Friday, September 18, 2009

Transform your weaknesses into strengths!

My column in the Post this week looks at how small businesses turn weaknesses into strengths.

The topic was inspired by the Post itself. This week it brought back its Monday paper, which had been shelved for the summer. Because there’s not much business news on Mondays, they are filling the Monday paper with more features, sports and arts – recognizing a weakness and making sure it’s no longer an issue.

Excerpt:
Every retailer gambles when it purchases inventory, knowing some items will be more popular than others. In the heart of what used to be East Berlin, the Broker's Bier Borse devised a market-oriented solution. An electronic ticker over the bar readjusts prices every three minutes, upping the pricetag on popular beers or lunch specials, and lowering the prices of the drinks and dinners currently less in demand. Result: better-balanced inventory, fewer product shortages, and daily discounts for bargain hunters.

Click here to read the full story.

Bonus weekend reading:
Who are Canada’s fastest-growing startups? Read all about the Hot 50 in the latest issue of PROFIT Magazine (or click here).

1 comment:

Andy Buyting said...

I love this posting. Hi Rick - I'm enjoying your blog.

In his talks, Verne Harnish, author of the Rockefeller Habits, talks about finding the "Chokepoint" in your industry. Your Chokepoint is the one thing that if you could solve and master, will propel your business ahead of your competitors. It's the bottleneck in your business and the businesses of your competitors.

How do you find the chokepoint of your industry? It's typically the one topic that is spoken about more than any others at your industry tradeshows and conferences.

Find your chokepoint, work hard to find a solution to it, then watch your business propel over others.

Andy Buyting, author of The Retailer's Roadmap to Success. www.retailersroadmap.com and contributor to www.myretailer.ca