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Category Archives: Finding your ideal niche
Here’s how NOT to define your competition
We investors see this all the time. An entrepreneur pitches using a deck with no slide for competition. When asked (as we always do,) the response is “This is new. We have no competition.” Niet! No! Unh unh. Professional investors … Continue reading
What would you do if told to “fail fast?”
Here’s a question that should strike close to home. Professional investors like to quote this mantra to anyone who will listen. “Fail fast,” they say. But what if you believe so strongly in your budding enterprise that this seems to … Continue reading
Investors, your board, and you: Who controls strategy?
You’re building a company from your vision and a passion, and lots of people are going to tell you that you have this or that wrong, and that it just won’t work. Business plans rarely survive market contact The truth … Continue reading
Can a revolutionary concept be too late to market?
Too many startup businesses, especially in the technology world, are built upon brand new concepts that have not yet been proven in the field against products from other companies that already have revenues flowing. As a rule, creating a product … Continue reading
Do you want to control your business destiny?
There is nothing quite as thrilling in business as igniting a startup and watching it blossom. Especially when starting a company with personal savings or money from relatives and friends, early signs of success are intoxicating. Each new customer, each … Continue reading
Can you profit by serving early adaptors?
I am a gadget freak, often purchasing new technologies in their first release. And my closet is full of such gadgets, from early pen-based computers to early brick-sized cell phones to an electronic handwriting recognition pad received as a gift … Continue reading
Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Positioning
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Can you defend your pricing niche against your competition?
This week, we continue our series on marketing and positioning. There can be nothing more important in your business planning that selecting the proper pricing niche, making your story clear using that niche, and the defending your position against the … Continue reading
Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Positioning
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Faster is sometimes more valuable than better.
And doing both well usually wins the day. This is one of those arguable insights, where both sides win. Dell is a great example of emphasis upon fast, creating a customized computer in 48 hours or less, bringing in assemblies … Continue reading
Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Growth!, Positioning
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Wasted time is money lost.
There is a relationship between time and money that is more complex than most managers think. Fixed overhead for salaries, rent, equipment leases and more make up the majority of the “burn rate” (monthly expenses) for most companies. Since this … Continue reading
Greatly exceed early customer expectations.
First customers are critical. Greatly exceed expectations at all costs. There is so much history behind this insight, and so many stories that illustrate this point. Your first customers for any product or service form your reference base, the important … Continue reading
Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Positioning
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