Don't Charge at Elephants

by Dr Greg Chapman

In every sector there are 2 or 3 big guys, the elephants. Everyone knows them. They have marketing power. They have buying power. And yet, elephants are afraid of mice.

But don’t try to beat an elephant by playing an elephant’s game. You can’t beat them on price. You can’t out-advertise them. You can’t offer the same range. Your distribution network will never be as extensive.

So how can you be like the mouse? The mouse scares the elephant because the elephant feels something happening between its feet, and it can’t see it or stop it.

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The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 5: Taking Action

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Last month I covered the fourth of the Five Pillars of Business Success: People Systems.

In this post I discuss the fifth of the Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success: Taking Action.

So you have just had this fantastic business idea, or learned of a great new strategy. What is the most critical barrier to success?

Back in the early eighties I had this fantastic business idea. At that time I was working in the US for another company. Whilst there, I noticed that they had home delivered pizza. This was especially great in the winter when there was snow on the ground and there was no way I wanted to go out. It was then I first heard the Domino’s pizza slogan – delivered in 30 minutes, or its free!

Small Business Solutions in the COVID Era

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

The following is an interview with Liam Webster of Channel 31 on the impact of COVID on small business and some strategies that they may able to use to recover as we move out of lockdown mania.

How badly were small businesses affected by COVID?

Ad of the Month – Comparisons with the Competition

by Dr Greg Chapman

I love this ad. Made me laugh out loud.

Imagine you have a low cost competitor whose products don’t last. But they’re cheap. How can you get customers to value your superior products? By showing them what happens to the cheap ones.

Do You Really Sell a Quality Product?

by Dr Greg Chapman

I often ask business owners, do you sell a quality product, and most tell me they do. I then ask do they think that is a reason that people should buy from you, again most say "Yes".

How did you answer these questions? If you said yes to both, I hate to disillusion you, but everyone says they have a quality product. Have you every heard anyone say:

"Buy from me, my products are lousy?"

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How Steve Jobs Prices Products

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

When Steve Jobs launched the iPad some years ago, before the launch, the big question was how much to charge for it. The major existing brand digital reader, Kindle was priced at $259. Apple believed the iPad was superior technology and so should have a higher price. But how high? The answer was as high as their marketing can push it!

They decided to charge $499 for the basic model – almost twice the cost of a Kindle. The only question was how to justify it.

The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 4: People Systems

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Last month I covered the third of the Five Pillars of Business Success: Marketing Strategy.

In this post I discuss the fourth of the Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success: People Systems.

One of the biggest impediments to growth in most small businesses is lack of people systems. When there is poor alignment between your staff’s and your business’ objectives, this becomes a major obstacle to your success.

Ad of Month – You are the product

by Dr Greg Chapman

It’s always interesting to know how others see us, especially if we are the product. How are we sold to others? How is the pitch made? What is the conversation that takes place behind your back to interest potential buyers? Possibly not what you would think.

In this ad, the product is Australia and the buyers are all Kiwis.

One Size does not fit All

by Dr Greg Chapman

Henry Ford once said about the colour range of his cars “They can have any colour they want, as long as it is black”. His strategy was built around price. Choice was a cost to his business and he wanted to mass produce so he could get economies of scale.

If you have a low price strategy, you may also offer a one size fits all solution as introducing choice also increases cost.

If, however you wish to increase your margins, having a wider range creates value for your customer.

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The Economics of a Sales Pipeline

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

 
It is not enough to understand the numbers in your sales pipeline (see “Mathematics of a Sales Pipeline”) you also need to understand the costs.

Let’s start with the example in the earlier article:

The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 3: Business Systems

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Last month I covered the second of the Five Pillars of Business Success: Marketing Strategy.

In this post I discuss the third of the Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success: Business Systems.

Answer the following questions honestly:

• How many hours do you work a week?
• When was the last time you took an uninterrupted holiday?
• Do your staff have a better job than you?

Ad of the Month – Breaking up is hard to do

by Dr Greg Chapman

You have a deep relationship with your existing partner and to leave is actually complicated because of your long standing arrangements, but you’re attracted by another partner who is much more modern and in tune with your lifestyle.

Wouldn’t is be great if you could keep the security of your old relationship but get all the benefits of the much more fun and exciting one? And just to make things clear, I’m talking about banking.

How I lost a Sale

by Dr Greg Chapman

A short while back I lost a potential client. Now its not the first time it happened. And I am sure it won't be the last.

Sometimes I am very happy to lose a client- you know the type, the time wasters, the freebie seekers, or people who are just totally unqualified to buy.

No, the client I lost wasn't anyone of those. In the initial stages of my discussion with him, he seemed pretty qualified. In fact, highly qualified.

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The Mathematics of a Sales Pipeline

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

There are two key components to a sale: the technique and the numbers. In this article, we will discuss the second of these components, the numbers.

“Using the Five Profit Drivers to Double Your Business’ Profit” referred to the second Profit Driver as “Increasing your conversions to sales”. That is, we took the number of sales and divided it by the number of enquiries to calculate the conversion factor. This is a very blunt instrument to analyze your sales effectiveness.

The simple sales conversion factor measure assumes a single sales step. Someone calls you and after a conversation, they buy, or they don’t. Most sales processes are far more complex. Consider an example of a typical sales pipeline:

The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 2: Marketing Strategy

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Last month I covered the first of the Five Pillars of Business Success: Your Plan.

In this post I discuss the second of the Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success: Marketing Strategy.

What is Marketing? There are hundreds of definitions of marketing, but I like to keep it really simple.

Definition: Marketing (noun): Finding and Attracting people who want to buy what you want to sell for the price you want to charge.

Ad of the Month - Joy

by Dr Greg Chapman

Suppose you run an investment fund and you want to appeal to the average person who might only have small amounts that they can contribute regularly? The typical approach might be to explain how small amounts over time will add up to a large amount in the distant future (boring) or you could make saving fun. This is what this fund did.

Do You Market Like a Lion or a Spider?

by Dr Greg Chapman

The lion of course, is the king of the beasts. Standing there on an outcrop surveying the plains with a gentle breeze blowing in his mane. He spots a heard of antelope and climbs down and starts to make his way towards the herd.

He approaches from downwind and starts to stalk his prey. Once the herd comes within sprinting distance, he begins his chase. The herd dashes to the left and then to the right to avoid the lion. Finally the lion spots an antelope that is lagging behind and he marks his target. It is as magnificent to watch as it is brutal.

The lion has his meal. Tomorrow he will do it all again.

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How Leaky is Your Sales Pipeline?

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Does your Sales Pipeline leak? Hopefully your answer to that question is “Yes, but just in the places it’s supposed to.” Every business’ Sales Pipeline leaks to some extent. The question is: Have you done everything you can to ensure that it does not leak excessively? Do you even know what your Sales Pipeline looks like?

Very simply, a Sales Pipeline starts with an initial enquiry and ends with a sale. While the Sales Pipeline looks different in each business, there are still some similarities between them. In all businesses, there is a need to generate enquiries. This can be done through advertising, cold calling, public relations or word of mouth. This enquiry may be a phone call in response to an ad. Or, in retail, a customer may walk in your front door attracted by your shopfront marketing. This is the first step of the Sales Pipeline for any business. However, there are usually a number of steps from receiving an enquiry to generating a sale.

The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 1: The Plan

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Last month I revealed the 5 reasons businesses stay small.

In this post I will discuss the first of the Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success: The Plan.

When I speak about plans what I see are generally business plans created when the business was first started, that read like novels, and if they were in libraries, they would be classified as science fiction. They are filled with the optimism of the inexperienced, but once exposed to the reality of the market place, these plans regularly get forgotten on the shelf gathering dust.

General Truman once said “Planning is essential but plans are useless”. Perhaps this thought was prompted by a 19th century German Field Marshall von Moltke who said “No plan survives contact with the enemy.”

Top Small Business Blogs 2021

by Dr Greg Chapman

Once again The Australian Small Business Blog has been ranked in the Top 100 Small Business Blogs Globally and in the Top 10 Small Business Blogs in Australia by the blog aggregator Feedspot.

Thanks again to the Feedspot team for the recognition.

Ad of the Month - Changing old traditions

by Dr Greg Chapman

Old traditions die hard. We do things at certain times because everyone else does it and we get used to it and even like it.

I admit I love an ice cold beer on a hot summers day. Doesn’t everyone? Well apparently not.

How much are You worth?

by Dr Greg Chapman

The past year has been difficult for everyone, except perhaps Zoom shareholders. As we start to come out the other side of this, the confidence of many has been shaken causing them question their value. If you are a business owner selling products and services, do you get what you are worth? Most people will answer no to this question. They believe that their clients do not value their services and won’t pay what they are truly worth.

Here is a calculation you can make.

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Five Reasons Businesses Stay Small

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

This is an edited extract from the best selling award winning book “The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success”

The biggest risk for most businesses, if they survive the first year, is not whether they will fail. Most won’t. The biggest risk is that they will stay small. Whether by design or not. Recent ABS data show that 98% of micro-businesses stay that way. That is, they are Micro-Stayers.

There are a number of reasons that businesses may stay in the Micro-Stayer group. It could be a lifestyle choice. Work-Life balance is becoming more and more important to many people. It may be because they don’t have the knowledge to take their business to the next level, and become frustrated Micro-Stayers. Or they may have progressed from frustrated to resigned Micro-Stayers and have adjusted lifestyle and ambition in recognition of this.

Businesses that involuntarily stay small, the Micro-Stayers, do so for five key reasons.