A lifestyle business is an enterprise that provides its Founders/Owners with an adequate personal lifestyle but that is all. In other words, it does not represent a game changing, large-scale opportunity that others such as Venture Capital funds can or would participate in—there just isn’t a large enough market, growth is too low or their market share is too small.
“We run one of the most successful east coast VC-funds but a lot of the entrepreneurs who are coming to see us these days are really pitching a lifestyle business which, frankly, we have zero interest in. Even if everything goes exactly right, their growth rate is so low and the overall market is so small that, apart from giving the Founders each a job, there isn’t anything left over for us. We need to see more game-changing opportunities that will provide us with a return on investment that is 10 times what we put in. The only way to get a lifestyle business off the ground is to bootstrap it.”
by Prof Bruce April 01, 2010
Get the lifestyle businessmug. Triangulation is a geometric method of locating a point by first determining two angles on a fixed baseline. It is used in times of war to locate hidden radio transmitters, ships on the high seas or aiming an artillery piece.
In business, it is used in a different way—CEOs, for example, triangulate on employees or other sources of information to be sure that they are getting accurate information which is mission critical to any enterprise’s longevity and sustainability. CEOs know that direct reports often tell them what they think the CEO wants to hear instead of the unvarnished truth. That is a reason why many CEOs like to speak directly to customers and suppliers—they disintermediate everyone else.
In business, it is used in a different way—CEOs, for example, triangulate on employees or other sources of information to be sure that they are getting accurate information which is mission critical to any enterprise’s longevity and sustainability. CEOs know that direct reports often tell them what they think the CEO wants to hear instead of the unvarnished truth. That is a reason why many CEOs like to speak directly to customers and suppliers—they disintermediate everyone else.
“Tom Sanders (played by Michael Douglas in the 1994 film, Disclosure) is a manager at tech company, Digicom. He is told by ambitious executive Meredith Johnson (played by Demi Moore) that the drives they are working on are failing at an unacceptable rate due to Tom’s negligence (in software design). Only by triangulating on Meredith (by checking with two independent sources) does Tom discover the truth and save his career—that Meredith had authorized a cheaper solution (they are using a lower level clean room) which is actually causing tiny specs of dirt to foul operation of their new drives.”
by Prof Bruce February 21, 2010
Get the triangulatingmug. A co-opetitor is someone who competes with you but, sometimes, cooperates with you. Someone who engages in co-opetition.
“REALTORS are rivals for listings and buyer clients but when they put them on MLS, they cooperate which means that he or she becomes a co-opetitor.”
by Prof Bruce November 01, 2010
Get the co-opetitormug. You’ve heard of SAAS, Software as a Service, well make way for PAAS, Product as a Service. Customers are subscribing to services that regularly deliver products they need over and over again. This could create a whole new class of business models.
Instead of selling your product to one customer, once, you might be able to turn it into PAAS, ‘product as a service’—people would subscribe to your service and you would deliver the product to them, say, once a quarter. It could be anything people use over and over again— like hair gel, shaving cream, razor blades, perfume, face cream, hey, maybe even socks and underwear.
by Prof Bruce April 20, 2011
Get the PAASmug. A Playlet is a mini-play, usually less than three or four minutes in duration, that helps students learn about a subject by watching characters perform real life simulations. Scripts are usually less than 500 words and the playlets can be performed by three or, at most four, actors.
“You know last month I was trying to teach my entrepreneurship students about Bootstrap Capital (Self-capitalization) and I wasn’t sure that I was really getting through to them all. So I got a few students together and we wrote, acted and filmed five playlets on the subject. We put each playlet up on YouTube and, lo and behold, when we showed them in class this week, there were quite a few ‘ah ha’ moments amongst the students. It seems that video and play acting real life situations got the message through in a way that really clicked.”
by Prof Bruce March 29, 2010
Get the playletmug. A client when buying your product or service can experience a negative cost if the benefits from using your product or service are greater than its cost. A negative cost can also result from a reduction in their costs from the use of your product or service that is greater than the cost of buying the product or service from you or it may result from some combination of higher benefits and lower costs.
Negative cost selling is all about understanding your client’s business from their point of view and being able to measure the benefits you create and the cost reductions you cause.
Negative cost selling is all about understanding your client’s business from their point of view and being able to measure the benefits you create and the cost reductions you cause.
“A minor soccer team organizer approaches a professional team for a donation to help with their upcoming tournament. Instead of just giving them money, the pro team gives them tickets at a discounted price (say $25 each) which they in turn sell at full retail price (say $45 each). They keep the difference. Their cost for each ticket is a negative cost, i.e., -$20. This also turns all the local minor sports teams, the players, their moms and dads, grandmothers and grandfathers into a new sales channel for the pro team which helps to fill their arena or stadium. It also teaches the kids about entrepreneurship and self-reliance and they come to understand the maxim: ‘Give a person in need a fishing rod, not a fish.’”
by Prof Bruce October 30, 2009
Get the Negative Costmug.