Archive for the ‘Business Innovation’ Category
What Physicist Feynman can teach Lean Startups
Neil Lewis on Monday, January 30th, 2012
The Lean Startup movement gets that learning underpins all innovation – and startup success.
The lean startup concept also understands that the learning is about finding out what ‘doesn’t work’ as much as ‘what does’.
So, what can top physicist Richard Feynman teach us about lean startups and innovation? Find out…
What is the purpose of innovation?
Neil Lewis on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
What is the purpose of innovation? Is it..
- To create new products…
- To create new customer demand…
- To build strong teams capable of constant innovation…
… or all three?
Rapid system development, rapid customer development – what’s next?
Neil Lewis on Friday, July 8th, 2011Every three years we seem to undergo a fundamental shift in thinking.
We had rapid system development 6 years ago, and rapid customer development 3 years – so what should we expect in 2011?
Read on to find out…
Myth: Selling is scary and I want my mummy!
Neil Lewis on Thursday, July 7th, 2011Many (but not all) entrepreneurs feel that selling is scary, horrible and not nice!
However, this view is typically based on a misunderstanding of what selling is really about.
Yes, there are hard sales people who will flog you anything they can (actually, anything that generates a large commission) but these people tend to burn out – as do their businesses.
Instead, non-pushy people can become great sales people simply by thinking about sales in a different way. Here’s how…
Entrepreneur Myth: build it – and they will come!
Neil Lewis on Wednesday, June 1st, 2011The worst mistake I’ve made – and now see others make – is to think that if I build it (a great product, web service etc…) that the customers will come.
They will not.
Sadly!
Okay, Google is an exception – but do you really want to play 1/1000 kind of odds?
What do you call an entrepreneur with a great idea but no sales?
Neil Lewis on Sunday, May 1st, 2011What do you call an entrepreneur with a great idea but no sales?
A dreamer? An inventor? Someone who never makes it?
So then, how do you become a successful entrepreneur?
How to lose £Trillions – Entrepreneurs – don’t be afraid!
Neil Lewis on Monday, March 28th, 2011The IMF has provided entrepreneurs with a wonderful example of how to get it wrong.
But what can we – the successful entrepreneurs – learn from the IMFs failures?
Happy New Year Entrepreneurs – what have you pruned or cut?
Neil Lewis on Friday, January 7th, 2011The new year is with us – and so this is a great time to ask – what have you pruned or cut in 2011?
Hmm… yes, this might seem strange to ask about cutting at the beginning of a new year – but shouldn’t we be looking to expand and grow, you might ask?
Well yes, but, before you can grow, you have to cut out the deadwood or the slow growth businesses, products and services in order to focus on new opportunities or expanding those things that really are working.
100 Rules for Entreprenuers – about the book
Neil Lewis on Friday, November 5th, 2010This video clip explains the real life, gritty experience that 100 Rules for Entrepreneurs is based on.
It explains the concept behind the book and how it can help new and old entrepreneurs learn from my mistakes.
Entrepreneurs – don’t give up equity – until you have watched this…
Neil Lewis on Friday, October 29th, 2010Giving up equity to partners is dangerous. It will cause you major problems in the future – if your busines is successful – if you don’t get the splits right from the outset.
Find out how I split the equity on my first business – and why it became a problem.
Then, don’t do as I did!
End of Firms? What entreprenuers need to do…
Neil Lewis on Tuesday, October 19th, 2010What kind of business will be successful coming out of this recession?
And, how do we build it?
That is the big question for every entrepreneur who is either starting up now – or already on the journey.
So, what will happen… and what do we do about it?
Innovation Challenge…
Neil Lewis on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010Research shows that freelancers can solve many of the challenges faced by businesses, agencies or departments that are looking to innovate and grow.
Instead of just being a way to save costs, freelancers are discovering that they bring original ideas and solutions to their clients.
But does it work? Can freelancers help avoid failure and stimulate innovation?
How JK Rowling used failure as her bedrock for future success
Neil Lewis on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, talks about how failure in career, marriage and financially, led her to focus on the one area in which she was truly equipped to succeed.
She says that had she not experienced the failure, she might never have gone on to write one the worlds’s most popular series of books.
5 Ways to Avoid Small Business Failure and Innovate
Neil Lewis on Thursday, August 5th, 2010Hurrah! There has been a shift in business thinking!
Stock investors have rediscovered Warren Buffett’s investment principle of ‘never lose money’ and entrepreneurs are now focused on how to avoid small business failure, rather than searching for growth at all costs.
We need to learn how to avoid small business failure and so that your business has time and space to innovate.
Purpose: Are you making this strategic website mistake?
Neil Lewis on Thursday, July 29th, 2010Why do you have a webiste?
Is it because everyone else has one, so you thought you should have one too?
Anecdotal research tells us that 80% of websites don’t have a clearly defined purpose. So, if you’ve made the classic mistake of building a website and are now wondering what to do with it, or even, whether it works, then read on…
How digital marketing allows us to beat the jobs freeze
Neil Lewis on Thursday, June 10th, 2010Recruitment freezes have spread from the private sector to the public sector across Europe and the US – they are now everywhere!
So, when one of your team leave, you are left short handed and without key skills, how do keep growing your business, make more sales and deliver better returns with less budget and a smaller team?
How to Achieve More with Less Cash
Neil Lewis on Thursday, May 27th, 2010Okay, we know the answer lies with outsourcing – but how much can you outsource and how do you do it safely?
Here are our 7 key tips…
How to Grow your Successful Enterprise – Get Agile
Neil Lewis on Thursday, May 20th, 2010I recently got sent a link to the report that Ernst & Young launched at Davos earlier this year and it has some important lessons and advice for successful entrepreneurs – you’ve got to become agile.
So, how do you do that? Let’s find out…
Are you a Business Man/ Woman or Entrepreneur?
Neil Lewis on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010What makes an entrepreneur different from a small business man or woman? Well, the best definition of what entrepreneurs do is provided by Peter Drucker. He said
Entrepreneurs innovate. Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. It is the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.
Okay, so what does that mean?
