Big Ideas for Small Companies

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7 08, 2019

The Customer as Victim

By |2019-08-07T14:01:33+00:00August 7th, 2019|Alec Pendleton, Big Ideas for Small Companies, Business, Customer Service|Comments Off on The Customer as Victim

I’m going to give you a scene, then ask you to tell me whether it was from a hidden-camera comedy program or modern corporate America: A shopper in the parking lot of a big-box retailer looks at the price of a product on her phone, a reasonable $69.99. As she walks into the store, however, the price shown on the app jumps to $99.99. When she walks back out, it reverts to $69.99. Bewildered, she shakes her head and gets back into her car. Cue laugh track. This has to be a cheap gag, right? Wrong. Target recently came [...]

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18 12, 2018

Life Cycles of the (Not-So) Rich and (Formerly) Famous

By |2018-12-19T16:59:23+00:00December 18th, 2018|Alec Pendleton, Big Ideas for Small Companies, Business, Customer Service, Growth, Process, Small Business Advice, Strategy, Value Proposition|Comments Off on Life Cycles of the (Not-So) Rich and (Formerly) Famous

Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world and the founder of Amazon, recently predicted to a group of employees that “Amazon will go bankrupt.” He was reflecting on the recent bankruptcy of Sears, which not that long ago was as formidable as Amazon is today. “If you look at large companies,” he said, “their lifespans tend to be 30-plus years, not a hundred-plus years.” I know what you’re thinking: That doesn’t seem right. Large companies have enduring strength. Massive corporations such as those in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are cornerstones of our economy. We don’t think [...]

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11 12, 2018

The (Occasional) Wisdom of Inefficiency

By |2018-12-11T19:36:00+00:00December 11th, 2018|Alec Pendleton, Big Ideas for Small Companies, Business, Customer Service, Leadership, People, Small Business Advice|Comments Off on The (Occasional) Wisdom of Inefficiency

By Alec Pendleton, Big Ideas for Small Companies, powered by The MPI Group Many leaders think they know the Magic Bullet for Maximum Success: Efficiency! If only we could do everything in our lives with superior efficiency, they believe, all sorts of wonderfulness would be sure to follow. Profits would surge! Competition from China and elsewhere would dwindle! Our standard of living would soar! What could possibly go wrong? Well, actually … quite a lot. The Theory of Constraints, described by Eliyahu Goldratt in The Goal — one of the best business books I’ve ever read — makes it clear [...]

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7 11, 2018

The Profitable Magic of Transparency

By |2020-04-30T15:48:32+00:00November 7th, 2018|Alec Pendleton, Big Ideas for Small Companies, Customer Service, People|Comments Off on The Profitable Magic of Transparency

By Alec Pendleton, Big Ideas for Small Companies, powered by The MPI Group I recently bought a used car for my daughter. I expected it to be unpleasant — because car-shopping, whether new or used, has always been a notoriously one-sided affair, with sellers having much more information than buyers, and rarely disclosing enough to level the playing field. Even in our digital age, with access to CarFax reports, dealer costs, etc., I always feel that there’s something that I don’t know. In short: I rarely walk away from an automotive transaction without feeling that I’ve been somehow swindled [...]

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