Look Differently

Graham Birkenhead, January 30 2024

We've probably all seen starlings.  Brownish birds that hang around in groups, often with quite thuggish behaviour as they swarm a food source to the exclusion of all other birds.  If you look a  little closer, you might notice that when they catch the light, there seems to be some iridescence to their feathers - and if you stand back you...

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Opportunity Research vs Market Research

Andrew Penny, January 23 2024

Depending on who you ask, Market Research can mean focus groups, data analysis, demographic studies, customer surveys and any number of things. But no matter how it’s defined, it typically looks at a group of potential buyers and tries determine if they could be convinced to buy your product or

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The Edge of Chaos

Graham Birkenhead, January 16 2024

You don't build a business – you build people – and then people build the business. Zig Ziglar I was recently running a workshop for a client to address the way they worked (their processes and organisational structures) and they way they worked together (communications and culture). During the energised conversation, I was reminded once again...

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Kick Start 2024: Wisdom from the St. James Computer Dating Society

Andrew Penny, January 9 2024

Way back in the swinging '60s, Jane Ball pioneered the first digital dating enterprise in London, England. Her secret sauce? Unconventionally successful. Instead of probing about desires, she asked what people decidedly ‘did not want’. It turns out that individuals had a foggy view of their wants, but a crystal-clear vision of what they did not...

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The watch word for 2024 is UNCERTAINTY

Andrew Penny, December 12 2023

In previous years words like volatility, instability, steady state were often used to describe the  business economy. But this year, the big thinkers are using the word uncertainty which is a polite way of saying they haven’t got a clue. Why is this? We have a rise in the number of powerful dictators, ungoverned by rule of law, which means things...

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Kingsford’s Custom Market Research Service

Andrew Penny, December 5 2023

Are you: We have all heard the term Market Research and most often associate it with one of those bloated, generic reports that are tirelessly marketed on line. I will admit that even we succumb, occasionally, to their lure – only to be disappointed by the lack of applicability to the specific subject of interest. No matter what industry you...

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Navigating the AI Landscape: A Consultant's Perspective

Andrew Penny, November 28 2023

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably noticed that AI, Large Language Models, and ChatGPT are the talk of the town. I've been to a number of conventions, seminars, and conferences over the last month, and almost every session, every conversation, every panel includes some reference to

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Let's Talk About Competition

Andrew Penny, November 21 2023

No matter who you are or what you are, you have competition. We compete for food, for water, for attention, for mates, for… well just about everything. Businesses are no different – we compete for employees, for customers, for supplies, for financing and so on. Given that competition is as old as the planet, there are accepted ways of competing....

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Are You Thinking Big Enough?

Graham Birkenhead, November 14 2023

One of the first things I ask of an audience when running my Strategic Thinking workshops is "raise your hand if you think you are a strategic thinker".    I am always amazed at how few people raise their hands straight away - probably about a fifth if that, and then a few do the slight raising lowering thing which implies they think they maybe,...

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Every Link in a Chain is Critical

Graham Birkenhead, October 31 2023

Small and medium-sized businesses constitute the backbone of the North American economy. They make up a staggering 98% of all businesses and generate approximately 40% of total business revenue. Of those, around 60 to 70% are supplying other businesses (B2B) - as opposed to serving an end customer directly (B2C).  Therefore, most businesses are...

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