Tag: successful pricing

Six Leadership Styles for Creative Leaders

Leaders and managers of creative businesses in the media, design and technology sectors can use these six leadership styles to improve the effectiveness of their leadership, their teams and their creative enterprises. According to Daniel Goleman, there are six leadership styles which are associated with the various elements of emotional intelligence in different combinations. The …

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Be a Quitter

Forget the adage ‘Never Quit’. Instead, quit often! That’s one of the messages in Seth Godin’s new book ‘The Dip’. It links in to what I often write about ‘Saying No’. In order to focus on becoming highly successful in one field, you have to say no to distractions that don’t help you towards your …

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Seven Steps to Business Success

There is a lot written about business success and business strategy, but in essence it can all be boiled down to seven simple steps: Be clear where you want to go – your Vision Know yourself and your current situation – internal analysis Understand customers’ needs, competition and external forces Carefully create your unique Business …

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Creative Labourer – or Creative Entrepreneur?

Are you a true entrepreneur – or just a creative labourer? This was the question posed in my article about the E-Myth. Here’s a true story. Robert Altman was paid a cool $70,000 (US dollars) for directing the 1970 hit movie M*A*S*H. They needed a song for the movie so Robert Altman’s 14 year old …

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PEST Analysis improved: The ICEDRIPS checklist

Creative enterprises can use the ICEDRIPS checklist to identify opportunities and threats in a fast-changing world. All businesses and organisations operate in a changing world and are subject to forces which are more powerful than they are, and which are beyond their control. Just as a ship at sea is subject to powerful natural forces …

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The ‘E-Myth’

Michael E Gerber, in his book on the E-Myth (E-Myth Revisited), points out that there is a fundamental difference between knowing a technical skill or trade (eg as a designer, mechanic, chef) and running a business based on that skill (a design agency, a workshop or a restaurant). Many would-be entrepreneurs who break away from …

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The Long Tail

The Long Tail refers to the statistical phenomenon that represents the ‘trivial many’ of the Pareto Principle or ’80:20 Rule’ (see the “95:5 Rule“). Businesses operating in the physical world need to concentrate resources on the ‘important few’, ie the top 20% or even the top 5% that provide the bulk of sales or profits …

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Level 5 Leadership

The best leaders are not always ‘charismatic’. “Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. It’s not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious – but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not …

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Say No to customers

Paradoxically, great art lies in what the painter chooses to leave out as much as what s/he decides to put in. Similarly, the art of business strategy is not just about deciding what you are going to do; just as important is deciding what you are not going to do. Having a ‘must not do’ …

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‘Lateral-Thinking’ Leadership

The most effective leaders learn from other industries and sectors. “Most [executives] think they are in touch with the outside world if they play golf with the vice-president of another company in the same industry.” – Professor Peter Drucker. Management Guru. (Financial Times. London. 16 November 2004.) Research commissioned by the UK Government’s Department of …

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