saturation3

Author: Alexander Kohl

Entrepreneur

Setting a Deadline

Producing events always meant that we had a clear deadline. The date for the event was clear at the start of the preparations. It was great, it took out one of the variables in what the event could be like. In business, it is a lot more flowing. It is very easy to fall into the trap of improving, rather than getting something out there. It is probably one of the inventor diseases. To overcome that, I set a date: 31 May 2008, the date of our launch. And to make it even more serious, we committed to being…

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Entrepreneur

Proving the business model

After working as a consultant for the past 4 years, I have finally taken the jump into starting my own business. I mean, real business, not just consulting. Once the idea was clear, I looked for a partner. That was the best decision, because it brought clarity and focus to my idea. He kept pestering me about proving the business model before committing too much time and money to it. On one hand I think with more money, we’ll have much bigger impact. On the other hand, I can see the wisdom of starting with a bare bones business…

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Sustainability

World Environment Day

I have recently started to support the Sunshine Coast Environment Council in the preparations for World Environment Day. I am just hovering around the edges and helping to call a few green companies who might be suitable as exhibitors. 31 May at the University of the Sunshine Coast. 5,000 people are expected with Professor Ian Lowe and Mayor Bob Abbot talking in a forum. Entertainment for adults and children, 20-30 community groups, lots of displays. When you compare it to the number of people living in Melbourne and on the Sunshine Coast, it is probably bigger than the Sustainable…

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Entrepreneur

Life after the Sale

When I start working with entrepreneurs, I always ask them about their personal vision. In the beginning I was impressed if someone was honest enough to tell me that they just want to grow the business, sell it and then do … and their eyes would light up while they told me about the plans they had for their life after the sale. As I said, in the beginning I was impressed by that. Not any more. Now I put a lot more emphasis on focus. Outstanding entrepreneurs seem to be doing exactly what they are passionate about. They…

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Marketing

Present a Need and a Solution

I have reviewed a range of business proposals for funding recently. What struck me (again) was the narrow view inventors and entrepreneurs have of their products. “My product is the best, because of these features…” and then they go into a list of features. Benefits not Features Every marketer knows that saying: You have to show the benefits, not the features to find a buyer. The same is true for finding investors. What are the benefits they are looking for? A great return Low risk Sustainability How can you show that? A Great Return There is no guarantee in…

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Marketing

Market Driven Inventions

Stephen Key posted about The Single Most Important Issue You’ve Forgotten to Answer today. I got really excited by the title and he makes some good points. But he does not go far enough. Stephen points out that for a new idea just being new is nothing worth bragging about. In fact if there are no competing products, there might be a reason for that. I go one step further. If any inventor tells me that there is nothing like it out there, I know that they have not done their homework. There might be nothing that has the…

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Sustainability

Nature Knows No Waste

On the last day of the Sustainable Living Festival I sat near the Yarra River with a friend I had not seen in four years. We had a wonderful time and suddenly she spotted a bike in the water. Rubbish! How could anyone do that? It was probably stolen, too. Just dumped into this pristine nature (well, pretty clean anyway). So I got it out. And what wonder it was. It could not have been in there for too long, the wheels were still turning. But it was full of life. Lots of tiny water plants and shells were…

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Sustainability

Noosa Population Cap, is it really Sustainable?

I had an interesting conversation with one of our local councillors two days ago. Noosa (the community I live in) has been really innovative and forward thinking and worked out how many people can be sustained by its resources. They looked at water, infrastructure and giving nature enough space. Taking all this into account, the number of people that Noosa can accommodate was calculated. This figure was called the population cap. It is nothing enforcible by law, not directly anyway, just the number of people who can sustainably live in this shire. To make sure the population does not…

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Finance

Raise Profits: Become More Sustainable

If you want to raise profits, becoming more sustainable is a great way to achieve that. This was probably the biggest message I got from the Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne last weekend. And I also got a better insight into the most important step for becoming sustainable. Build Your Community At the very core of all companies that presented was the realisation that it is all about people. Rather than seeing staff as numbers who contribute to the bottom line, an appreciation of the individual and their contribution is needed. Tim Cotter, a psychologist showed that human values…

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Sustainability

Sustainable Living Festival, Melbourne

The first day of the Sustainable Living Festival is drawing to a close. I’ll be writing in more detail, here just a quick summary of what my impressions are so far. Even though the Festival is in its 6th year right in CBD Melbourne, it is still mainly converted that visit it. That might change on the weekend, though. Small companies are run by people that believe in the importance of sustainability. They cannot answer any questions with regards to the financial bottom line: What do consumers save? Larger companies are really onto the savings that can be achieved…

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Passionate Management