Digital Library > Defining and Serving a Market > Electronic commerce “Join the E-Commerce Revolution — Free” Many small businesses view the Internet as a place to level the playing field against larger competitors. Yet less than 5% of U.S.-based small businesses currently have an e-commerce Web site. If the cost or complexity has stalled your online plans, here’s good…
Digital Library > Defining and serving a market > Differentiating your company “Armstrong’s Secret Weapon: Creativity” When advised to "loosen up," a sales manager at Armstrong International dreamed up an imaginative Christmas card: He was photographed in a Santa Claus suit sitting on a pump trap — one of the company’s core products. The card generated more response from customers…
I have a suggestion for entrepreneurs who are daunted by the cost of sophisticated, yet expensive, marketing research: Weigh your mail.
My Grandpa Huber used to tell a story about an entrepreneurial miner. After a few years of futile picking at his claim, he came up with a “big idea.”
Kauffman study dispels misperceptions about growth.
Digital Library > Defining and serving a market > Differentiating your company “Beehiving Buzz” There’s been a major structural shift in community as America’s monolithic civic arena crumbles. In its place is the rise of small, tightly knit groups bound by shared interests or values — "beehiving." A good example is the gradual breakdown of our country’s two-party political system…
Digital Library > Defining and Serving a Market > Business conditions “Simplicity Sells: The Unplugged Moment” Today our lives are divided into two realms. Part of the day is spent in the Internet world, where we’re working as fast as we can, as hard as we can. Yet when we’re not in high gear, we want to completely "unplug" and…
Digital Library > Defining and Serving a Market > Customer service “Don’t Put Me on Hold” Speedy customer service is what consumers want from their online services, whether it’s a mortgage lender or wireless-communication vendor, according to a study from Mobius Management Systems, a provider of Web-based software. Ninety-one percent of survey respondents said they would change vendors if it…
Keys to a successful marketing program: targeted audience, sharp appearance, valuable offer.
Digital Library > Operations and Technology > Inventory control “When Errors Are Not an Option” Alaskan Brewing Co. leveraged its biggest operational obstacle to develop impressive organizational muscle. The Juneau-based microbrewery, which generates more than $10 million in annual sales, is landlocked. This adverse geography affects everything — from bringing in ingredients to shipping finished product. A weekly barge from…