tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46272418985819781972024-02-20T18:36:59.906-08:00How To Write A Business PlanBusiness Strategy and Business Plan Writing Techniquejjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-65496619698004412762010-04-27T07:12:00.000-07:002010-05-01T19:55:58.905-07:00I Shot the Sheriff or How Netflix Kicked Blockbuster's AssAn article in today's Yahoo Finance proclaims Netflix defeated the former giant of the home video market (Blockbuster) through it's watch at home feature. I think the competitive advantage of Netflix goes much deeper. The two business models resemble more closely Amazon versus Barnes and Noble. One has thousands of brick and mortar locations upon which it primarily relies for sales and the jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-86815494602586723992010-01-11T06:22:00.000-08:002010-09-23T06:29:53.367-07:00iPhone and Android, Deja Vu All Over AgainApple introduced the Macintosh in 1984 putting it light years ahead of competing DOS machines. That's right, when the Macintosh first came out with a mouse and graphical interface the competition (IBM / Microsoft) lived in the stone age requiring users to punch in DOS code to interface with the operating system. Mac's were bulky machines with the monitor housed in the same casing as the CPU, jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-90003851975874653392009-08-07T12:10:00.000-07:002009-08-07T12:38:44.874-07:00When Competition Actually HelpsOpera CEO Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner was recently asked about competition from Google Chrome and how that effected his company's browser. See NPR aricle. Surprising, he stated that Chrome's entrance into the marketplace actually helped Opera. "The net effect of Google Chrome has been 20 percent more downloads of Opera every day since [the Google browser's release]." How can that be so? jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-50032590990781561342009-05-14T14:48:00.000-07:002011-03-14T12:27:02.385-07:00Twitter Bomb, How It WorksI've seen a few blog posts on the new phenonomon of twitter bombing (here and here). We're all familiar with the google bomb. The twitter bomb, given that twitter is now something of limited universe search engine, apparently is an adaptation of this older tactic. I don't claim to be an expert at this so feel free to jump in and correct anything you read here in the comments section.Here it isjjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-58596823177723383542009-04-04T06:38:00.000-07:002009-05-07T22:03:55.863-07:00Open Letter to TwitterTalk about taking a niche startup (micro blogging) and blowing up into an industry phenomenon, one can't help but tip the cap at the founders' vision for Twitter. The beauty of their plan was not just the concept of micro blogging but, also, early adoption of cel phone tweets and rich availability of APIs enabling others to spread twitter content around the web. Twitter is now a communications jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-88140003737751595892008-12-18T10:04:00.000-08:002008-12-24T10:16:43.276-08:00Your Competitive AdvantageThe most fundamental element of any business plan is to first identify the competitive advantage of your business versus current and expected future competition. Some argue that a business plan starts with defining the "market need" that your business shall be fulfilling. I disagree except in the case of the truly new product or service (and very little offered for sale by the hand of man is jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-90270762610507160912008-11-02T04:14:00.000-08:002008-11-18T07:39:26.340-08:00Business Method Patents?Does your business plan rely on a business method patent? In simple layman's terms, a business method patent is one for a process of doing business as opposed to the more standard mechanical process. A prime example us Priceline's patent for an online reverse auction of services. See article. In case you have not heard, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit just cast a shadow over alljjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-60500062145654865542008-07-17T10:15:00.000-07:002008-07-21T14:28:25.567-07:00Twitter for Business?I've been reading posts on various business blogs exhorting readers to get smart about utilizing micro-blogs like twitter for business. Great thought ... but what the hell are these people talking about? How does one communicate anything meaningful about one's business in 140 characters? Am I supposed to cyberstalk potential customers? This article lays out the case for Twitter as a business jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-23498916921551350942008-07-09T08:35:00.000-07:002008-11-13T09:00:38.265-08:00Web 2.0, What's It Really About? Here is a common definition of "Web 2.0" one finds on the web: "a trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to facilitate creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users." Link. Yadda, yadda, yadda. That's background noise. The important point is how and why are Web 2.0 companies hot traffic generators? And can this traffic be jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-90423314004166248172008-06-23T11:11:00.000-07:002008-06-25T09:47:10.989-07:00Google Adwords, Marketing Tool To NowhereCompetition in the world of pay-per-click keyword advertising is over. Google completely owns it. Microsoft had a shot at becoming a player by purchasing Yahoo to combine it with MSN.com but Monkeyboy Balmer punted that opportunity in frustration that his initial offer was not lapped up like mother's milk by Jerry Yang. Upon receiving the universal Sicilian sign of greeting from Balmer, Yang jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-25137774028794761432008-05-27T12:40:00.000-07:002008-05-27T13:27:56.393-07:00Borders Books, Death By AmazonBorders recently announced it has severed its relationship with Amazon. Dah!?!?! It's like a guy feeding a monster down in his basement until it grows large enough to demolish the house and eat his family in the process. So Borders has now taken borders.com back from Amazon. And what???? Business as usual won't cut it for Borders. The brick and mortar model isn't nimble enough in its jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-71802310791818814282008-05-25T06:14:00.000-07:002008-11-01T08:21:03.835-07:00Schooltube, Carving Up A Tasty Market PieYoutube innovated and came to dominate the emerging market for online video sharing. Google thought so much of this new market that they purchased Youtube for $1.65 billion. How does a startup compete with the Godzilla of a target market space?I really only see two ways to go about it: (a) build a better mousetrap or (b) fragment the youtube user base concentrating on a small segment with jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-59439873744557977562008-05-21T12:12:00.000-07:002008-05-25T06:14:20.802-07:00Microsoft Plan D, just buy the friggin usersMonkey Boy and the brain surgeons up in Redmond have now moved on to internet strategy Plan D. A quick recap of the history of Microsoft internet game plans--Plan A = pretend the internet doesn't exist (failed).Plan B = build our own search engine / web portal (failed).Plan C = buy a successful search engine / web portal, Yahoo (failed).That brings us to Plan D. As luck would have it, we have jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-68269373957508248302008-05-18T05:22:00.000-07:002008-11-13T09:00:38.739-08:00Promoting Your Business With BlogsBlogs are a great tool of business. You blab away about a topic connected to your business hopefully highlighting yourself (and your business) as an expert in the field. This particularly important in the service industry. This applies strongly to professional services (i.e., doctors, lawyers, accountants, IT professionals) but I also include here any service where skill, training, or artisticjjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-78197621617027039612008-05-04T12:14:00.000-07:002008-07-05T10:06:57.380-07:00Is Monkey Boy F'ing Himself?Reports have it that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang sat across the table from each other engaged in a ridiculously high stakes poker game. Ballmer offered $33 per share (or $47.5 billion). Yang counteroffered $37 per share ($53.3 billion). What's $5.8 billion between friends? Seriously, they were only about 10% apart. I'm sure Yang expected Ballmer to offer to split thejjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-68513260024456459442008-05-03T09:57:00.000-07:002008-06-25T09:52:50.707-07:00The Razor Business ModelI remember when the Gillette Mach 3 razor came out. The company mailed me, free of charge, a Gillette Mach 3 razor consisting of the handle and one Mach 3 blade. Sure enough, I liked this razor but, upon buying refills, found out the Mach 3 refill razors cost twice as much as the older twin blades. Ouch. Further, the snazzy Mach 3 handle only accepts Mach 3 blades. Gillette is more than jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-50270745861117695132008-04-10T10:04:00.001-07:002008-04-10T11:08:09.415-07:00Free Sample--The Middle GroundJesus said it is in giving that you shall receive. But I'm not sure Jesus ever ran a retail store. What about the free sample? To what extent should a business entrepreneur integrate this strategy into his or her business plan?The first question has to be what does the free sample cost you? In the electronic world, the answer to this question is often zero. My online legal forms business jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-66304052225503903162008-04-04T15:16:00.000-07:002011-06-12T07:07:07.281-07:00Evaluating Internet Ad Revenue PotentialThe story of plentyoffish.com is astounding. As of October, 2007, this one man dating web site was generating $3.5 million annually solely in online ad revenue (expected to go to $10 mill in 2008). As an internet entrepreneur, I applaud Markus Frind as one man wrecking crew in the online social networking space. But something else caught my eye in regard to POF--it's high click through rates.jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-366233594345341642008-02-19T09:05:00.000-08:002008-04-09T17:39:07.761-07:00Beware When PiggybackingSo you're a small startup looking for a competitive edge allowing you to make it in that big bad market out there. Why not hitch a ride on a passing behemoth? Makes sense and many a small business has been successfully launched using this strategy. Suggestion: have a backup plan for long-term viability outside the shadow of the big dog. Why? Elephants might not turn on a dime but no one is jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-76446928814443002892008-02-17T09:26:00.000-08:002008-05-27T16:30:04.879-07:00Finding Your NicheSmall business thrives in the niche. Yes, we all aspire to grow our business from the garage to godzilla but mighty mouse is a more realistic short term goal. Strolling through my neighborhood this Sunday morning, the diversity of the local coffee house market struck me as a fitting for study of niche strategies. Starbucks has not penetrated the neighborhood, as yet, so there is no godzilla onjjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-61775121594969675422008-02-01T14:04:00.000-08:002008-02-06T16:56:11.127-08:00Crunch The Numbers Before Writing The PlanWant to start a business? Everybody says the first step is writing a business plan. I beg to differ. In my view, the first step is calculating your breakeven point and your cash burn rate. Why are these numbers important? They tell you how much cash you need to reach your breakeven point. Without this information, an entrepreneur is raising money in the dark. Only a fool opens the doors jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4627241898581978197.post-29196955116256544092007-12-23T16:55:00.000-08:002008-11-18T09:48:04.791-08:00The Elevator PitchWhen selling a spec script in Hollywood, the pitch lives or dies on the opening sentence called a "logline". Here is a sample for the movie "Gladiator": "Roman general betrayed by emperor's son comes to Rome as gladiator in search of vengeance." It tells us in a snap shot who is the hero and villain plus identifies the conflict and the hero's quest. A business plan's effectiveness as a tool to jjrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09951978285296375634noreply@blogger.com0