Featured Article:

Distilling Today’s Market Issues into One Catchy Phrase
by Victoria Zillioux.

Last week we hosted a roundtable event with National University at one of their campus locations. We alternate speakers and topics with them so I was there more as audience than a participant at this one in particular since they were providing the speaker. Our partners at National had told us that there might be an additional speaker besides the one that was scheduled and I didn’t think much about it, actually. The topic was based around business development in this economy.

As it turns out, the additional speaker was Reo Carr, Editor-in-Chief at the San Diego Business Journal. Besides being an excellent presenter in general, his topic was really great! I’ll give you a brief overview here but if you have an opportunity to hear him speak on this topic, I highly recommend that you attend.

Mr. Carr called his topic “Leaner, Meaner, Greener, Keener, Faster” (not necessarily in that order…). He took this catchy phrase and worked it into an extremely relevant discussion of today’s business environment and what a company needs to do to keep up with the competition. As I said, here is a quick rundown of the topic, but you really need to hear it from him.

Leaner – Companies need to learn to run with fewer people and greater efficiency. This is a big deal particularly with manufacturing. It’s important when you consider the amount of money going out of the country to import items that can be purchased for so much less than if manufactured here in the US. Certainly everyone is sensitive to that issue.

Meaner – The environment is more competitive and companies need the right structure to compete (goes back to leaner). Companies are pushing for increased market share – a bigger bite of the same apple that everyone else is working for. Interesting to consider competition to be “meaner”, but with the tough market out there, that is probably very accurate. Sounds like a sports analogy is here somewhere...

Greener – Green is now mainstream, particularly with the types of businesses that have had bad reputations in the past with regard to the environment. (Like the oil companies.) This is an important issue to a lot of people. Doesn’t apply directly to all types of businesses, but everyone is thinking about it. And people notice if your operation is producing a lot of unneeded paper. (I think this is related to keener – see below.) Keener – Smarter; providing goods and services in more intelligent ways. Not doing things the way they have always been done. Rethinking the processes. (Refer back to “leaner, meaner, and greener”…) Faster - The velocity of business is increasing dramatically. A company needs to be able to keep up. Investing in the tools to make that happen is not just necessary but required. A good example is the smart phone replacing the standard cell phone. Many people say that they don’t want to be that much in touch. But what if your competition is? And maybe the issue of frequent communication is more related to how that communication is managed. (Does that also go back to “keener”? Maybe it relates to “leaner” and “meaner”, too.) I think the point here is that none of these are stand-alone – they are intertwined and directly related if they are to be effective.

Naturally Mr. Carr gave great examples. I’ll name a couple here:

How about iTunes – certainly leaner than having a chain of record stores like the old days. And no people at all to interface with to make a purchase. How about meaner – they lead the pack. Greener – downloads rather than cd’s or records (remember them?). Keener – look at all the functionality – you get to download into a library, sort the music however you want, listen to samples before you buy. Faster – how about immediate?? That certainly works for my instant gratification hang up.

An older technology example is the ATM machine. They are leaner – no bank tellers. Meaner – rising to the competitive environment by identifying locations that would work well, like grocery stores. Greener – no paper, not even a receipt if you don’t want one. Keener – they do all kinds of services now, including selling stamps! Faster- walk up, stick your card in the machine, get your money. The point of Mr. Carr’s subject was that businesses today need to align to these key forces in order to stay in the game. The game has changed dramatically and the roadmap for your business needs to make an adjustment as well. He has distilled the market changes into a catchy phrase that pretty much says it all.

So the question becomes, what does it take to look at your business and understand how to make the necessary adjustments? What analytical tools are available to identify the changes you need to make and measure against a benchmark? Give us a call or drop us an email. We can point you in the right direction and provide some free thought provoking tools to help you work around the detours in your new roadmap to success!

News & Events at SDW:

SDW and Facebook

Are you following us on Facebook or Twitter yet? If not, why not? It’s free and we’ve been getting some really interesting articles lately. There are links on our website to take you right to each site at the bottom of our home page. www.sdwnet.com

There you will find provocative articles from sources as diverse as the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Barrons. Also, our own Arte Nathan and his thought provoking Arte of Motivation series, sure to give you something to think about!

Do you know of a good article for posting on our Facebook or Twitter site? Let us know! Well take a look at it, and possibly use it!

The Arte of Motivation:

“The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!”
- Marvin Phillips

Every now and then we find a quote that is more whimsical than philosophical – this is one. And even though at first glance it appears to be a clever play on words, a second look reveals a bit of truth that can help guide our thoughts and actions. Take another look.

Umph is related to gumption, and both involve courage and common sense. Leaders, successful people and star performers all have in common the courage to take what action is needed to achieve their goals. There are countless stories of regular people who started small businesses – and over time their courage and stick-to-it-tiveness led to large and successful organizations. Ray Kroc was a restaurant equipment salesman who founded McDonalds, Phil Ruffin started with a small hamburger stand and now owns Treasure Island in Las Vegas; The Morongo Band of Mission Indians had the courage to change the law to allow tribes to have gaming, and now their enterprises are some of the largest in Riverside County. These were people who not only had a dream and a vision, but also the courage to make those a reality.

Winners more often than not combine practical thinking and the presence of mind that is known as common sense. Both are needed if you want to be successful; whether it’s winning at play, achieving excellence at work, or being victorious in the pursuit of your goals, success is the brass ring you should reach for every day and in every way. Phil Ruffin often tells listeners that the key to his success has been in listening to his employees – they know what’s needed to please customers and make a profit. That’s the kind of common sense needed to be successful; and the courage that allows you to limit your ego in pursuit of your goals. While it’s true that the people closest to the job are the ones who understand it best, not everyone will admit that they need the help, and then listen to it.

It’s not so much the trying that matters most – although you certainly have to start something if you ever hope to finish. It’s more the guts and drive and determination – the “will” – that’s the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. In these difficult economic times we all understand that doing more with less is the way to succeed – but are you really willing to put in the hard work to achieve your goals? Combining this hard work while keeping things simple and straight-forward will point you in the right direction. But never underestimate how hard the work is going to be, and never stop until you finish.

What are you going to try today, and where are you going to apply the umph?