January 17th 2010
Marketing is a key ingredient to the success of any business — big or small. But it means far more than just selling your product or service. Marketing activities encompass planning your product or service, then pricing, promoting and placing (or distributing) that product or service in such a way as to keep your customers happy and your business profitable. Continue Reading »
June 24th 2009
There are many definitions of service. To many, it means being friendly, delivering on time and attending promptly to the customer’s needs. While this behaviour certainly is a part of service, there is more to it. Continue Reading »
June 4th 2009
A business plan is simply a detailed explanation of your basic ideas, and it’s on the basis of this plan that you’ll be able to raise finance, and also clarify all aspects of your projected business before you spend too much valuable time and money on it. Continue Reading »
June 4th 2009
Developing a comprehensive business plan is by no means an easy task and may demand a lot of time and patience. It requires a conscious effort, a lot of homework and a well-designed layout. Continue Reading »
May 20th 2009
Companies and people in business spend fortunes sourcing contacts, referrals and leads. At networking meetings – in fact, at most social functions, whether related to business or not – you are served a delicious buffet of people to whom to market and promote your business. The big question is whether you know how. As far as I’m concerned, if you have a big mouth and use it correctly, you’re more than halfway there. Continue Reading »
May 8th 2009
Many years ago I had a newly promoted boss who struck me as vastly ambitious. His strategy for looking good in his new post was to hire fresh writers -”his people”—and make sure their work got prominent display in the publication. He would spend a great deal of time with the new folks, while studiously ignoring us old hands. Continue Reading »
May 7th 2009
A franchise arrangement occurs when the business rights for a particular business, as well as the knowledge, procedures, expertise and goodwill necessary to run it, are sold to a number of people, who are called franchisees.
Franchising is a popular way of starting a small business. In the USA in 1988, there were over 2 000 different franchises, operating over 500 000 outlets, with sales of $640-billion. The South African Franchise Association has 84 members. Continue Reading »
April 11th 2009
Twelve major reasons why new products fail
Hundreds of new products are launched on to the market every year. Why do some products fail completely, others limp along for a while before being discontinued, and a few become spectacular successes? Many factors can contribute to product failure:
Poor differentiation
A well-differentiated product is perceived by customers as having some desirable characteristic. A poorly differentiated product offers consumers no reason to stop buying what they usually buy. Continue Reading »
April 11th 2009
Know your customer, identify his needs — both rational and irrational — and ensure that your product satisfies these needs. This is one of the most important factors for success — all the others depend on it. Continue Reading »
March 3rd 2009
As products become more global, marketers will increasingly have to take into account cultures and values that may be different from their own. I think that I may have been helped on this score a bit by the fact that I am a Mexican who has worked for American companies all of my life. Continue Reading »
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