Category: entrepreneurship

‘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.

Business bubbles, history & startups

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Here’s a list of business bubbles you may / may not have heard of:

 

Tulip bubble – 1630’s tulip’s sold for more than houses!

South Sea Bubble – 1720

Bull market of 1920’s – resulted in the great depression

Japanese asset price bubble – Commercial real estate selling for US$1.5m per square meter!

Real estate bubble every 10 years or so… You’ve just lived through one!

Tech wreck (dot com)– Companies with negative cash flow valued over 1 billion!

Sub prime / hedge fund bubble 2008 – We’re yet to see all of this…

Green Marketing bubble ? – This one’s coming watch out!

 

Many business bubbles are focused in new industries where startups are abound.

 

Here’s when to get nervous. When you hear the words ’it’s different this time’, or people are overly focused on industry growth and the so called – revolution.

 

Here’s when there is no need to get nervous. When your business model based on basic business fundamentals like cashflow and growth in your net cash position. Startups take heed.

 

For 1000’s of years business and industries never grown much over 10% p.a. once compounded. Yes, there’ll be exceptions like Microsoft in the early 1980’s. But generally speaking when things are predicted to grow at rates above 20%, and valuations are more than 20 time earnings….get suspicious, very suspicious.

Nice theory

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I found this while searching the net for something completely different. It comes from leverageblog.com

Web 2.0 theory

Thought it was worth sharing for a couple of reasons:

1. I think it’s quite valid

2. Proves it’s worth keeping your eyes open while looking for something else.

Compound effort & Google

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

The good news about Google is that it rewards hard workers. That’s good news for all the genuine marketers, startups and bloggers out there

 

Here’s proof.

 

I decided that startup blog might be a good name, given it was all about – yep start ups and entrepreneurship. But unbeknownst to me the inexperienced blogger there was already a zillion blogs with this title, or one very similar. The dot come was long gone.

 

I didn’t even exist in Google… I was more than 20 pages deep. I was also blogging to about 3 friends and my mother. I never did any marketing of my blog, just registered it on technorati. That’s it.

 

Now after consisting writing, sharing my ideas, almost 500 posts and providing some reasonable insights, this blog is clear number one on Google. Just type in any permutations of the words start up blog and you’ll see. I also have over 20,000 readers a month now.

 

Word of mouth is slow, but effort equals reward.

Bono says

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Circa 1992 on MTV across 4 big, no 4 massive TV screens U2 lead singer Bono was asked what ‘Zoo TV’ was all about. His reply:

 

“It’s about the chaos of choice.” Poignant.

 

Start ups ought listen to Bono – and avoid the chaos. 

 

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.

the ‘Democratization of Art’

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

The stuff which really cuts new ground tends to be one of the following:

 

An awesome new app, widget or blob

Something ultra exclusive, or 

 

Something which opens up a market for the first time.

 

I Vote For Art fits in the latter category.

 

Ben Rowe, marketing savant, art appreciator and all round good guy is the brains behind this site. I Vote For Art is a place where you can vote for your favourite art, and buy and sell art too.

 

The premise: Let people decide which art deserves to bubble up to the top– not the snooty galleries. How many extraordinary artists never get their chance because they never had the contacts or the forum to show their wears?

 

 

What I love about this launch;

 

–          Tight category focus – Single Minded Proposition

–          Creating a new marketplace for aspiring artists

–          Use of social rankings

–          Clean easy to navigate web interface

–          The Democratization of an ‘old’ category

–          You can buy all the cool art on the site

 

Worth sending to your Artist friends, and let’s face it we’ve all got a couple.

 

www.ivoteforart.com