research can thus be based on real customers and a previously tested market. Studying and learning from the mistakes of others is the best way to reduce your own risks.

Technology 103

Technology Entrepreneur Study Research 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2014

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. Increase change agility. In summary, change will happen.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Startup Training Statistics 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2023

Most great business leaders, including Jeff Bezos , maintain a key internal team to study and implement the next steps. Don’t fail to develop the proper comprehensive metrics for assessing how you and any partners are doing in terms of value creation. Not having a means to measure holistic impact.

Outsource Development 140

Outsource Development Outsource Startup Metrics 140

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Thus I was pleased to see my own insights covered in a new book, “ Why Startups Fail ,” by Tom Eisenmann, a Harvard Business School professor, who has mentored many more entrepreneurs, and authored more than a hundred HBS case studies from real-world startups. Look for validation from your mainstream customers.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

Kaplan is a leading expert in building innovation cultures, and speaks from his real-world experience with many companies, as well as academic study. Frame the way you want to change the world, and make it about the customer. Decide what to measure and create metrics. You only get what you measure. Ideas are the beginning.

Startup 97

Startup Metrics Competition Organization 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2016

That’s the right place to start, but real growth and scale requires attracting customers who are not like you. For example, Starbucks found initial success with professionals aged 25 to 40 in urban areas and with moderately high income but later looked to a new market of millennials who wanted a place to sit and chat, study or work.

Customer 55

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 55

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2022

Technology is not the solution per se , but it provides the key enablement, drivers, and support for the required flexibility, integration, communication, metrics, and affordability that are required in the workplace today. The costs of these elements will be more than repaid by employee engagement and customer loyalty.

Coach 132

Coach Satisfaction Startup Organization 132

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 30, 2023

According to a classic Harvard Research study, first inventors spend at least a third more on their initial technology than later innovators. Market research can thus be based on real customers and a previously tested market. Studying and learning from the mistakes of others is the best way to reduce your own risks.

Social Media 92

Social Media Study Research Satisfaction 92

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2022

Yet the value of real relationships, as with consumer customers, has become critical to your business services growth and success. Here is my list of some key recommendations to help you get your fair share of business: Customize and personalize every communication you can. Provide relevant case studies illustrating your results.

Services 121

Services Technical Review Social Media Case Study 121

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. Increase change agility. In summary, change will happen.

Startup 94

Startup Marketing Training Statistics 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2019

True business success and leadership starts with real personal values, extends to building a team, and finally to inspiring customers and your community. I fully support and appreciate his case studies and conclusions on specific required personal initiatives, and how these can change people, organizations, and even entire industries.

Case Study 93

Case Study Customer Custom Tool 93

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2013

According to a study of 1700 CEOs last year, only 60% of companies today use social media for marketing, and only 12% of those feel that they are using it effectively. Currently, social media is the least used of all customer interaction methods. Define relevant metrics and measure. What’s the problem?

Social Media 106

Social Media Media Startup Social Network 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2019

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. Increase change agility. In summary, change will happen.

Startup 94

Startup Training Statistics Summary 94

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. Increase change agility. In summary, change will happen.

Startup 93

Startup Training Statistics Summary 93

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2017

Kaplan is a leading expert in building innovation cultures, and speaks from his real-world experience with many companies, as well as academic study. Frame the way you want to change the world, and make it about the customer. Decide what to measure and create metrics. You only get what you measure. Ideas are the beginning.

Startup 81

Startup Metrics Organization Ideas 81

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Based on my own many years of experience as both an employee and an executive, here are my key recommendations to improve your business productivity, traction and momentum: Implement business metrics, and tie incentives to results. In fact, new studies show more results come from peer and non-cash recognition.

Training 105

Training Entrepreneur Tool Metrics 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2011

He is not alone, according to a recent study , which concludes that only 47% of companies use social media today for marketing, despite the fact that 78% of executives polled feel it’s critical for success. Define relevant metrics and measure. What’s the problem? My advice is to pick one, start slow, and spread out as you learn.

Social Media 104

Social Media Media Marketing Social Network 104

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2010

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. Increase change agility. In summary, change will happen.

Startup 78

Startup Training Statistics Summary 78

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2015

Nimbleness and urgency to get the job done will set you apart from your competitors in so many ways, particularly with customers. Well-articulated goals and metrics. Study their moves and engage your team for an analysis of updates. Build it at the start and don’t ever lose it. Maintain an intimate knowledge of the competition.

Startup 109

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Metrics 109

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2012

introNetworks is still going strong and has some of the biggest customers in the world, like NASA and McCann World Group. We're working on how quickly we can provision servers, and what those metrics are, and it's been fantastic. Mark Sylvester: We're only starting to study the data. Mark Sylvester: That's a great question.

Social Media 203

Social Media Startup Tool LAMP 203

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2019

He outlines six dimensions of a winning business strategy, with some practical, research-based steps that I like, to focus on in achieving extraordinary results: Above all, deliver an exceptional total customer experience. This requires constant study of what your customers value, what competitors offer, and your target market.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Customer Custom Competition 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2019

In this era of rapid change, you can’t afford to stop learning, or you will find that your competitors, your customers, and your team, may soon be following someone else. In fact, you may have noticed in a recent study , that the business CEO turnover rate last year was the highest in 10 years, and may go even higher this year.

Tips 97

Tips Mentor Coach Metrics 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2010

According to this study from last year, over 65% of existing small businesses still ignore social media for marketing, so he is still the rule rather than the exception. They don’t know if they should move to social networks for lead generation, branding, customer loyalty, or for direct marketing and e-commerce. What’s the problem?

Social Media 88

Social Media Media Marketing Social Network 88

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

According to a classic Harvard Research study, first inventors spend at least a third more on their initial technology than later innovators. Market research can thus be based on real customers and a previously tested market. Studying and learning from the mistakes of others is the best way to reduce your own risks.

Startup 65

Startup Social Media Study Research 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

Yet I would suggest that creating one is still a valuable exercise, since you need the plan as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics, unless your management style makes this a waste of time. With bootstrapping, no business plan is expected by anyone.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100