CRN From the Coal Face

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The basic growth secret businesses forget

CRN From the Coal Face

Without profits, you don’t have a business. When it comes to growth, many business owners focus on the wrong areas. Growth in turnover, growth in staff, growth in product lines. The list goes on. There is only one item I want to see growth in. …

2012

Retailers, fight back!

CRN From the Coal Face

How bricks and mortar outfits can hold their own against online. It is all about the experience. Retailers are seemingly fighting a losing battle to the internet but all hope is not lost. I have just returned from a trip through the US, Mexico and Fi…

2012

The thing about China

CRN From the Coal Face

What works elsewhere may not do the trick. Many of you will have expanded your business outside its original location or made a move into an area that you weren’t totally familiar with. In general, it’s quite easy to work out the nuances …

2012

Marketing must have a clear target in sight

CRN From the Coal Face

Machine gun campaigns too pricey for SMBs. From a marketing perspective, one of the most important components is to understand the demographics of your clients. You can’t be all things to all people so don’t try to be. I often see busines…

2012

Doctors must heed vITal signs

CRN From the Coal Face

Resisting change will encourage a wave of DIY quackery. I went to my doctor recently and it struck me for the umpteenth time that the profession hasn’t embraced technology. Doctors are typically intelligent people. To study medicine at universi…

2012

Raise your prices to stay ahead

CRN From the Coal Face

Never mind that the economy is feeling rather flat. If you don’t raise your prices you’re dudding yourself. Well the carbon tax is here and Australia, as we know it, still seems to exist. The feedback I have received from businesses aroun…

2012

How to take your own pulse

CRN From the Coal Face

It’s hard for a business to get solid feedback. One way to get a clear picture is to appoint an advisory board. Two years ago I was asked for suggestions to improve a medium-sized IT business. I went through and looked at all the normal compone…

2012

At the coalface: It’s all about the relationship

CRN From the Coal Face

Clients stick with their accountant for years. So be like an accountant and keep your customers. Many IT business owners ask me what’s the best form of advertising to boost their business. One avenue I very rarely see explored is one I believe …

2012

Resistance is futile, change is inevitable

CRN From the Coal Face

Uncertain times demand a process to handle the little steps that lift your profitability Former US president John F. Kennedy said, “Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”. …

2011

Being too careful costs you money

CRN From the Coal Face

Many businesses are so uptight about customer risk that the processes to manage the odd instance drive business away Richard Branson famously said, “I never get the accountants in before I start up a business.” His logic is that accountan…

2011

Dickerson: Motorcycle diaries clue to beat e-tailers

CRN From the Coal Face

A trip to a motorbike store convinced CRN’s Coalface columnist there was life after the internet. Some retailers feel that trying to combat online shopping is like trying to stop a tsunami with an umbrella. I actually have a different view. The…

2011

Focus on clients’ needs to meet your own

CRN From the Coal Face

Many businesses make the mistake of enshrining their own priorities while losing sight of what they need to do to satisfy clients Iam in need of a computer repair. I open up the Yellow Pages and look through the myriad advertisements to sort the whea…

2011

Offer an experience the internet can’t

CRN From the Coal Face

Retailers bemoan the loss of sales to customers shopping online but there is something they can do about it besides just praying for salvation. Some retailers feel that trying to combat online shopping is like trying to stop a tsunami with an umbrell…

2011

Why the customer is always right, right?

CRN From the Coal Face

Mathew Dickerson talks about how a simple transaction runs dangerously off the rails, all because the merchant doesn’t care about what the customer wants I have to admit I’m on the run from the long arm of the law at the moment. I am on t…

2011

You need to sweat the little things

CRN From the Coal Face

Seemingly little things do count. Returning phone calls from your clients, for instance, can bring a huge return A recent survey that caught my eye recently noted the percentage of phone messages that go unreturned in business. I really don’t k…

2011

Businesses need independent advisors

CRN From the Coal Face

Opinion: No business is too small for regular doses of independent advice. Ten years ago this month, Australia saw its largest corporate collapse when insurer HIH was placed into liquidation with losses of $5.3 billion. It was once considered Austral…

2011

Hang on to your most valuable asset

CRN From the Coal Face

Opinion: Expensive employees also make you money. The Guinness Book of Records says the most played board game in history is Monopoly with more than a billion people having tried their hand at becoming a property tycoon. The history of Monopoly dates…

2011

Raging floodwaters reveal opportunities

CRN From the Coal Face

Opinion: When disaster struck eastern Australia, some companies saw the advantage. “The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets,” sounds like a callous quote by the richest man ever to have lived but John Rockefel…

2011

Opinion: How to make big numbers look small

CRN From the Coal Face

The New Zealand Government made a tax increase sound quite harmless When does 2.5 = 20? Only in New Zealand! This has nothing to do with the IQ level of the average Kiwi but with a clever positive advertising campaign mounted by the government in rel…

2010