Category: Business admin

Retail Madness

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I took this photo in a local mall in Melbourne on August 9th – The coldest part of winter.

Anyone who lives in or has been to Melbourne knows it’s still very cold until November. Yet the clothing retail chain above already has summer clothes only in the display window. And they’ve already started their winter clothes clearance – in the middle of winter!

The top temperature on said day was 11ºc / 55ºf with snow falls down to 400m.

Here’s the weather forecast for Melbourne for the coming week:

This is retail gone mad – for a few reasons:

They are selling their ‘winter’ stock ‘during winter’ at a 70% discount?

Consumers don’t care about their buying seasons, just what the weather’s like – right now.

Melbourne people don’t care what the weather’s like in Queensland.

People’s lives are too busy to buy clothing 4 months in advance.

They are letting their supply chain get in front of what consumers actually need and want.

No prizes for guessing the store was empty.

If we buy hot soup on cold days, and ice cream on hot days, why should clothing be any different? It’s not. And is less so, as time becomes the finite resource.

If you’re a start up in the retail arena.

Startup blog says: make your range, match the ‘real’ world. You’ll be far ahead of any retail chain.

The imperfect pitch

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I was in a session with the ‘School of thinking’ founder Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson on Friday. (he co-founded this organization with guru Edward De Bono)

 

The session was amazing. I wrote down a particular quote which resonated with me:

 

“The perfect pitch being worked on at your desk can send you out of business. The imperfect pitch being presented to a customer can keep you in business.”

 

Get out there.

‘Oh, by the way’…pricing & fuel surcharges

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

The latest trick of many airlines is to segregate elements of their product cost

 

–        Introducing the “Fuel Surcharge”

 

Apparently this provides pricing transparency. Thanks Mr Airline, but we know the price of oil is rising. 

 

 

Isn’t fuel a fundamental input cost for airlines? (30%)

Do they think we care what their input costs are?

Do they realize that we’d rather the total price – no tricks?

Do they know it reduces ‘trust’ in their brand and industry?

 

And just to show my total disdain for fragmented and aggregated pricing here’s a few questions I’d like to propose to the airline Industry:

 

Does Nike have a shoe lace surcharge?

Does Ford charge extra for the steering wheel?

Does Coke have an aluminum can surcharge?

Does Nokia charge extra for the buttons on the cell phone?

 

Fuel is not an ‘optional extra’. So work it out, include it and charge us a price. That’s what business is…. Businesses are meant to be working this stuff out to reduce the complexity in our lives. That’s what business does.

 

No wonder airlines have the highest business failure rate of any industry, and the worst profitability of any Industry in history. (which by the way is a net negative over the past 100 years)

 

Start up blog says: Consumers hate ‘Oh, by the way’ charges. Avoid them at all costs.

Bootstrappers business trip

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I recently had to conduct some rentoid business interstate. The content of the trip is irrelevant, what’s relevant is the context. rentoid is a small startup with a long road ahead. Cashflow is important vital, so we conserve it where possible. This is what successful startups do. We know where they are on the revenue curve – and so we are frugal.

 

Flights: Cheapest tickets available with no frills budget airline.

 

Time: First flight in morning, fly back after business hours – last flight. This ensures a full day conversations and maximum value within the trip.

 

Hire Car: Smallest cheapest car available (Hyundai Getz 3 door to be precise). Low on cost, low on fuel. Only needs to fit two people and two laptops.

 

Lunch: A burger and fries at a local pub. (at least it had Sydney Harbour views!)

 

Internet access: Hunt down free wifi area and buy a $3 espresso.

 

Dinner: Airport Pizza & a soft drink.

 

Ok, it wasn’t the most glamorous business trip, but the objectives were achieved with the minimum cost, and we had fun. We’ll fly business class, or in a private jet when our business can afford it, and hence it’s deserved.

 

Start ups out there: Know where you are at. Never let ambition or ego get in front of the revenue reality.

One piece of advice

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

If you could offer entrepreneurs one piece of advice what would it be?

 

Start up blog’s is this:   Don’t die wondering.

 

I’m sure all 20,000 monthly startup blog readers want to hear yours. Add them to the comments or email them to me and I’ll post them on an upcoming blog entry with your name / blog beside it.

Entrepreneurs are like footballers

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Footballers (or any sports person) have good form and bad form. Some are heroes and always play well…. others have fleeting moments and some are inconsistent but sometimes brilliant.

 

As entrepreneurs we ought aim to be like ‘the’ footballer… not just a footballer in the league… But the MVP.

 

It’s hard to understand why some footballers have got the raw talent, the opportunity in the big league, but never seem to reach their potential.

 

Chances are – we too are that person – but in business.

 

We’ve been told by our friends and colleagues that we’ve got the talent to make it happen. They believe in us, but we’re not there – yet. That said, we should refer to ‘that football player’ we all have in our mind already. The guy who could be an absolute hero if he just pulled it all together… The training, the preparation, the diet, the mental application, the team effort, the professionalism. (free feel to name / discuss him in the comments) It’s the same with our start up. The idea, and our potential is only part of the equation. In fact, it’s really just like getting drafted. We’ve got along way to go.

 

 

If we’re going to play, we may as well behave like the MVP. Do it all. Aim for perfection and strive to extract every ounce of the gifts we’ve been given. As we know the MVP is never the guy with the most raw talent. It’s usually the guy who maximizes their potential.

 

Let’s do all the stuff we know we should in order to be the best. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Don’t be like Georgie

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

English football savant George Best was once asked what happened to all the money he earned as the worlds greatest player. In classic Georgie style he responded:

 

“I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars, the rest I just squandered.”

 

         

 

 

If we’re in an early phase start up or we’ve just made bank, the principles don’t change. If you can control your spending, you can control your business and your life. It’s easy to justify expenditure at either end of the business spectrum. A start up can convince themselves they’re investing for growth. Likewise, a booming business with big profits can fly first class and hire private yachts to impress clients themselves.

 

Quite often over spending is due to a real lack of creativity and an inflated ego.

 

Startup blog advice is this: Cash flow is vital and by being creative we can ultimately conserve cash flow, yet generate similar results.