Connections have been vital this year. Outside in-person, on Facetime, Zoom, or other platforms, or through Facebook and LinkedIn – any opportunity to connect mattered as the pandemic limited everything else. But here is a conundrum about connections. Facebook suggested I “invite as a friend” a woman who shares almost one hundred Facebook friends with me, and I did not recognize her face or name. Other suggestions do not surprise me, such as the four connections I have with the brother of my nephew’s wife. Twenty-two connections with a Madison woman who belongs to a woman’s networking group of which I was a part. That makes sense. Three with the wife of a close college friend who lives on another coast and five with a young woman whose last name is the same as my ex-husband’s cousins. Twenty-five with my mortgage broker for a…
Why changing healthcare policy is so messy: Part Two
Deciding the future of healthcare policy will not be simple, even if we could ignore the politics. I think everyone agrees on high-level policy aims: a healthy population, access to high-quality care and preventative services, protection from financial loss for health events that are outside one’s control, and cost-effectiveness. (One exception is reproductive health, but let’s put that aside for this blog.) The debate is all in the “how” do we improve (or even replace) the system. The discussion pits Democrats against the GOP and candidates within each party against each other. Here are some critical areas of disagreement that will influence voter choices this election year: Do we create a single-payer system (e.g., Medicare-for-all)? Or, do we continue with our current hodgepodge of government, employer, association, and individual payers? Advantages of a single-payer system: Simplicity, lower administrative costs for the nation, and…
Facts, false facts, or both?
As the clock turns from 11:59:59 PM to 12:00:00 AM, we pass from one date to another. Two sides of midnight, as I like to say. The two times have different spaces on a calendar, but they are almost precisely the same time. I’ve been thinking a lot about two sides of the same thing as I listen to the debate around impeachment and share notes with my friend Jonathan Barry, a brilliant Republican. He regularly has a different reaction than my own to an op-ed column about impeachment. “Uneducated,” “hypnotized by Fox News,” “ignorant,” and other words Democrats use to dismiss Republicans cannot be used with Jonathan (or many other Republican friends and colleagues). Both the GOP and the Democrats have said in public, “The facts speak for themselves.” Yet both sides have reached very different conclusions. How do our political…
Segment markets on situation to unearth winning new business models
“Situation” is a powerful lens for identifying business model innovation opportunities and protecting whatever market space you now command. “Situational segmentation” recognizes that any one customer’s needs – for a restaurant for example – depend on the circumstances giving rise to the need – entertaining, date-night, shopping with a friend. You can disrupt a leader or protect your position by finding situations where existing offerings fail to address situational needs. Zipcar, founded in 2000, did just that. Errands and other short trips lead auto nonowners, like college students and young urban dwellers, to need a car for hours instead of days or weeks. Auto rental companies, designed for travel and longer-term rentals, are often too far away, too expensive and take too much time to transact with to meet short-hop situational needs. Zipcar’s car sharing subscription service addressed the unmet need, allowing its…
What do you know?
This blog posting by Bill Kraus does such a good job in explaining the US’ political stalemate that I am giving my weekly blog space to his words. Kraus was the Chief of Staff for Wisconsin Governor Lee Dreyfus. He serves on numerous boards, including publicly traded for-profits and non-profits, and earned his extensive business credentials in the insurance industry. The Know Nothing movement of the mid-nineteenth century was a semi-secret political organization (an oxymoron?) which was dedicated to protecting the country from a takeover by German and Irish Catholic immigrants. The name resulted from their members’ keeping their association secret. When asked about the movement they, not unlike TV’s Sergeant Schultz, replied “I know nothing.” The 21st century version of know nothingness is not a movement but a condition. It describes the citizens who have outsourced, abandoned, and ignored politics and politicians….
Business Model Innovation Successful for Finfrock Enterprises
I spoke with Robert Finfrock this week. His company, Finfrock Enterprises, is featured in the introduction to my book, Beyond Price, for how it escaped the ruthless construction industry competition. Bob transformed what had become a commoditized business into a one-of-a-kind business selling its services at a premium. The financial and enjoyment returns have been remarkable and enviable. Years after his business model innovation, Bob’s firm finds itself in the toughest macro conditions of its lifetime. (Bob’s firm serves real estate developers and building owners in Orlando, Florida–a market very hard hit by the recent recession). Yet his company is still making money. What about Bob’s industry peers? About 10% of the 275 US plants in his industry have already shut down, unlikely to ever open again. Furthermore, Bob and his team have stayed out of the nasty bid market in which contractors…
Value Promise and Profit Potential, Part One
Image via Wikipedia All customers buy on perceived value. Unfortunately, Walmart’s advertising has led us to define value as lowest price. We’ve forgotten that there are value promises beyond lowest price in today’s recession. Value is a mental scale with benefits on one side and costs on the other. Both sides contain tangible and intangible, emotional, functional and/or social factors. More benefits, more value, a formula Target exploited and Sears forgot. We stay in business if the customer exchange (benefits for price customers pay) is consistently profitable for us or, if we’re a venture-financed start up, promises profitability. Value promise and profit potential are interrelated. Understanding this interrelationship explains how to win. Way #1. Build the lowest cost structure for delivering required benefits. Your higher margins can be channeled back into the business to create further advantage. McDonalds dominates Wendy’s. Way #2. Offer…