Great Small Business Ideas to Start: Eliminating waste (muda) In the rush to focus on revenue, many businesses forget to consider the importance of business process and the effects of waste. Put another way, businesses that strive to remain streamlined and well organized have a significant advantage over those that lack efficiency. The idea For … Read more
Great Small Business Ideas to Start: Franchising By selling a brand, a business plan, and expertise to regional business owners, corporations can increase profits and gain a global reach without significantly increasing risk. The idea The number and variety of franchises is large, and is a technique employed by companies ranging from McDonald’s fast food … Read more
Great Small Business Ideas to Start: Information orientation Given that billions of dollars are invested each year in IT software and hardware, we might expect managers to know exactly how information technology improves their organization’s results. Exactly what is the connection between the billions invested annually in IT, and improvements in productivity and performance? Information … Read more
Great Small Business Ideas to Start: The rule of 150 Coworkers find socializing, teamworking, and associated activities (such as innovating, collaborating, and sharing knowledge) much easier to achieve when they are placed in groups of less than 150. In this way, larger corporations gain the benefit of smaller groups that are often closer, more energetic, … Read more
Great Small Business Ideas to Start: Using customer information Seamlessly gathered information can be used to save costs, to provide a tailor-made service to individual clients, and to sell more—often using the internet. The idea The American online retailer Amazon.com has redefined bookselling. Its culture appreciates the potential of technology, with the company using information … Read more
Great Small Business Ideas to Start: Making your employees proud A company with a positive self-image and sense of pride will be more unified and efficient, with a stronger “employer brand.” When employees respect and appreciate the organization they work for, then their productivity, quality of work, and job satisfaction increase. The idea Are your … Read more
Great Small Business Ideas to Start: Scenario planning Scenario planning enables organizations to rehearse the future, to walk the battlefield before battle commences so that they are better prepared. Scenarios are not about predicting future events. Their value lies in helping businesses understand the forces that are shaping the future. They challenge our assumptions. The … Read more
Great Small Business Ideas to Start: Building customer trust and loyalty Both selling and influencing suffer from the similar misconception that success requires you to aggressively or cleverly push a product or idea. This misunderstanding leads to inappropriate behaviors. For example, people can become evasive, “pushy,” and aggressive, or overly talkative and agreeable. Selling and … Read more
