Berkonomics

JUNE 24, 2021

These are not the strategic visionary skills, like leading companies through risky product launches, or steering the course through economic storms where leaders become oversized personalities for their superhuman efforts. There are many types of metrics, some very easy to manage. Third: support. Fourth: reward.

Organization 156

Organization Coach Metrics Training 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2020

These must be countered by a focus on changes and training that benefit your people, as well as your business. Set up training courses that highlight agility, and adopt agile working practices. Amazon, for example , “grew up” in the last recession by continuing to expand their range of products and focused on automation.

Metrics 122

Metrics Training Satisfaction IBM 122

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

In both cases, it’s easy for them to become frustrated and give up, since most have never been trained in change management, and don’t even know what questions to ask. The last thing you need in a startup is a false start, where you can’t deliver on a product change deadline, or a new marketing channel. How do I measure success?

Startup 155

Startup Resource Metrics Technical Review 155

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

Much has been written about this subject in the world of manufacturing, stemming primarily from the 1990’s work by Taiichi Ohno, called the Toyota Production System (“Lean”). For market changing products, build first a minimally viable product (MVP), and never build products for sale until you have real orders in hand.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2022

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. Now the experiments are over, and high productivity is the objective.

Startup 137

Startup Training Entrepreneur Organization 137

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2023

Too many founders have learned that passion and free beta products do not imply a sustainable business. Proof of any business model starts with a finished product or solution, sold to a new customer for full price, with high satisfaction for the value received. Marketing is everything these days. Plan for a real revenue model.

Customer 109

Customer Custom Satisfaction Sales 109

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

In the interests of helping you work smarter and last longer, I would like to offer my top ten list of key resource drains to avoid in early businesses and startups, based on my years of advising entrepreneurs and my own business experience: Expanding your product line too quickly for scaling. People with the wrong tools or no training.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Metrics Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

Products and services for a business need to be attuned to customer requirements, cost and quality tradeoffs, with milestones for pricing and completion. Typically some production and delivery is outsourced, requiring formal contracts and documentation. Show that you have a process to hire, fire, and train others as required.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Modern communication tools, including WebEx, Skype and video conferencing are a good start, but virtual teams remain a productivity nightmare for many companies. Virtual teams need a tool-acquisition process, training program and support contact for all technology provided. Clear objectives and metrics are established early.

Product 100

Product Startup Tool Paramount 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2023

Quantify the results, and avoid any fuzzy words, such as better usability, advanced technology, or more productivity. Put operational systems and metrics in place early. Keep your product focus narrow and messages clear. Keep your product focus narrow and messages clear. Establish a written strategic plan, updated often.

Marketing 116

Marketing Resource Training Startup 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

New product process. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Training and coaching. Make sure all team members have some connection with the product – has either used it, or sold it, or assembled it.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. Growth is more than simply repackaging existing products, and adding bells and whistles or slick incentives. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Managing business growth is more than metrics.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Train them fully, give them authority, make them accountable, and tie their pay to customer satisfaction. It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Train and coach continuously. Know your customers intimately.

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 28, 2020

You must never stop looking for ways to get more traction with fewer personal hours, and more productivity, efficiency, and momentum from the team. In my view, it’s really unfortunate that most employees in business are still paid by the hour, regardless of their productivity. Evaluate where technology and training can help.

Metrics 124

Metrics Entrepreneur Satisfaction Study 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2021

Too many founders have learned that passion and free beta products do not imply a sustainable business. Proof of any business model starts with a finished product or solution, sold to a new customer for full price, with high satisfaction for the value received. Marketing is everything these days. Plan for a real revenue model.

Sales 165

Sales Customer Custom Social Media 165

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

This contextual focus is critical to innovation and survival – the right product at the right time. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. For starters, the whole team needs to be constantly trained and encouraged to develop their skills. Increase change agility.

Startup 116

Startup Training Statistics Summary 116

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

You’d imagine that companies selling tons of shelfware would quickly meet their deserved fate in the market, yet the spin around a category of software can fool buyers into thinking they “must have this product to compete.” Did they do a major training program? How frequently they’re using the product?

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2022

Hire the best, and provide necessary training and tools. Too many busy business leaders I know take shortcuts in hiring, looking for a quick fill, assuming new employees can learn on the job, with minimal training and old tools. The result is low productivity, mistakes, and poor customer experiences.

Startup 134

Startup Training Tool Demand 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2021

It’s easy for an entrepreneur or an employee to convince themselves that they would have been successful if they had more time, received more funding, or had the proper training to do the job. Usually the real culprit is procrastination, lack of focus, or low productivity and lack of metrics. Wait and hope for a miracle.

Startup 164

Startup Class Entrepreneur Coach 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

Image via Pixabay As a mentor to many small business owners, I always caution them that you can never relax completely, just because your initial solution or product set appears to be getting traction, and the market buzz is positive. Document processes and metrics for economies of scale.

Metrics 86

Metrics Startup Training Customer 86

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. It’s the same for customers and products, where analytics have long proven their value.

Tool 121

Tool Statistics Entrepreneur Metrics 121

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Many entrepreneurs never get past their first-stage focus on their innovative product, to scaling the business globally, organizing a structure to handle thousands of employees, and concentrating their focus “on the business” rather than working “in the business.” Switch your focus from product development to sales.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

Products and services for a business need to be attuned to customer requirements, cost and quality tradeoffs, with milestones for pricing and completion. Typically some production and delivery is outsourced, requiring formal contracts and documentation. Show that you have a process to hire, fire, and train others as required.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs like you that I have met in my role as a business advisor are really product creators versus business creators, convinced that a great product will generate a great business. In most businesses, this means selling something, and proving that your product or service has value.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

In all cases, don’t skip the basic training. If you can’t identify customer interest, it doesn’t matter how good your product is. Develop metrics with which to measure yourself and use these to incrementally expand and improve your offering as fast as the market and capital will allow. Don’t stand still.

Startup 112

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 112

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 11, 2014

These are not the strategic visionary skills, like leading companies through risky product launches, or steering the course through economic storms where leaders become oversized personalities for their superhuman efforts. There are many types of metrics, some very easy to manage. Those include funding, people, training and facilities.

Organization 220

Organization Metrics Training Course 220

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2020

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. Now the experiments are over, and high productivity is the objective.

Startup 125

Startup Training Entrepreneur Organization 125

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

Some objections are real and they end up becoming changes to your product, your service plan or your pricing / bundling. As a founder, when you’ve been dealing with these kinds of objections for a couple of years it becomes natural and you easily handle objections on price, product & competition without much thought.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2021

First, you as the leader must be a role model for the actions you desire – including positive communication, active coaching, rewards for results, as well as providing required tools and training. Use metrics to assess needs and growth economics.

Customer 114

Customer Custom Satisfaction Metrics 114

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2019

Most are not event addressing it, and even in the instances they are, the typical format is to have a specialist come in for a workshop, to train just small percentage of an organization. Michele Ruiz: In the last year and a half, we have been putting together our product and content. Sometimes, it's just content presented online.

Content 150

Content Training Education Outsource Development 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2022

Based on their years of experience as successful executives and productivity consultants, they and I agree that focusing on these key positive elements will more likely get you the accountability you desire: Set clear and high standards of performance. Make sure they are seen as based on metrics, and belong to the performer.

Coach 145

Coach Slides Social Network Metrics 145

LATechDigest

MAY 12, 2016

Santa Monica-based talent management software firm Cornerstone OnDemand announced the launch of its suite of people analytics products at its annual Convergence Conference. Cornerstone Planning.

Cornerstone OnDemand 40

Cornerstone OnDemand Product Artificial Inteligence Organization 40

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

In all cases, don’t skip the basic training. If you can’t identify customer interest, it doesn’t matter how good your product is. Develop metrics with which to measure yourself and use these to incrementally expand and improve your offering as fast as the market and capital will allow. Don’t stand still.

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2023

As a business consultant, I see many different employee cultures, from exciting and motivational, to dysfunctional and non-productive. Forestall loss of momentum by creating a long-term roadmap of activities and objectives, with metrics, to track implementation and measure results. Failure to cascade change success across all teams.

Organization 116

Organization Activity Metrics Training 116

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2023

Measure progress through metrics on sales, revenue, and penetration. Productivity and results are a result of personal commitment and accountability, rather than hours worked. Of course, margin and profitability are important, but must be committed to adding more value to the lives of your clients, and making the world a better place.

Customer 91

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 91

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. Growth is more than simply repackaging existing products, and adding bells and whistles or slick incentives. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Managing business growth is more than metrics.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2019

Now, if your web site is not clear and clean, or you don’t have a chat robot for a product question online, you may be abandoned as providing poor customer service, just as certainly as having to wait in a long product exchange line after the holidays. The marketing metrics covers support as part of experience.

Customer 84

Customer Custom Company Companies 84