Innovation

Have you ever wondered if you could order a McHuevo in Uruguay?

Yes, you can — but if you’re an American touring Bombay or Delhi, for instance, you might well ask, “Where’s the beef?” Due to the religious beliefs of many Indians, there won’t be any! Instead, you’ll see a McVeggie or McAloo — don’t ask me what the latter is — which you can check out for yourself.

McDonald’s is opening restaurants worldwide, faster than you can say “two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheese-pickles-onions-on-a-sesame-seed-bun,” and keeping pace with market-smart variations on their traditional menu.

If money were no object, think what fun it would be to travel around the world and check out the Golden Arches in every country to see what that local menu offers and how McDonald’s applies (enforces) the concept of local footprint, global reach! I will spare you the expense. Right here, right now you can get an insanely great idea of what the journey would be like — the differences in culture, food offerings and technology from country to country — by surfing online. Let’s take a look:

• Norway: The “Laksewrap Wasabi,” a salmon wrap with dill sauce.

• Netherlands: The “Groenteburger,” a vegetable burger.

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In my last post I talked about two success stories that illustrate how easy it is — provided you consider forming a strategic global alliance (SGA) — to take your business global. As a result of my post, which focused on product exports versus services, one reader raised a great question: Is there a true opportunity for consultants in the United States to do business globally or is the opportunity primarily for product companies?

I touched on the surface of the answer here but I’m going to dig a bit deeper now.

Whether you are exporting a product or service, it is a given that you will confront numerous market barriers — governmental, practical, cultural and economic. These barriers can be quite challenging, not to mention extremely frustrating, to a new-to-export service company. To overcome them and beat out the competition, you will need to plan on being aggressive and persistent, and on taking longer to establish a business presence than you may have expected. Let’s get acquainted with the barriers: read more

It’s becoming a standard piece of advice for small tech companies to set up what I call the Web triumvirate:

• website
• blog
• support discussion board or forums

The reason for the website is obvious:  it serves as your online presence for your product offering.

The reasons for a blog are many — among them:  more content means better search engine results;  discussing your product with customers and the public in a conversational voice leads to deeper engagement;  and a blog gives you a means to announce useful information that does not rise to the level of a press release.

The reason for the support discussion forums is read more

Why do people work? The motivation to work is derived from many different sources. Of course, the paycheck is always the reason cited first. However, various studies show that people who could get paid MORE at another job sometimes decide to stick around — even though they are sacrificing a bigger paycheck. The fact that some people consciously decide to work for less money demonstrates that other powerful rewards are at play.

Life is short, and the choices we make on how to spend our time and develop our interests are important. There are valuable “non-financial rewards” that we seek in our jobs. As employees, we must take the non-financial rewards into account when deciding between jobs. And, as managers, we must identify the non-financial rewards and then dole them out liberally. Here are a few examples worth considering: read more

We don’t often look to a news network for entrepreneurial lessons, but CNN’s Rick Sanchez recently gave us a big one.

Making Customers Feel Valuable

Every customer wants a positive experience when they pull their wallet out to buy something. This experience goes way beyond a low price. Customers want helpful information, a friendly environment, and timely assistance. More importantly, they want to feel important and valuable to the businesses they frequent. Not just for the dollars they spend — they want businesses to show interest in them.

Businesses of all sizes are recognizing that their customers have social needs. read more

If idea generation is an addiction then killing ideas is the cure. After spending countless hours developing and polishing ideas, we tend to become attached to those same ideas (whether they are good or bad). The result can be a great deal of wasted energy and effort. It’s time to sever ties with (some of) our ideas and send them to the graveyard!

Most ideas are like bad relationships: you know you have to move on but the idea of letting go seems too unbearable to handle. Our team has heard all the excuses that range from “It’s just a matter of time before this idea succeeds” to “This idea is just too perfect to give up.” But, in reality, the same rule that holds true for relationships should apply for ideas: if it’s going nowhere, it is sometimes best to move on. read more