Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2017

“Sleeping giants do wake up,” I always say, to remind new business owners that nobody cares what you do when you are not a threat, but when you get some real traction with customers, competitors will come out of the woodwork with a vengeance. You need quantified value for customers to see, feel, and pay for.

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Metrics Resource Startup Training 58

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2017

Entrepreneurs always work hard to create an innovative product or service, but often count on standard seller marketing for sales. But the reality is that sellers are no longer in charge of the customer buying process. The best way to do this is with real customer interviews. Include planned measurements and metrics.

Search Engine Optimization 58

Search Engine Optimization Startup SEO Customer 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 10, 2018

As a business advisor, one of the things I see most often as a drag to productivity and growth is employees who, despite their best efforts, can’t change things that they know are hurting the company. Yet every CEO I know believes that his team is motivated and empowered to make the business better for both customers and the company.

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Startup Organization Customer Custom 62

StartUp Beat

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Your favorite influencers, who you already follow, are repping products and promoting brands, all the while still staying true to their unique voice and story,” Agrawal explains. “In In 2017, these sorts of collaborations between big brands and influencers are only to increase.”.

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Social Media Software Review Media Marketing 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2017

True business success and leadership starts with real personal values, extends to building a team, and finally to inspiring customers and your community. That’s a huge leap from an entrepreneurial idea, to a product, to making money. In business, consistency is the key to productivity and trust by team members and customers alike.

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Case Study Customer Custom Entrepreneur 55

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Most of the guidance you see for entrepreneurs is aimed at those who are selling a product (Apple, Tesla, Xiaomi), or selling a service (Uber, Airbnb, Snapchat). The “product” value is difficult to quantify, the costs are nebulous, and entrepreneurs have to clone themselves to scale the business.

Social Media 56

Social Media Pricing Technical Review Demand 56

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2017

You can jump into social media with a poor brand definition, poorly focused content, unrealistic expectations of customer service, or be killed by malware or viruses. Assess social media relevance to your product or service. If your business is industrial B2B products, social media may be low on your list.

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Social Media Media Platform Tool 58

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2017

Having a website won’t help if customers can’t find it. Use social media to actively engage with your customers. Many businesses ignore social media, other listen on one or more channels, while the best talk as well as listen to customers and potential customers. Focus on providing memorable total customer experiences.

Social Media 57

Social Media Search Engine Optimization Startup Customer 57

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2017

You don’t like it, millennials won’t put up with it, and current productivity levels at work continue to decline. She has lived and worked in five countries, and consulted with major corporations, as well as startups, in transforming their workplaces to be more productive as well as more satisfying. No one is happy or satisfied.

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Satisfaction Coach Startup Organization 67

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2017

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.

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Tool Entrepreneur Statistics Metrics 53

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2017

The command and control leadership of the past is proving to be too inflexible, devoid of values, and not empathic to people issues – customers, employees, and partners. It now means shared values and true empowerment, which is the new key to employee productivity and profitability. Company culture drives decision making and process.

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Company Companies Artificial Inteligence Technical Review 55

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2017

Thus most investors I know claim to invest in the person, rather than the product. When people feel good about themselves, the business looks positive, productivity goes up, and relationships are a lot better. Some things need to be done whether we like them or not; for example, daily cash-flow analysis and business metrics.

Software Review 57

Software Review Technical Review Startup Press 57

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

Yet these same entrepreneurs often quickly get set in their ways, and find themselves resisting changes to their own business, and begin to fear further customer change in their domain. The constituents of every business success go far beyond customers – they include employees, partners, investors, vendors, and may even include competitors.

Press 56

Press Tool Metrics Startup 56

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2017

Dart and Lewis should know, since both have over twenty-five years of experience consulting with dozens of retail and consumer product companies, old and new. Measure your agility by putting metrics on change. Some may have no product at all for carry-out, with demonstrations and iPads for ordering and delivery the next day.

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Customer Custom Technical Review Summary 52

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2017

Frame the way you want to change the world, and make it about the customer. Decide what to measure and create metrics. Make sure your measurements are customer-oriented, as well as focused on internal processes. What has your business done lately to excite your existing customers and keep them loyal?

Startup 81

Startup Metrics Organization Ideas 81

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2017

In my view, that’s why “two heads are better than one” in starting a business – one with the passion and skill to create an innovative solution, and the other with a business savvy, customer focus, and the ability to build and lead a team. Businesses are driven by your team, investors, partners, and most of all, customers.

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Ideas Product Startup Satisfaction 67