So the break-even percentage for +120 is BE% = 100 / (100 + 120) = 45.5% The break-even percentage for +390 is BE% = 100 / (100 + 390) = 20.4% If it’s a minus number, you take the listed number and divide it by 100 plus the listed number. So the break-even percentage for […]
Critical path method: This was devised by researchers at DuPont and Remington-Rand to manage the complex business of shutting down plants for maintenance and then restarting them. CPM begins by providing a diagramatic view of the project, showing the time required to complete each of its component activities. The diagram will then reveal which activities […]
Today we take for granted the idea that businesses are supposed to be consumer-centric. This wasn’t always the case. One of the men who introduced a revolutionary idea was Theodore Levitt who wrote a very influential article titled, “Marketing myopia.” The reason an industry declines is not because demand declines, but because the same needs […]
Every entrepreneur’s dream is to innovate – to create a new product that no one else is offering. But that’s not so easy. One idea that could help came from W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborne. Red oceans are filled with competition. They are cut throat and bloody – hence the color “red.” Blue oceans […]
Causing disruption Innovation, much prized by management thinkers, can put others out of business. Technology that eventually destroys the dominant product is known as “disruptive” and its chief chronicler is Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. Disruptive innovation, as Christensen points out in The Innovator’s Dilemma, takes a number of forms. One is “low-end” disruption, where the […]
Business slowly adjusts to the new, but when it does, it captilasizes very aggressively. But some think that “this time is different” – although there are others who disagree. Back in the 1960’s, the communications possibilities of packet-switching and networking emerged. The first network of computers that communicated over a phone line was built in […]
An adhocracy is the direct opposite of bureaucracy. The former is unstructured, decentralized and, at least in theory, responsive. In a bureaucracy, the structure is more important than the people. An adhocracy, on the other hand, is designed to bring out the best in people. A bureaucracy is “a hierarchical administrative system designed to deal […]
There are four specifically entrepreneurial strategies: 1. Being “Fustest with the Mostest” it aims from the start at a permanent leadership position. – of all entrepreneurial strategies it is the greatest gamble. “Putting a Man on the Moon” is an example of this strategy being used. It’s a high risk, high reward approach, and it […]
Realistic considerations before starting a business Know how much money you’ll need to run the business for a year Find out how to delegate the tasks you can’t handle What are the key activities? Who should be handling these key activities? What are you good at? What do you really want to do and are […]
Organize and systematize the study of opportunities Understand how your customers perceive ideas, don’t just make assumptions. Always aim for simplicity. Things that are too complicated never take off. Start small. A bit of money, a small team, a focused market. Simple works. if it’s too complicated, it won’t work. Aim at being a market […]
The School of Poker 