I was speaking with a client, helping her get a new vision for the products and services she offers as she reinvents her business. We had a long discussion about being so closely involved with your own industry that you can't come up with a new business model because you can't see past what's currently being done within your industry. So we …
Stop Copying Everyone Else’s Business Model!
When I looked at my business transformations over the past five years, I quickly came to one daring insight: when I tried to copy other people's business model, I got mediocre results. When I stepped outside of my own comfort zone (as well as what my industry says businesses "should" look like) and created my own business model, business …
Are You Having a Business Identity Crisis?
When rethinking your business model, different roadblocks spring up along the journey. One that nearly always happens is the business identity crisis: What is my business, and where is it going? It feels as if you're starting out all over again with incredibly basic questions. Darn! Again? Didn't you do this at the very beginning of your …
When a New Business Model Sneaks Up On You
Claudia didn't have a "big plan" for redesigning her business. She knew she had outgrown her old business model of working with new mothers as her target audience, and had made the decision to stop actively marketing her business. Then things happened that she couldn't have foretold. Recognizing It's Time to Change Claudia confides, "I hit a …
Improvement versus Innovation When Transforming Your Business
How can you tell if you should just go after improvements, or if you should go after true innovation when transforming your business? Susan M. Grotevant of the University of Minnesota says, "Old organizations, like old people can become set in their ways." We tiptoe around innovation because it means getting rid of sacred cows, those projects, …
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Finding Time to Think About Redesigning Your Business
If you're not busy, raise your hand. Ha! I knew it! Everyone is busy. Everyone has a full calendar and a full To Do list. So where are you supposed to find time to think about the future of your business and how you will redesign it? Of course you know that you have to find the time to think about the future of your business or it will sneak up …
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