|
|
The Vann Group Journal is a monthly e-Zine for business leaders concerned about transitional business topics.
A business in transition is one that knows that where it is today is not where it wants to be tomorrow. Transitional businesses may be growing rapidly, at a plateau, in crisis, or contemplating an exit.
This month we examine the act of RSSing as well as some advice from our favorite business gurus. |
About the Vann Group
The Vann Group is a professional advisory firm that assists companies in transition to unlock their value. We provide practical business counsel to transitional companies through a customized approach that is founded upon our family’s passion for business and a 150+ year entrepreneurial track record. |
|
|
Make Your Competition Irrelevant !
Visit the all NEW www.vann-group.com and read the latest white paper to learn how to make your competition irrelevant. This new website contains Mike Vann's blog, white papers and more information for transitional companies.
Tips from the Top
As many people know, at the Vann Group, we are big fans of two of the seminal business books of the last 10 years. One is Good to Great, by Jim Collins, and the other is Blue Ocean Strategy, by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.
Here we review a few of the fundamental and most important concepts of these books, because we re-review them all the time. We believe they are that important, and we want to share them with you…
Good to Great
Hedgehog Concept from Jim Collins
Successful businesses develop hedgehog concepts for themselves that simplify complexities into a single organizing principal that unifies and guides everything. Anything that does not relate to the Hedgehog Concept is irrelevant. “Good to Great” organizations began as hedgehogs and built their organization around a simplified and focused business model.
Hedgehog Components from Jim Collins
How do you develop a Hedgehog concept for your organization? Asking and answering these questions will guide you to your hedgehog:
- What are you passionate about?
This is the understanding the organization has about what you stand for (core values) and why you exist.
- What can you be the best in the world at?
The understanding of what the organization can uniquely contribute to the people you touch, better than any other company in the world.
- What drives your economic engine?
What is the one denominator that has the greatest economic impact on your business?
The Red v. Blue Ocean
In their best selling book, Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne discuss Red Oceans and Blue Oceans.
Red Oceans are market spaces in which a crowded market of competitors focus on fighting with each other. In red oceans, companies often invest in advancements that are only marginal advantages over the competition and therefore easily copied.
Blue Oceans are uncontested market spaces in which successful companies find ways to create demand in areas that are ripe for growth. These companies find ways to create value for customers that others are not providing. And at the same time, they look for activities to reduce or eliminate that are not valuable to customers in order to become a lower cost operation.
The following illustration says it best….
|
The Act of RSSing?
Ah, but it seems like just yesterday that we had to pretend in public settings that we knew what a podcast was! Now, of course we know that a podcast is an audio or video file that can be downloaded from the web to an iPOD or any computer or other device with a hard drive; and some of us are undoubtedly doing so regularly.
Then, we conquered web 2.0 – with much thanks to Jaclyn Stevenson’s recent Business West article. We now know that the “2.0” was coined to represent the 2nd wave of the web revolution after the dotcom bust – and it includes a whole host of interactive e-marketing tactics.
So just when we thought we were totally caught up to our teenage kids, we now have RSS. Don’t worry about what RSS actually stands for, because the point is what it’s used for.
It’s actually pretty cool. In a nutshell, when you find web content that is updated regularly and that you’re interested in, such as news stories; and the site contains a link for an RSS Feed, you can sign up to receive every update to that website directly on your browser Home Page.
Why is it cool? Because despite the bust and the spam, the web provides each of us an incredible opportunity to get the information that we want automatically and fast.
So therefore, if you hang on Mike Vann’s every word, you can go to vann-group.blogspot.com and click on the Sign up for RSS Feeds link (you can’t miss it, it’s right above Mike Vann’s photo) and automatically get every update delivered to your browser. Seriously, Mike Vann’s blog is all about business, and it’s worth reading.
|
