Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Small Business Ideas - Think BIG!
| My motto is there are no small businesses ... only small ideas. Recently I was running a planning session for one company who had a great idea for a product ... a really great idea. The trouble was their method of distribution was cumbersome, time consuming and would reduce their profits significantly. For them that was the only way they could see to achieve delivery - in their mind that was the way they did things. I looked at their model and made one suggestion - instead of retail, what about wholesale to a few suppliers and change their approach to supply to the wholesalers to one where they could add massive value and support to their wholesalers. This one idea meant they went from having to try and provide service to thousands of people a week, to being able to provide exceptional service to just a hundred people a week. Their wholesalers love the new level of service and support they are getting and have all increased their orders. Their distribution costs plummeted which meant they could invest this money in other things like building their brand, finding new wholesalers and improving their product (...oh yes it tripled their profits in the process). Often it is the small business ideas that make the most difference. Where are you stuck thinking this is the only way it has to be done. How can you shift your thinking? Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au |
