Where do they go?

So, Blackberry seems to have gone.

A few years ago, business executives were addicted to the mobile email platform ... for that is what it was.

Then Apple - and Google via Android - showed what else could be done by a mobile device... and Blackberry was left behind.

Remember, however good your product is, however dominant you are in the market. some young upstart (startup!) will be trying to overtake you.  if you rest on your laurels, you get left by the roadside.

This is one occasion where productivity cannot help.  if you are selling the wrong product, it doesn't matter how efficiently you make it.

So, think about your own product range ... and who might be 'coming up on the rials' to overtake you.

Who do you 'touch'?

All businesses touch a number of groups and communities.  There are obvious ones like customers and employers - but also suppliers - and their suppliers through the supply chain - and people who live near your factories, stores, hospitals or whatever.

How do you touch these groups -how are they affected by what you do .. and how you do it.  If all your 'touches' are positive experiences., you create goodwill - and good business.

However, negative touches cause you 'pain'.

Its important to think through - and find out about - these touches and their effects on your business. You need to maximise and enhance the positive touches ... and eliminate or minimise the negative ones

Then everyone (or almost everyone) is happy with you!.

Mao Tse Tung

A strange title for a blog you might think,  but the other day I was reminded of Mao's epithet that "The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step".  A good philosophical point/

It reminded me that the 'best laid plans' and strategies are no good unless we implement - and execute.

Sometimes we need to stop planning, strategising, and talking - and get something done ... or at least started!

So think about the things you have been thinking about ... the things you would like to do to improve the business .. .and take the first step.  Today!

Measure of success

How do you judge the success of your organisation?

By the profits you generate?

It makes sense, doesn't it?  After all, that is why we are in business.

The problem with profitability is that it only tells us how well we did in the last accounting period.  It tells us nothing about how well we might perform in the future.

So we need additional measures to ensure we are both healthy ... and fit ... for the future.

those additional measures will depend on the kind of business you run ... but might include customer satisfaction levels, repeat business, employee satisfaction (and motivation), etc.

I urge you to think about what you might measure to judge your fitness.... something more than simply taking your temperature (which is what profitability does).