You made your promise to your customer (aka value proposition). Delivering it is as important as making it. Which one do you think is best? Under-deliver Deliver Over-deliver
2 days ago • 1 min read
"Every customer is important." It's not. If you had only 4 hours to have face-to-face conversations that define the future of your business, who would be these customers you'd have those 1:1? Physically, you can't do it with all of them. Who would you choose? In your gut, you already know. Just as you know the ones who are not. Focus. It's all about choosing. Choose wisely.
3 days ago • 1 min read
After a 2-month break, we're back. This time off was important to re-evaluate some thinking, pressure test some more, and focus more. Anyways, now that we're back, let's get down to business. :) As such, you might focus on certain things, and maybe leave others. That's ok. You can take a pause (short or long). Regroup. Rethink. And then you can retake things. At your own pace. Just remember to get back to it.
4 days ago • 1 min read
One way that makes the process of articulating what's different about you simpler (not less painful, though) is through your insight. April Dunford defines insight as "the thing we understand about the market that the others do not." It starts with what you see in the market that doesn't make sense, that makes you cringe, that pisses you off. And the way you approach it that's in another direction from what everybody else does. It's your understanding. That's what makes you different.
2 months ago • 1 min read
They're all a by-product. You don't look for them as the main focus, they are the result of what you do in service to your customers.
2 months ago • 1 min read
A common pattern that I see in people who are new in leading positions is they try to maximize the results. What's that even mean? That in order to get the best results, you have to seize the right time. At uni, it might work. In real-life... not so much. Because it's about waiting. Waiting for the right time. Time that might never come (as perfect as expected). In business, the right time is not too early, nor too late. The right time is when you make a decision. A decision that might be...
2 months ago • 1 min read
That's what most people will tell you: "Don't burn bridges." Here's the thing, though: sometimes there are bridges that need to burn. Still, you can make them burn graciously.
2 months ago • 1 min read
This one is taken over by Geraldine Carter. It usually sounds like this: “I should probably say yes to this revenue, right?” Or worse: “I already said yes.” Or worse: ”Why would I say no to revenue?” Or worse: ”It’s hard to say no to revenue.” Or worse: ”I don’t say no to revenue.” Or worse: ”I’ve never met a dollar I didn’t like.” Here’s the thing – That one-time custom package that you were about to create… It looks like a harmless little shoot in your yard. But it’s a sapling. And left...
3 months ago • 1 min read
You don't get to hire somebody highly qualified to do non-qualified-to-do work (paying top dollar). It makes no sense. It's the same in business. Your customers don't want to pay premium for a commoditized thing. And your focus in business has the same perspective. Is it important to have all the tiny work done? Absolutely. Can you have someone else do it so that YOU focus on the high impact? That might be a better way to make your business thrive. Maybe. It's all on the focus.
3 months ago • 1 min read