Entrepreneurial Checklist
Most of the start-ups that are based on a product or a concept, start with much aplomb and energy. But as the business process unfolds, the myraid problems and hindrances, facing realistic everyday issues become too much of an unseen and unwanted stress for the entrepreneur. To give potential entrepreneurs an idea of the sort of questions they must face when entering business for themselves, the StartupJournal enlists a checklist. Its a very EXTENSIVE list, but interesting at the same time.
I am sure its going to be a handy reference for all the budding entrepreneurs out there. Shine on !!
The list can be accessed at Startup Checklist.
Speech Writing
“The higher you rise in the corporate ranks, the more you’re expected to speak on public occasions, and the shorter the preparation time often is. The temptation is to wing it or, if you do prepare something, not to rehearse but to rely on your native ability and good luck to see you through. The sad truth is that when you wing it, the performance is rarely as good in the audience’s memory as it is in the speaker’s. The reason is that your heightened adrenaline literally makes you feel better–more energy, more enthusiasm, more acuity–and so you rate your own performance better.”
HBS Working Knowledge begins thus with the article from the book Blank Page to First Draft in 15 Minutes: The Most Effective Shortcut to Preparing a Speech or Presentation, by Phillip Khan-Pami, a coach and competition-winning speaker himself.
Khan-Pami suggests beginning by identifying your core message:
When you have completed your presentation or speech, what will people remember? What will they take away with them, to apply and change their ways, and one day perhaps even thank you for? What one sentence will correctly sum up your entire presentation? That’s your Core Message.
Make no mistake: Your listeners will take away a core message of sorts. They will carry away an impression of what you were saying. It may be complimentary, it may be less so. It may be about you and your delivery, or it may be about your content. If you want them to receive and carry away the right message—your Core Message—you must first identify what you believe it to be and write it down.
The article provides a number of formats to structure a speech:
PREP, which stands for Position—Reason—Example—Position: The idea is that you state your claim (which should sound a lot like your core message) and then give your reasons for it. Follow that with a compelling example, and close by restating your position.
Past—Present—Future, which takes the storyline of your idea and presents it in chronological form.
Problem—Cause—Solution. This structure works well for business arguments and situations. You state the problem—declining sales, say—and then analyze the cause. You follow the analysis with your recommendations for a solution.
AIDA, which stands for Attention—Interest—Desire—Action, works best when you’re trying to persuade someone of something. First you grab their attention with a statistic or anecdote or claim that is sufficiently surprising to take your audience away from its concerns to yours. Then you raise the audience’s interest by stating the benefits of the position you’re advocating.
Tellx3, which, despite its trendy appearance, is actually the most conventional of structures. It stands for “Tell ‘em what you’re going to say, say it, tell ‘ em what you said.”
The Red Lobster Story
There are some good marketing lessons to be taken from the news about the Red Lobster executive who was fired for initiating an all-you-can-eat special.
Analysts say where Red Lobster, which is operated by Darden Restaurants Inc., went wrong wasn’t in launching the promotion, but in depending on it too heavily. The trick in such situations is to make the rest of the menu — or the rest of your product line — appealing enough so the promotion draws people in, but persuades them to choose something else, not the special.
Red Lobster also thought it would cover the downside by charging a higher price for the special. But that just prompted people to eat even more.
In addition to all of this, the seafood market shifted and crab prices went up.
So don’t get baked like Red Lobster. Be smart with your marketing ideas.
Taken from StartupJournal | Small Business Report.
How to revive investment
Swami talks about the investment scene in the country, which has failed to pick up despite the chronic efforts by various ministers. He proposes an alternate line of thought, a paradigm, which tends to “reduce the shareholding of the government below 51 per cent in public sector banks. Once this happens, officers in these banks will no longer be subject to vigilance (anti-corruption) inquiries when loans go bad. This single step, with all its limitation, can give a major push to investment and industrial growth.”
He suggests that the best security for a bank is the “profitability” of the borrower. Yet, usually the lending rules adhered to by the bank ignore profitability and focus on sales, which should not be the modus operandi.
Citing the last lines, “Some years ago, Yashwant Sinha introduced legislation to lower the government stake in public sector banks to 33 per cent, while retaining management control. Privatisation would be a more thorough reform. But even this half-baked reform has been opposed by the Congress, whose help is required to clear the Rajya Sabha. Dr Manmohan Singh, you must know that your party position on this matter is nonsense. Please end it. “
Cancun Talks
Knowledge@Wharton says that though the talks at Cancun failed to establish any concrete results, yet the emergence of the third world order in a unified stand is a reason enough to feel happy about. The article goes on to describe various political implications on the participating industrialised economies like US and Europe. It lauds the coalition on holding together as a single entity and not breaking up. The article is a good read.
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