Podcasts about swot strengths

How to Build a Winning Strategy for Your B2B Brand In a fast-paced business environment, marketers, agencies, and consultants must proactively help clients differentiate their brands in the marketplace. One way of doing this is by analyzing the strategy, messaging, and brand positioning, both for their own brands and key competitors. So how can teams conduct this kind of brand research and competitive analysis in a way that's insightful, efficient, and actionable for planning the next steps? Tune in as the B2B Marketers on Mission Podcast presents the Marketing DEMO Lab Series, where we sit down with Clay Ostrom (Founder, Map & Fire) and his SmokeLadder platform designed for brand research, messaging and positioning analysis, and competitive benchmarking. In this episode, Clay explained the platform's origins and features, emphasizing its role in analyzing brand positioning, core messaging, and competitive landscapes. He also stressed the importance of clear, consistent brand positioning and messaging, and how standardized make it easier to compare brands across multiple business values. Clay also highlighted the value of objective, data-driven analysis to identify brand strengths, weaknesses, and gaps, and how tools like SmokeLadder can save significant time in gathering insights to build trust with clients. He provided practical steps for generating, refining, and exporting brand messaging and analysis for internal or client-facing use. Finally, Clay also discussed how action items and recommendations generated from analysis can immediately support smart brand strategy decisions and expedite trust-building with clients. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4_o1PzF1Kk Topics discussed in episode: [1:31] The purpose behind building SmokeLadder and why it matters for B2B teams [12:00] A walkthrough of the SmokeLadder platform and how it works [14:51] SmokeLadder's core features [17:48] How positioning scores and category rankings are calculated [35:36] How differentiation and competitors are analyzed inside SmokeLadder [44:07] How SmokeLadder builds messaging and generates targeted personas [50:24] The key benefits and unique capabilities that set SmokeLadder apart Companies and links: Clay Ostrom Map & Fire SmokeLadder Transcript Christian Klepp  00:00 In an increasingly competitive B2B landscape, marketers, agencies and consultants, need to proactively find ways to help their clients stand out amidst the digital noise. One way of doing this is by analyzing the strategy, messaging and positioning of their own brands and those of their competitors. So how can they do this in a way that’s insightful, efficient and effective? Welcome to this first episode of the B2B Marketers in the Mission podcast Demo Lab Series, and I’m your host, Christian Klepp. Today, I’ll be talking to Clay Ostrom about this topic. He’s the owner and founder of the branding agency Map and Fire, and the creator of the platform Smoke Ladder that we’ll be talking about today. So let’s dive in. Christian Klepp  00:42 All right, and I’m gonna say Clay Ostrom. Welcome to this first episode of the Demo Lab Series. Clay Ostrom  00:50 I am super excited and very honored to be the first guest on this new series. It’s awesome. Christian Klepp  00:56 We are honored to have you here. And you know, let’s sit tight, or batten down the hatches and buckle up, and whatever other analogy you want to throw in there, because we are going to unpack a lot of interesting features and discuss interesting topics around the platform that you’ve built. And I think a good place to start, perhaps Clay before we start doing a walk through of the platform is, but let’s start at the very beginning. What motivated you to create this platform called Smoke Ladder. Clay Ostrom  01:31 So we should go all the way back to my childhood. I always dreamed of, you know, working on brand and positioning. You know, that was something I’ve always thought of since the early days, but no, but I do. I own an agency called Map and Fire, so I’ve been doing this kind of work for over 10 years now, and have worked with lots and lots of different kinds of clients, and over that time, developed different frameworks and a point of view about how to do this kind of work, and when the AI revolution kind of hit us all, it just really struck me that this was an opportunity to take a lot of that thinking and a lot of that, you know, again, my perspective on how to do this work and productize that and turn it into something that could be used by people when we’re not engaged with them, in some kind of service offering. So, so that was kind of the kernel of it. I actually have a background in computer science and product. So it was sort of this natural Venn diagram intersection of I can do some product stuff, I can do brand strategy stuff. So let’s put it together and build something. Christian Klepp  02:46 And the rest, as they say, is history. Clay Ostrom  02:49 The rest, as they say, is a lot of nights and weekends and endless hours slaving away at trying to build something useful. Christian Klepp  02:58 Sure, sure, that certainly is part of it, too. Clay Ostrom  03:01 Yeah. Christian Klepp  03:02 Let’s not keep the audience in suspense for too long here, right? Like, let’s start with the walk through. And before you share your screen, maybe I’ll set this up a little bit, right? Because you, as you said, like, you know, you’ve built this platform. It’s called Smoke Ladder, which I thought was a really clever name. It’s, you like to describe it as, like, your favorite SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tool, but for brand research and analysis. So I would say, like, walk us through how somebody would use this platform, like, whether they be a marketer that’s already been like in the industry for years, or is starting out, or somebody working at a brand or marketing agency, and how does the platform address these challenges or questions that people have regarding brand strategy, analysis and research? Clay Ostrom  03:49 Yeah, yeah. I use that analogy of the SEO thing, just because, especially early on, I was trying to figure out the best way to describe it to someone who hasn’t seen it before. I feel like it’s a, I’m not going to fall into the trap of saying, this is the only product like this, but it has its own unique twists with what it can do. And I felt like SEO tools are something everybody has touched at one point or another. So I was using this analogy of, it’s like the s, you know, Semrush of positioning and messaging or Ahrefs, depending on your if you’re a Coke or Pepsi person. But I always felt like that was just a quick way to give a little idea of the fact that it’s both about analyzing your own brand, but it’s also about competitive analysis and being able to see what’s going on in the market or in your landscape, and looking specifically at what your competitors are doing and what their strengths and weaknesses are. So does that resonate with you in terms of, like, a shorthand way, I will say, I don’t. I don’t say that. It’s super explicitly on the website, but it’s been in conversation. Christian Klepp  05:02 No, absolutely, absolutely, that resonated with me. The only part that didn’t resonate with me is that I’m neither a coke or a Pepsi person. I’m more of a ginger ale type of guy. I digress. But yeah, let’s what don’t you share your screen, and let’s walk through this, right? Like, okay, if a marketing person were like, use the platform to do some research on, perhaps that marketers, like own company and the competitors as well, right? Like, what would they do? Clay Ostrom  05:32 Yeah, so that’s, that is, like you were saying, there’s, sort of, I guess, a few different personas of people who would potentially use this. And initially I was thinking a little more about both in house, people who, you know, someone who’s working on a specific brand, digging really deep on their own brand, whether they’re, you know, the marketing lead or whatever, maybe they’re the founder, and then this other role of agency owners, or people who work at an agency where they are constantly having to look at new brands, new categories, and quickly get up to speed on what those brands are doing and what’s the competitive space look like, you know, for that brand. And that’s something that, if you work at an agency, which obviously we both have our own agencies, we do this stuff weekly. I mean, every time a new lead comes in, we have to quickly get up to speed and understand something about what they do. And one of the big gaps that I found, and I’d be curious to kind of hear your thoughts on this, but I’ve had a lot of conversations with other agency owners, and I think one of the biggest gaps is often that brands are just not always that great at explaining their own brand or positioning or differentiation to you, and sometimes they have some documentation around it, but a lot of times they don’t. A lot of it’s word of mouth, and that makes it really hard to do work for them. If whatever you’re doing for them, whether that’s maybe you are working on SEO or maybe you’re working on paid ads or social or content, you have to know what the brand is doing and kind of what they’re again, what their strengths and weaknesses are, so that you can talk about that. I mean, do you come across that a lot in your work? Christian Klepp  07:33 How do I say this without offending anybody? I find, I mean jokes aside, I find, more often than not, in the especially in the B2B space, which is an area that I operate in, I find 888 point five times out of 10. We are dealing with companies that have a they, have a very rude, rudimentary, like, framework of something that remotely resembles some form of branding. And I know that was a very long winded answer, but it’s kind of sort of there, but not really, if you know what I mean. Clay Ostrom  08:17 Yeah. Christian Klepp  08:17 And there have been other extreme cases where they’ve got the logo and the website, and that’s as far as their branding goals. And I would say that had they had all these, this discipline, like branding system and structure in place, then people like maybe people like you and I will be out on a job, right and it’s something, and I’m sure you’ve come across this, and we’ll probably dig into this later, but like you, it’s something I’ve come across several times, especially in the B2B space, where branding is not taken seriously until it becomes serious. I know that sounds super ironic, right, but, and it’s to the point of this platform, right, which we’re going to dig into in a second, but it’s, it’s things, for instance, positioning right, like, are you? Are you, in fact, strategically positioned against competitors? Is your messaging resonating with, I would imagine, especially in the B2B context, with the multiple group target groups that you have, or that your company is, is going after? Right? Is that resonating, or is this all like something that I call the internal high five? You’ve this has all been developed to please internal stakeholders and and then you take it to market, and it just does not, it just does not resonate with the target audience at all. Right? So there’s such a complex plethora of challenges here, right? That people like yourself and like you and I are constantly dealing with, and I think that’s also part of the reason why I would say a platform like this is important, because it helps to not just aggregate data. I mean, certainly it does that too, but it helps. To put things properly, like into perspective at speed. I think that might be, that might be something that you would have talked about later, but it does this at speed, because I think, from my own experience, one of the factors in our world that sometimes works against us is time, right? Clay Ostrom  10:19 No, I totally agree, yeah, and, you know, we’re lucky, I guess would be the word that we are often hired to work on a company strategy with them and help them clarify these things. Christian Klepp  10:33 Absolutely. Clay Ostrom  10:34 There are a million other flavors of agencies out there who are being hired to execute on work for a brand, and not necessarily being brought in to redefine, you know what the brand, you know they’re positioning and their messaging and some of these fundamental things, so they’re kind of stuck with whatever they get. And like you said, a lot of times it’s not much. It might be a logo and a roughly put together website, and maybe not a whole lot else. So, yeah, but I think your other point about speed is that was a huge part of this. I think the market is only accelerating right now, because it’s becoming so much easier to start up new companies and new brands and new products. And now we’ve got vibe coding, so you can technically build a product in a day, maybe launch it the next day, start marketing it, you know, by the weekend. And all of this is creating noise and competition, and it’s all stuff that we have to deal with as marketers. We have to understand the landscape. We’ve got to quickly be able to analyze all these different brands, see where the strengths and weaknesses are and all that stuff. So… Christian Klepp  11:46 Absolutely. Clay Ostrom  11:46 But, yeah, that, I think that the speed piece is a huge part of this for sure. Christian Klepp  11:51 Yeah. So, so we’re okay, so we’re on the I guess this, this will probably be the homepage. So just walk us through what, what a marketing person would do if they want to use this platform, yeah? Clay Ostrom  12:00 So the very first thing you do when you come in, and this was when I initially conceived of this product, one of the things that I really wanted was the ability to have very quick feedback, be able to get analysis for whatever brand you’re looking at, you know, right away to be able to get some kind of, you know, insight or analysis done. So the first thing you can do, and you can do this literally, from the homepage of the website, you can enter in a URL for a brand, come into the product, even before you’ve created an account, you can come in and you can do an initial analysis, so you can put in whatever URL you’re looking at, could be yours, could be a competitor, and run that initial analysis. What we’re looking at here, this is, if you do create an account, this is, this becomes your, as we say, like Home Base, where you can save brands that you’re looking at. You can see your history, all that good stuff. And it just gives you some quick bookmarks so that you can kind of flip back and forth between, maybe it’s your brand, maybe it’s some of the competitors you’re looking at and then it gives you just some quick, kind of high level directional info. And I kind of break it up into these different buckets. Clay Ostrom  13:23 And again, I’d love to kind of hear if this is sort of how you think about it, too. But there’s sort of these different phases when you’re working on a brand. And again, this is sort of from an agency perspective, but you first got the sort of the research and the pitch piece. So this is before maybe you’re even working with them. You’re trying to get an understanding of what they do. Then we have discovery and onboarding, where we’re digging in a little bit deeper. We’re trying to really put together, what does the brand stand for, what are their strengths and weaknesses? And then we have the deeper dive, the strategy and differentiation. And this is where we’re really going in and getting more granular with the specific value points that they offer, doing some of that messaging analysis, finding, finding some of the gaps of the things that they’re talking about or not talking about, and going in deeper. So it kind of break it up into these buckets, based on my experience of how we engage with clients. Does that? Does that make sense to you, like, does that? Christian Klepp  14:28 It does make sense, I think. But what could be helpful for the audience is because this, this almost looks like it’s a pre cooked meal. All right, so what do we do we try another I mean, I think you use Slack for the analysis. Why don’t we use another brand, and then just pop it into that analysis field, and then see what it comes out with. Clay Ostrom  14:51 So the nice thing about this is, if you are looking at a brand that’s been analyzed, you’re going to get the data up really quickly. It’ll be basically pop up instantly. But you can analyze a brand from scratch as well. Just takes about a minute or so, basically, to kind of do some of the analysis. So for the sake of a demo, it’s a little easier just to kind of look at something that we’ve got in there. But if it’s a brand that you know, maybe you’re looking at a competitor for one of your brands, you know, there’s a good chance, because we’ve got about 6000 brands that we’ve analyzed in here, that there’s a good chance there’ll be some info on them. But so this is pipe drive. So whoever’s not familiar Pipedrive is, you know, it’s a CRM  (Customer Relationship Management), it’s, it’s basically, you know, it’s a lighter version of a HubSpot or Salesforce basically track deals and opportunities for business, but this so I flipped over. I don’t know if it was clear there, but I flipped over to this brand brief tab. And this is where we we get, essentially, a high level view of some key points about the brand and and I think about this as this would be something that you would potentially share with a client if you were, you know, working with them and you wanted to review the brand with them and make sure that your analysis is on point, but you’ll see it’s kind of giving you some positioning scores, where you rank from a category perspective, message clarity, and then we’ve got things like a quick overview, positioning summary, who their target persona is, in this case, sales manager, sales operation lead, and some different value points. And then it starts to get a little more granular. We get into like key competitors, Challenger brands. We do a little SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, and then maybe one of the more important parts is some of these action items. So what do we do with this? Yeah, and obviously, these are, these are starting points. This is not, it’s not going to come in and, you know, instantly be able to tell you strategically, exactly what to do, but it’s going to give you some ideas of based on the things we’ve seen. Here are some reasonable points that you might want to be looking at to, you know, improve the brand. Make it make it stronger. Christian Klepp  17:13 Gotcha. Gotcha. Now, this is all great clay, but like, I think, for the benefit of the audience, can we scroll back up, please. And let’s just walk through these one by one, because I think it’s important for the audience/potential future users,/ customers of Smoke Ladder, right? To understand, to understand this analysis in greater depth, and also, like, specifically, like, let’s start with a positioning score right, like, out of 100 like, what is this? What is this based on? And how was this analyzed? Let’s start with that. Clay Ostrom  17:48 Yeah, and this is where the platform really started. And I’m going to actually jump over to the positioning tab, because this will give us the all the detail around this particular feature. But this is, this was where I began the product this. I kind of think of this as being, in many ways, sort of the heart and soul of it. And when I mentioned earlier about this being based on our own work and frameworks and how we approach this, this is very much the case with this. This is, you know, the approach we use with the product is exactly how we work with clients when we’re evaluating their positioning. And it’s, it’s basically, it’s built off a series of scores. And what we have here are 24 different points of business value, which, if we zoom in just a little bit down here, we can see things like reducing risk, vision, lowering cost, variety, expertise, stability, etc. So there’s 24 of these that we look at, and it’s meant to be a way that we can look across different brands and compare and contrast them. So it’s creating, like, a consistent way of looking at brands, even if they’re not in the same category, or, you know, have slightly different operating models, etc. But what we do is we go in and we score every brand on each of these 24 points. And if we scroll down here a little bit, we can see the point of value, the exact score they got, the category average, so how it compares against, you know, all the other brands we’ve analyzed, and then a little bit of qualitative information about why they got the score. Christian Klepp  19:27 Sorry, Clay, Can I just jump in for a second so these, these attributes, or these key values that you had in the graph at the top right, like, are these consistent throughout regardless of what brand is being analyzed, or the least change. Clay Ostrom  19:42 It’s consistent. Christian Klepp  19:43 Consistent? Clay Ostrom  19:44 Yeah, and that was one of the sort of strategic decisions we had to make with the product. Was, you know, there’s a, maybe another version of this, where you do different points depending on maybe the category, or, you know, things like that. But I wanted to do it consistent because, again, it allows us to look at every brand through the same lens. It doesn’t mean that every brand you know there are certain points of value that just aren’t maybe relevant for a particular brand, and that’s fine, they just won’t score as highly in those but at least it gives us a consistent way to look at so when you’re looking at 10 different competitors, you know you’ve got a consistent way to look at them together,. Christian Klepp  20:26 Right, right, right. Okay, okay, all right, thanks for that. Now let’s go down to the next section there, where you’ve got, like this table with like four different columns here. So you mentioned that these are being scored against other brands in their category. Like, can you share it with the audience? Like, how many other brands are being analyzed here? Clay Ostrom  20:51 Yeah, well, it depends on the category. So again, we’ve got six, you know, heading towards 7000 brands that we’ve analyzed collectively. Each category varies a little bit, but, you know, some categories, we have more brands than others. But what this allows us to do is, again, to quickly look at this and say, okay, for pipe drive, a big focus for pipe drive is organization, simplification. You know, one of their big value props is we’re an easier tool to use than Salesforce or HubSpot. You can get up to speed really quickly. You don’t have all the setup and configurations and all that kind of stuff. So this is showing us that, yes, like their messaging, their content, their brand, does, in fact, do a good job of making it clear that simplicity is a big part of pipe drive’s message. And they do that by talking about it a lot in their messaging, having case studies, having testimonials, all these things that support it. And that’s how we come up with these scores. Is by saying, like the brand emphasizes these points well, they talk about it clearly, and that’s what we base it on. Christian Klepp  22:04 Okay, okay. Clay Ostrom  22:06 But as you come, I was just gonna say as you come down here, you can see, so the green basically means that they score well above average for that particular point. Yellow is, you know, kind of right around average, or maybe slightly above, and then red means that they’re below average for that particular point. So for example, like variety of tools, they don’t emphasize that as much with pipe drive, maybe compared to, again, like a Salesforce or a HubSpot that has a gazillion tools, pipe drive, that’s not a big focus for them. So they don’t score as highly there, but you can kind of just get a quick view of, okay, here are the things that they’re really strong with, and here are the things that maybe they’re, you know, kind of weak or below average. Christian Klepp  22:58 Yeah, yeah. Well, that’s certainly interesting, because I, you know, I’ve, I’ve used the, I’ve used the platform for analyzing some of my clients, competitor brands. And, you know, when I’m looking at this, like analysis with the scoring, with the scoring sheet, it, I think it will also be interesting perhaps in future, because you’ve got a very detailed breakdown of, okay, the factors and how they’re scored, and what the brand value analysis is also, because, again, in the interest of speed and time, it’d be great if the platform can also churn out maybe a one to two sentence like, summary of what is this data telling us, right? Because I’m thinking back to my early days as a product manager, and we would spend hours, like back then on Excel spreadsheets. I’m dating myself a little bit here, but um, and coming up with this analysis and charts, but presenting that to senior management, all they wanted to know was the one to two sentence summary of like, come on. What are you telling me with all these charts, like, what is the data telling you that we need to know? Right? Clay Ostrom  24:07 I know it’s so funny. We again, as strategists and researchers, we love to nerd out about the granular details, but you’re right. When you’re talking to a leader at a business, it does come down to like, okay, great. What do we do? And so, and I flipped back over to slacks. I knew I had already generated this but, but we’re still in the positioning section here, but we have this get insights feature. So basically it will look at all those scores and give you kind of, I think, similar to what you’re describing. Like, here’s three takeaways from what we’re seeing. Okay, okay, great, yeah, so we don’t want to leave you totally on your own to have to figure it all out. We’ll give you, give you a little helping hand. Christian Klepp  24:53 Yeah. You don’t want to be like in those western movies, you’re on your own kid. Clay Ostrom  24:59 Yeah. We try not to strand you again. There’s a lot of data here. I think that’s one of the strengths and and challenges with the platform, is that we try to give you a lot of data. And for some people, you may not want to have to sift through all of it. You might want just sort of give me the three points here. Christian Klepp  25:19 Absolutely, absolutely. And at the very least they can start pointing you in the right direction, and then you could be, you could then, like, through your own initiative, and perhaps dig a little bit deeper and perhaps find some other insights that may be, may be relevant, right? Clay Ostrom  25:35 Totally. Christian Klepp  25:36 Hey, it’s Christian Klepp here. We’ll get back to the episode in a second. But first, I’d like to tell you about a new series that we’re launching on our show. As the B2B landscape evolves, marketers need to adapt and leverage the latest marketing tools and software to become more efficient. Enter B2B Marketers on a Mission Marketing Demo Lab where experts discuss the latest tools and software that empower you to become a better B2B marketer. Tune in as we chat with product experts. Provide unbiased product reviews, give advice and deliver insights into real world applications and actionable tips on tools and technologies for B2B marketing. Subscribe to the Marketing Demo Lab, YouTube channel and B2B Marketers on a Mission, on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Christian Klepp  26:21 All right. Now, back to the show, if we can, if we could jump back, sorry, to the, I think it was the brand brief, right? Like, where we where we started out, and I said, let’s, let’s dig deeper. Okay, so then, then we have, okay, so we talked about positioning score. Now we’re moving on to category rank and message clarity score. What does that look like? Clay Ostrom  26:41 Yeah. So the category rank is, it’s literally just looking at the positioning score that you’ve gotten for the brand and then telling you within this category, where do you sort of fall in the ranking, essentially, or, like, you know, how do we, you know, for comparing the score against all the competitors, where do you fall? So you can see, with Slack, they’re right in the middle. And it’s interesting, because with a product like Slack, even though we all now know what slack is and what it does and everything. Christian Klepp  27:18 Yeah. Clay Ostrom  27:19 The actual messaging and content that they have now, I think maybe doesn’t do as good of a job as it maybe did once upon a time, and it’s gotten as products grow and brands grow, they tend to get more vague, a little more broad with what they talk about, and that kind of leads to softer positioning. So that’s sort of what we’re seeing reflected here. And then the third score is the message clarity score, which we can jump into, like, a whole different piece. Christian Klepp  27:48 Four on a tennis not a very high score, right? Clay Ostrom  27:52 Yeah. And again, I think it’s a product, of, we can kind of jump into that section. Christian Klepp  27:57 Yeah, let’s do that, yeah. Clay Ostrom  27:59 But it’s, again, a product, I think of Slack being now a very mature product that is has gotten sort of a little vague, maybe a little broader, with their messaging. But the message clarity score, we basically have kind of two parts to this on the left hand side are some insights that we gather based on the messaging. So what’s your category, quick synopsis of the product. But then we also do some things, like… Christian Klepp  28:33 Confusing part the most confusing. Clay Ostrom  28:36 Honestly to me, as I get I’d love to hear your experience with this, but coming into a new brand, this is sometimes one of the most enlightening parts, because it shows me quickly where some gaps in what we’re talking about, and in this case, just kind of hits on what we were just saying a minute ago. Of the messaging is overloaded with generic productivity buzzwords, fails to clearly differentiate how Slack is better than email or similar tools, etc. But also, this is another one that I really like, and I use this all the time, which is the casual description. So rather than this technical garbage jargon, you know, speak, just give me. Give it to me in plain English, like we’re just chatting. And so this description of it’s a workplace chat app for teams to message, collaborate, share files. Like, okay, cool. Like, yeah, you know, I get it. Yeah, I already know what slack is. But if I didn’t, that would tell me pretty well. Christian Klepp  29:33 Absolutely, yeah, yeah. No, my experience with this is has been, you know, you and I have been in the branding space for a while. So for the trained eye, when you look at messaging, you’ll know if it’s good or not, right. And we come I mean, I’m sure you do the same clay, but I also come to my own like conclusions based on experience of like, okay, so why do I think that that’s good messaging, or why do I think that that’s confusing messaging? Or it falls short, and why and how can that be improved? But it’s always good to have validation with either with platforms like this, where you have a you have AI, or you have, you have a software that you can use that analyzes, like, for example, like the messaging on a website, and it dissects that and says, Well, okay, so this is what they’re getting, right? So there’s a scoring for that, so it’s in the green, and then this is, this is where it gets confusing, right? So even you run that through, you run that through the machine, and the machine analyzes it as like, Okay, we can’t clearly, clearly define what it is they’re doing based on the messaging, right? And for me, that’s always a it’s good. It’s almost like getting a second doctor’s opinion, right? And then you go, Aha. So I we’ve identified the symptoms now. So let’s find the penicillin, right? Like, let’s find the remedy for this, right? Clay Ostrom  30:56 Yeah, well, and I like what you said there, because part of the value, I think, with this is it’s an objective perspective on the brand, so it doesn’t have any baggage. It’s coming in with fresh eyes, the same way a new customer would come into your website, where they don’t know really much about you, and they have to just take what you’re giving at face value about what you present. And we as people working on brands get completely blinded around what’s actually working, what’s being communicated. There’s so much that we take for granted about what we already know about the brand. And this comes in and just says, Okay, I’m just, I’m just taking what you give me, and I’m going to tell you what I see, and I see some gaps around some of these things. You know, I don’t have the benefit of sitting in your weekly stand up meeting and hearing all the descriptions of what you’re actually doing. Christian Klepp  31:59 I’m sorry to jump in. I’m interested to know, like, just, just based on what we’ve been reviewing so far, like, what has your experience been showing this kind of analysis to clients, and how do they respond to some of this data, for example, that you know, you’re walking us through right now? Clay Ostrom  32:18 Yeah, I think it’s been interesting. Honestly, I think it can sometimes feel harsh. And I think again, as someone who’s both run an agency and also built worked on brands, we get attached to our work on an emotional level. Christian Klepp  32:42 Absolutely. Clay Ostrom  32:42 Even if we think about it as, you know, this is just work, and it’s, you know, whatever, we still build up connections with our work and we want it to be good. And so I think there’s sometimes a little bit of a feeling of wow, like that’s harsh, or I would have expected or thought we would have done better or scored better in certain areas, but that is almost always followed up with but I’m so glad to know where, where we’re struggling, because now I can fix it. I can actually know what to focus on to fix, and that, to me, is what it’s all about, is, yes, there’s a little bit of feelings attached to some of these things, maybe, but at the end of the day, we really want it to be good. We want it to be clear. We don’t want to be a 4 out of 10. We want to be a 10 out of 10. And what specifically do we need to do to get there? And that’s really what we’re trying to reveal with this. So I think, you know, everybody’s a little different, but I would say the reactions are typically a mix of that. It’s like, maybe an ouch, but a Oh, good. Let’s work on it. Christian Klepp  33:55 Absolutely, absolutely. Okay. So we’ve got brand summary, we’ve got fundamentals, then quality of messaging is the other part of it, right? Clay Ostrom  34:02 So, yeah, so this, this is, this is where the actual 4 out of 10 comes. We have these 10 points that we look at and we say, Okay, are you communicating these things clearly? Are you communicating who your target customer is, your category, your offering, where you’re differentiated benefits? Do you have any kind of concrete claim about what you do to support you know what you’re what you’re selling? Is the messaging engaging? Is it concise? You’ll see here a 7% on concise. That’s basically telling us that virtually no brands do a good job of being concise. Only about 7% get a green check mark on this, and kind of similar with the jargon and the vague words big struggle points with almost every brand. Christian Klepp  34:55 Streamline collaboration. Clay Ostrom  34:58 So we can see here with Slack. You know some of the jargon we got, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), MQLs (Marketing Qualified Lead), if you’re in the space, you could argue like, oh, I kind of know what those things are. But depending on your role, you may not always know. In something like Salesforce marketing cloud, unless you’re a real Salesforce nerd, you probably have no idea what that is. But again, it’s just a way to quickly identify some of those weak points, things that we could improve to make our message more clear. Christian Klepp  35:27 Yes, yes. Okay, so that was the messaging analysis correct? Clay Ostrom  35:33 Yeah. Christian Klepp  35:33 Yeah. Okay. So what else have we got? Clay Ostrom  35:36 Yeah, so I think one other thing we could look at just for a sec, is differentiation, and this is this kind of plays off of what we looked at a minute ago with the positioning scores. But this is a way for us to look head to head with two different brands. So in this case, we’ve got Slack in the red and we’ve got Discord in the greenish blue. And I think of these, these patterns, as sort of the fingerprint of your brand. So where you Where are you strong? Where are you weak? And if we can overlay those two fingerprints on top of each other, we can see, where do we have advantages, and where does our competitor have advantages? So if we come down, we can sort of see, and this is again, for the nerds like me, to be able to come in and go deep, do kind of a deep dive on specifically, why did, why does Discord score better than Slack in certain areas. And at the bottom here we can see a kind of a quick summary. So slack is stronger in simplification, saving time, Discord has some better messaging around generating revenue, lowering costs, marketability. But again, this gives us a way to think about what are the things we want to double down on? So what do we want to actually be known for in the market? Because we can’t be known for everything. You know, buyers can maybe only remember a couple things about us. What are those couple things where we’re really strong, where we really stand out, and we’ve got some separation from the competitors. Christian Klepp  37:18 Right, okay, okay, just maybe we take a step back here, because I think this is great. It’s very detailed. It gets a bit granular, but I think it’s also going back to a conversation that you and I had previously about, like, Okay, why is it so important to be armed with this knowledge, especially if you’re in the marketing role, or perhaps even an agency talking to a potential client going in there already armed with the information about their competitors. And we were talking about this being a kind of like a trust building mechanism, right? For lack of a better description, right? Clay Ostrom  38:03 Yeah, I think to me, what I like about this, and again, this does come out of 10 years of doing work, this kind of work with clients as well, is it’s so easy to fall into a space of soft descriptions around things like positioning and just sort of using vague, you know, wordings or descriptions, and when you can actually put a number on it, which, again, it’s subjective. This isn’t. This isn’t an objective metric, but it’s a way for us to compare and contrast. It allows us to have much more productive conversations with clients, where we can say we looked at your brand, we we what based on our analysis, we see that you’re scoring a 10 and a 9 on simplicity and organization, for example. Is that accurate to you like do you think that’s what you all are emphasizing the most? Does that? Does that resonate and at the same time, we can say, but your competitors are really focused on there. They have a strong, strong message around generating revenue and lowering costs for their customers. Right now, you’re not really talking about that. Is that accurate? Is that like, what you is that strategically, is that what you think you should be doing so really quickly, I’ve now framed a conversation that could have been very loose and kind of, you know, well, what do you think your strategy is about? What do you know? And instead, I can say, we see you being strong in these three points. We see your competitors being strong in these three points. What do you think about that? And I think that kind of clarity just makes the work so much more productive with clients, or just again, working on your own brand internally. So what do you think about that kind of perspective? Christian Klepp  40:08 Yeah, no, no, I definitely agree with that. It’s always and I’ve been that type of person anyway that you know you go into a especially with somebody that hasn’t quite become a client yet, right? One of the most important things is also, how should I put this? Certainly the trust building part of it needs to be there. The other part is definitely a demonstration of competence and ability, but it’s also that you’ve been proactive and done your homework, versus like, Okay, I’m I’m just here as an order taker, right? And let’s just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it right? A lot and especially, I think this has been a trend for a long time already, but a lot of the clients that I’ve worked with now in the past, they want to, they’re looking for a partner that’s not just thinking with them, it’s someone that’s thinking ahead of them. And this type of work, you know what we’re seeing here on screen, this is the type of work that I would consider thinking ahead of them, right? Clay Ostrom  41:18 No, I agree. I think you framed that really well. Of we’re trying to build trust, because if we’re going to make any kind of recommendations around a change or a shift, they have to believe that we know what we’re talking about, that we’re competent, that we’ve done the work. And I think I agree with you. I think like this, it’s kind of funny, like we all, I think, on some base level, are attracted to numbers and scores. It just gives us something to latch on to. But I think it also, like you said, it gives you a feeling that you’ve done your work, that you’ve done your homework, you’ve studied, you’ve you’ve done some analysis that they themselves may have never done on this level. And that’s a big value. Christian Klepp  42:08 Yes, and a big part of the reason just to, just to build on what you said, a big part of the reason why they haven’t done this type of work is because it’s not so much. The cost is certainly one part of it, but it’s the time, it’s a time factor and the resource and the effort that needs to be put into it. Because, you know, like, tell me if you’ve never heard this one before, but there are some, there are some companies that we’ve been working with that don’t actually have a clearly, like, you know, a clear document on who their their target personas are, yeah, or their or their ICPs, never mind the buyer’s journey map. They don’t, they don’t even have the personas mapped out, right? Clay Ostrom  42:52 100% Yeah, it’s, and it’s, I think you’re right. It’s, it’s a mix of time and it’s a mix of just experience where, if you are internal with a brand, you don’t do this kind of work all the time. You might do it at the beginning. Maybe you do a check in every once in a while, but you need someone who’s done this a lot with a lot of different brands so that they can give you guidance through this kind of framework. But so it’s, you know, so some of it is a mix of, you know, we don’t have the time always to dig in like this. But some of it is we don’t even know how to do it, even if we did have the time. So it’s hopefully giving, again, providing some different frameworks and different ways of looking at it. Christian Klepp  43:41 Absolutely, absolutely. So okay, so we’ve gone through. What is it now, the competitor comparison. What else does the platform provide us that the listeners and the audience should be paying attention to here? Clay Ostrom  43:55 So I’ll show you two more quick things. So one is this message building section. So this is… Christian Klepp  44:03 Are you trying to put me out of a job here Clay? Clay Ostrom  44:07 Well, I’ll say this. So far in my experience with this, it’s not going to put us out of a job, but it is going to hopefully make our job easier and better. It’s going to make us better at the work we do. And that’s really, I think that’s, I think that’s kind of, most people’s impression of AI at this point is that it’s not quite there to replace us, but it’s sure, certainly can enhance what we do. Christian Klepp  44:36 Yeah, you’ll excuse me, I couldn’t help but throw that one out. Clay Ostrom  44:38 Yeah, I know, trust me, I’m this. It’s like I’m building a product that, in a sense, is undercutting, you know, the work that I do. So it is kind of a weird thing, but this message building section, which is a new part of the platform. It will come in, and you can see on the right hand side. And there’s sort of a quick summary of all these different elements that we’ve already analyzed. And then it’s going to give you some generated copy ideas, including, if I zoom in a little bit here, we’ve got an eyebrow category. This is again for Slack. It’s giving us a headline idea, stay informed without endless emails. Sub headline call to action, three challenges that your customers are facing, and then three points about your solution that help address those for customers. So it’s certainly not writing all of your copy for you, but if you’re starting from scratch, or you’re working on something new, or even if you’re trying to refresh a brand. I think this can be helpful to give you some messaging that’s hopefully clear. That’s something that I think a lot of messaging misses, especially in B2B, it’s, it’s not always super clear, like what you even do. Christian Klepp  45:56 Don’t get me started. Clay Ostrom  45:59 So hopefully it’s clear. It’s, you know, again, it’s giving you some different ideas. And that you’ll see down here at the bottom, you can, you can iterate on this. So we’ve got several versions. You can actually come in and, you know, you can edit it yourself. So if you say, like, well, I like that, but not quite that, you know, I can, you know, get my human touch on it as well. But yeah, so it’s a place to iterate on message. Christian Klepp  46:25 You can kind of look at it like, let’s say, if you’re writing a blog article, and this will give you the outline, right? Yeah. And then most of the AI that I’ve worked with to generate outlines, they’re not quite there. But again, if you’re starting from zero and you want to go from zero to 100 Well, that’ll, that’ll at least get you to 40 or 50, right? But I’m curious to know, because we’re looking at this now, and I think this, I mean, for me, this is, this is fascinating, but, like, maybe, maybe this will be part of your next iteration. But will this, will this generate messaging that’s already SEO optimized. Clay Ostrom  47:02 You know, it’s not specifically geared towards that, but I would say that it ends up being maybe more optimized than a lot of other messaging because it puts such an emphasis on clarity, it naturally includes words and phrases that I think are commonly used in the space more so than you know, maybe just kind of typical off the shelf Big B2B messaging, Christian Klepp  47:27 Gotcha. I had a question on the target persona that you’ve got here on screen, right? So how does the platform generate the information that will then populate that field because, and when I’m just trying to think about like, you know, because I’ve been, I’ve been in the space for as long as you have, and the way that I’ve generated target personas in the past was not by making a wild guess about, like, you know, looking at the brand’s website. It’s like having conducting deep customer research and listening to hours and hours of recordings, and from there, generating a persona. And this has done it in seconds. So… Clay Ostrom  48:09 Yeah, it’s so the way the system works in a couple different layers. So it does an initial analysis, where it does positioning, messaging analysis and category analysis, then you can generate the persona on top of that. So it takes all the learnings that it got from the category, from the product, from your messaging, and then develops a persona around that. And it’s, of course, able to also pull in, you know, the AI is able to reference things that it knows about the space in general. But I have found, and this is true. I was just having a conversation with someone who works on a very niche brand for a very specific audience, and I was showing him what it had output. And I said, Tell me, like, Don’t hold back. Like, is this accurate? He said, Yeah, this is, like, shockingly accurate for you know, how we view our target customer. So I think it’s pretty good. It’s not again, not going to be perfect. You’re going to need to do some work, and you still got to do the research, but, but, yeah. Christian Klepp  49:13 Okay, fantastic, fantastic. How do, I guess there’s the option, I see it there, like, download the PDF. So anything that’s analyzed on the platform can then be exported in a PDF format, right? Like, like, into a report. Clay Ostrom  49:28 Yeah, right now you can export the messaging analysis, or, sorry, the the messaging ideation that you’ve done, and then in the brand brief you can also, you can download a PDF of the brand brief as well. So, those are the two main areas. I’m still working on some additional exports of data so that people can pull it into a spreadsheet and do some other stuff with it. Christian Klepp  49:49 Fantastic, fantastic. That’s awesome, Clay. I’ve got a couple more questions before I let you go. But this has been, this has been amazing, right? Like and I really hope that whoever’s in the one listening and, most importantly, watching this, I hope that you really do consider like, you know, taking this for a test drive, right? How many I might have asked you this before, because, you know, I am somebody that does use, you know, that does a lot of this type of research. But how much time would you say companies would save by using Smoke Ladder? Clay Ostrom  50:24 It’s a good question. I feel like I’m starting to get some feedback around that with from our users, but I mean, for me personally, I would typically spend an hour or two just to get kind of up to speed initially, with a brand and kind of look at some of their competitors. If I’m doing a deep dive, though, if I’m actually doing some of the deeper research work, it could be several hours per client. So I don’t know. On a given week, it might depend on how many clients you’re talking to. Could be anywhere from a few hours to 10 hours or more, depending on how much work you’re doing. But, yeah, I think it’s a decent amount. Christian Klepp  51:07 Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, this definitely does look like a time saver. Here comes my favorite question, which you’re gonna look at me like, Okay, I gotta, I gotta. Clay Ostrom  51:17 Now bring it on. Let’s go. Christian Klepp  51:22 Folks that are not familiar with Smoke Ladder are gonna look at this, um, and before they actually, um, take it upon themselves to, like, watch, hopefully, watch this video on our channel. Um, they’re gonna look at that and ask themselves, Well, what is it that Smoke Ladder does that? You know that other AI couldn’t do, right, like, so I guess what I’m trying to say is, like, Okay, why would they use? How does the platform differ from something like ChatGPT, Perplexity or Claude, right? To run a brand analysis? Clay Ostrom  52:00 Yeah, no, I think it’s a great question. I think it’s sort of the it’s going to be the eternal AI question for every product that has an AI component. And I would say to me, it’s three things. So one is the data, which we talked about, and I didn’t show you this earlier, but there is a search capability in here to go through our full archive of all the brands we’ve analyzed, and again, we’ve analyzed over 6000 brands. So the data piece is really important here, because it means we’re not just giving you insights and analysis based on the brand that you’re looking at now, but we can compare and contrast against all the other brands that we’ve looked at in the space, and that’s something that you’re not going to get by just using some off the shelf standard LLM  (Large Language Model) and doing some, you know, some quick prompts with that. The next one, I think, to me that’s important is it’s the point of view of the product and the brand. Like I said, this is built off of 10 plus years of doing positioning and messaging work in the space. So you’re getting to tap into that expertise and that approach of how we do things and building frameworks that make this work easier and more productive that you wouldn’t get, or you wouldn’t know, just on your own. And then the last one, the last point, which is sort of the kind of like the generic software answer, is you get a visual interface for this stuff. It’s the difference between using QuickBooks versus a spreadsheet. You can do a lot of the same stuff that you do in QuickBooks and a spreadsheet, but wouldn’t you rather have a nice interface and some easy buttons to click that make your job way, way easier and do a lot of the work for you and also be able to present it in a way that’s digestible and something you could share with clients? So the visual component in the UI is sort of that last piece. Christian Klepp  54:01 Absolutely. I mean, it’s almost like UX and UI one on one. That’s, that’s pretty much like a big part of, I think what it is you’re trying to build here, right? Clay Ostrom  54:13 Yeah, exactly. It’s just it’s making all of those things that you might do in an LLM just way, way easier. You know, you basically come in, put in your URL and click a button, and you’re getting access to all the data and all the insights and all this stuff so. Christian Klepp  54:29 Absolutely, absolutely okay. And as we wrap this up, this has been a fantastic conversation, by the way, how can the audience start using Smoke Ladder, and how can they get in touch with you if they have questions, and hopefully good questions. Clay Ostrom  54:47 Yeah, so you can, if you go to https://smokeladder.com/ you can, you can try it out. Like I said, you can basically go to the homepage, put in a URL and get started. You don’t even have to create an account to do the initial analysis. But you can create FREE account. You can dig in and see, you know, play around with all the features, and if you use it more, you know, we give you a little bit of a trial period. And if you use it beyond that, then you can pay and continue to use it, but, but you can get a really good flavor of it for free. Christian Klepp  55:16 Fantastic, fantastic. Oh, last question, because, you know, it’s looking me right in the face now, industry categories. How many? How many categories can be analyzed on the platform? Clay Ostrom  55:26 Yeah, yeah. So right now, we have 23 categories in the system currently, which sounds like a lot, but when you start to dig into especially B2B, it’s we will be evolving that and continuing to add more, but currently, there’s 23 different categories of businesses in there. Christian Klepp  55:46 All right, fantastic, fantastic. Clay, man. This has been so awesome. Thank you so much for your time and for your patience and walking us through this, this incredible platform that you’ve built and continue to build. And you know, I’m excited to continue using this as it evolves. Clay Ostrom  56:06 Thank you. Yeah, no. Thanks so much. And you know, if anybody, you know, anybody who tries it out, tests it out, please feel free to reach out. We have, you know, contact info on there. You can also hit me up on LinkedIn. I spend a lot of time there, but I would love feedback, love getting notes, love hearing what’s working, what’s not, all those things. So yeah, anytime I’m always open. Christian Klepp  56:30 All right, fantastic. Once again, Clay, thanks for your time. Take care, stay safe and talk to you soon. Clay Ostrom  56:36 Thanks so much. Talk to you soon. Christian Klepp  56:37 All right. Bye for now.

Thanks to our Partners, NAPA TRACS, Today's Class, KUKUI, and Pit Crew Loyalty Watch Full Video Episode This episode focuses on a SWOT analysis, examining the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that will shape the automotive industry over the next three to five years. Panelists highlight key strengths, such as the industry's resilience and the aging vehicle fleet, alongside critical weaknesses like the shortage of experienced staff and trainers. Opportunities explored include EV and hybrid servicing, as well as the growing demand for technical educators, while threats encompass supply chain challenges, OEM influence, and internal industry conflicts. The conversation also underscores the importance of framing automotive work as a skilled career rather than a trade, along with the need for succession planning and mentorship within shops. Dwayne Myers, Dynamic Automotive. Dwayne's previous episodes HERE. Travis Troy, Honest Wrenches, Akeny and Des Moines, IA. Listen to Travis' other episodes HERE Corey Evaldi, Olmstead Auto Care, Olmstead Falls, OH. Listen to Corey's Episodes HERE. Thanks to our Partner, NAPA TRACS NAPA TRACS will move your shop into the SMS fast lane with onsite training and six days a week of support and local representation. Find NAPA TRACS on the Web at http://napatracs.com/ Thanks to our Partner, Today's Class Optimize training with Today's Class: In just 5 minutes daily, boost knowledge retention and improve team performance. Find Today's Class on the web at https://www.todaysclass.com/ Thanks to our Partner, KUKUI Stop juggling multiple marketing tools. KUKUI's integrated platform delivers 4x better website conversions, automated follow-up, and real-time ROI tracking. Get industry-leading customer support with KUKUI at https://www.kukui.com/ Thanks to our Partner, Pit Crew Loyalty You're probably tired of chasing new customers who never return. We understand. Pit Crew Loyalty ends the one-and-done cycle, turning first visits into lasting, reliable revenue at https://www.pitcrewloyalty.com/ Connect with the Podcast: The Automotive Repair Podcast Network:https://automotiverepairpodcastnetwork.com/ Follow on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/RemarkableResultsRadioPodcast/Join Our Private Facebook Community:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1734687266778976Join Our Virtual Toastmasters Club:

The U.S. is at a competitive disadvantage globally when it comes to trade. That's the summary from Dr. Dave Kohl, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Finance and Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship at Virginia Tech. He talks with Bob Bosold about a SWOT ( Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threat) he's conducting on the U.S. He says one of the alarms is the amount of debt the U.S. holds. He also notes the strategic investments that have been made by China to position itself for food into the future. More rain on the way today. Stu Muck says there could be measurable amounts even after a soggy weekend. Stephanie Hoff catches up with Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. Gray Wolves are on their way to being delisted after a great boom in their population that has started to impact livelihoods. I am Ben Jarboe with the Mid-West Farm Report and following this delisting Wisconsin is looking for the best way to manage their population moving forward. This led to the Wolf advisory committee being created. Bob Mitchell a Senior Partner of Spring Creeks Cattle Company was appointed to this committee to give the Wisconsin Cattlemen's association a say in the plan. He shares the concerns he would like to voice to the committee on behalf of the farmers. He says that not only are the attacks a cause of concern, but also the stress on the animals and the cost to prevent them from getting to the herds. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At a certain point in your leadership journey, success isn't about doing more—it's about seeing more. In this episode, Mary Sullivan, a co-founder with Sweet but Fearless talks with Stacey Linderman, CFO Specialist and President of CFO Services, who shares why stepping back is one of the most strategic moves a leader can make. Stacey explores how letting go of day-to-day tasks opens the door to stronger decision-making, bigger-picture thinking, and better use of your team's strengths. Stacey discusses her go-to leadership tool—a tailored SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) approach—and how she uses it to gain clarity, bring in outside perspectives, and navigate change with confidence. As the founder of A6 Financial and Business Optimization, Stacey provides CFO services that go beyond the numbers, offering strategic insights, financial strategies, and operational efficiencies that drive profitability. Her goal is to help businesses achieve financial clarity and sustainable growth. Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe, hit like, and leave a comment—we'd love to hear your thoughts!   MORE ABOUT STACEY LINDERMAN: Website: A6 Financial and Business Optimization LinkedIn: Stacey Linderman ABOUT SWEET BUT FEARLESS: Website - Sweet but Fearless LinkedIn - Sweet but Fearless

This Podcast Is Episode 615, And It's About Valuation Beyond Numbers: Enhancing Your Construction Business Worth When valuing a business, most people think straightforwardly about profits. While financial success is undoubtedly critical, it's far from the only factor determining a business's actual worth. Understanding valuation complexities can offer small business owners and entrepreneurs a clear roadmap for sustainable growth and long-term success.   While financial metrics are undoubtedly important, they do not provide a complete picture of a construction company's worth. For contractors and builders, understanding the nuances of business valuation can pave the way for sustainable growth, effective investments, and successful transitions, whether selling the business or attracting stakeholders.   Here is a fresh perspective on what makes a business truly valuable. We'll discuss traditional valuation metrics, the non-financial factors influencing worth, and practical strategies to enhance value.    The Importance of Business Valuation Business valuation isn't just for companies preparing for sale or investment. It's a powerful tool that helps you understand your business's health and identify areas for improvement. A valuation gives you insight into whether your construction business is structured for long-term sustainability or is at risk of operational inefficiencies, market challenges, or other pitfalls. Think of it this way: knowing your business's valuation is like running a health check. It gives you a snapshot of financial health, considers external factors, and ensures your company is ready to tackle challenges or opportunities that come your way. If valuation isn't already part of your business planning, it's time to make it one. Traditional Valuation Metrics Traditionally, business valuation has relied heavily on financial metrics. Two commonly known approaches include: Earnings multipliers This method involves multiplying a business's annual revenue or profits by a standard industry-specific figure. Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis DCF looks at a business's projected future cash flows and discounts them to present value, providing an estimate that accounts for risk and time. While highly detailed, this method depends heavily on accurate forecasts. These approaches are undoubtedly helpful but don't tell the whole story. A construction business can be profitable yet fail to secure a high valuation due to overlooked non-financial factors. Beyond Profits: The non-financial factors that matter While profits are essential, they're only the beginning of the valuation equation. Non-financial factors can significantly influence how much your business is worth: 1. Market Demand and Competitive Landscape  It's not just about how much profit you generate today—it's about your position in the market. Is the demand for your product or service growing, or is the market becoming saturated? Are competitors innovating faster than you? A future-proof business consistently assesses market trends and adapts to stay relevant. Pro Tip: Conduct regular SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to understand your edge in the market. 2. Operational Risks  Operational risks can make the most profitable contracting business unattractive to potential buyers or investors. For example: Does the business rely heavily on an individual owner, a single key employee, or one major customer?  Are there documented systems and processes, or does the business suffer from inefficiencies?  Think of these risks as red flags that could threaten scalability and sustainability. 3. Reputation and Brand Image  Your brand's reputation isn't just about avoiding bad press—it's a key driver of trust among customers, clients, and partners. Businesses with a loyal customer base and a positive reputation often command higher valuations. Real-Life Example: A one-person remodeling company with a loyal local following may receive a higher valuation than a larger one with profits but poor customer reviews. 4. Innovation and Adaptability  How well does your business innovate? Construction businesses that embrace new technologies and methods are typically more resilient. Failure to adapt to changing technologies or market dynamics can cause even profitable enterprises to stall. Businesses that thrive on creativity invest in Research and Development, are ahead of the curve, and demonstrate resilience, which adds immense value during valuation. Key Question: Is your company actively curious about emerging trends and technologies?  5. Legal and Regulatory Compliance  Compliance isn't just about avoiding lawsuits—it's about showing that your business operates responsibly. Construction companies must comply with a myriad of regulations. A solid compliance record can improve a company's valuation by reducing risks related to potential lawsuits or fines. Demonstrating responsible operations assures buyers that your business is trustworthy. 6. Team Strength and Cohesion  The quality and stability of your workforce can influence valuation. A skilled, experienced, and well-coordinated team enhances productivity and project delivery, making the business more attractive to potential investors or buyers. High employee turnover can signal underlying issues and be a red flag to prospective investors. Warning Sign: Frequent employee turnover can signal a toxic workplace culture, directly impacting valuation. Strategies for maximizing business value To increase valuation, focus on both profitability and these often-overlooked factors: Diversify revenue streams: Reduce reliance on a single product, service, or client to decrease operational risk.  Document processes: Streamline workflows and document systems to make the business more scalable. Build a lasting brand: Invest in customer experience, brand identity, and online presence. A strong brand pays dividends in terms of valuation. Foster a strong team: To retain top talent, provide training, career development opportunities, and a positive workplace culture. Stay innovative: Review and refine your business model regularly to meet changing market needs. The role of innovation, compliance, and team strength True innovation, regulatory compliance, and a skilled team create a synergy that elevates your business value. These three pillars foster trust and sustainability: Innovation keeps you competitive. Compliance helps avoid costly legal issues. Team strength ensures the knowledge and talent needed for long-term growth. Final thoughts Unlock your business's actual value. Valuing a construction business encompasses much more than simply analyzing profits. To truly understand your company's worth, consider financial and non-financial factors. Focusing on market position, operational efficiency, and innovation can enhance your company's valuation and ensure long-term success in the competitive construction industry. Valuing a business is never just about profits. Understanding traditional metrics and exploring non-financial factors can position you for long-term success. Whether you're gearing up to sell or want to ensure your construction business thrives, a balanced approach is key. Want advice to boost your business value? Contact us. We'll help you create a plan tailored to your needs. About The Author: Sharie DeHart, QPA, is the co-founder of Business Consulting And Accounting in Lynnwood, Washington. She is the leading expert in managing outsourced construction bookkeeping and accounting services companies and cash management accounting for small construction companies across the USA. She encourages Contractors and Construction Company Owners to stay current on their tax obligations and offers insights on managing the remaining cash flow to operate and grow their construction company sales and profits so they can put more money in the bank. Call 1-800-361-1770 or sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com  

What do successful presidential candidates, businesspeople, and military generals all have in common? The answer is that none of them go into a campaign without a strategy, without understanding their ultimate goals and the internal and external factors that influence their chances of success. In this week's episode, McKay discusses how having a fully developed and articulated strategy is key in finding success in all areas of your life, and offers sage advice on how to design your own strategy. First up is a discussion of political strategy and how Biden and Trump utilized it in their 2020 presidential campaigns. McKay points out that while Biden's strategy worked better, the point is that, just as no presidential candidate would ever enter a campaign without a strategy, we can't win at life without one either. Instead, using a series of examples including IKEA, the Disney Corporation, and Frank Sinatra, he demonstrates how having a fully developed, properly articulated strategy is key to achieving success. He also introduces SWOT analysis as a tool for examining your personal strengths and weaknesses to reveal your strategic focus. Finally, McKay encourages everybody to approach 2022 in a strategic manner, which will bring new energy and new success as we head into a new year.The Finer Details of This Episode: - The core of every political campaign.- Winning at life.- Comparing goals and tactics with strategies.- The stories of IKEA, Frank Sinatra, Walt Disney, and Tata Motors.- The steps in creating a life strategy.- The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. Quotes: “Our perspective directs our actions, and my hope is that after listening to this podcast, you have a new perspective of yourself, the possibilities in your life, and how you can find your way forward.” “I've spoken to groups about having a strategy for life dozens of times, and each time I asked the question, ‘Do you have a written strategy for life?' I usually get about 10% of the audience who raises their hand.” “A strategy is a dynamic collection of interwoven tactics that enable you to reach and sustain advantage in life.” “You too can create huge advantages in your life if you're living based on a strategy, versus just letting life come to you however it comes to you.” “In business, people buy you long before they buy your product. So what strategy have you put in place to make you more attractive? A strategy to improve you would make all the difference.” “When you look at the external conditions in your life, you may have to make some modifications to your strategy. Perhaps your chosen career isn't working, your daily schedule doesn't allow you to do what matters, or you don't like the group of friends you've inherited, and so forth. It will require some changes. And that's the value of an external analysis.” “One of the interesting things about COVID-19 has been watching how the changing external conditions in our life have caused so many people to adopt new strategies for life. People have reevaluated where they live, they've changed careers or started their own business. In short, external factors matter.” “Once you've considered a few of these factors and completed your analysis, next, you need to start trying on a few strategies. Just like clothes shopping at the department store, you try something on and see how it looks and feels and evaluate it before buying into it.” Show Links: Open Your Eyes with McKay Christensen

Send us a textReady to transform your nonprofit's strategic planning? This episode promises to equip you with practical advice on conducting an effective SWOT analysis, and shows you how even the smallest nonprofits can benefit from this robust but simple tool. Tim and Nathan start the discussion with a fun word association game to ease into the key concepts of SWOT—Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats...followed by breaking down each area with real nonprofit examples.  Discover why dedicating time to strategic planning is critical and how to navigate common pitfalls without complicating the process. Support the showThe Hosts of The Practice of NonProfit Leadership:Tim Barnes serves as the Executive Vice President of International Association for Refugees (IAFR) Nathan Ruby serves as the Executive Director of Friends of the Children of Haiti (FOTCOH) They can be reached at info@practicenpleader.comAll opinions and views expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily represent those of their respective organizations.

Welcome back to The Daily Mastermind with George Wright III, your source for daily inspiration, motivation, and education. Today, we delve deep into the fascinating world of branding and licensing with none other than Kathy Ireland. From her early days as a supermodel to her current status as a business mogul, Kathy offers invaluable lessons on overcoming obstacles, building relationships, and creating a brand that stands the test of time. The Power of Authority Marketing In recent episodes, we've explored various ways to grow your business using authority marketing. Whether through magazines, podcasts, or mobile video technology, establishing your authority can significantly boost your revenue and personal brand. Today, we focus on an exemplary case: Kathy Ireland. As a supermodel turned business mogul, her journey offers profound lessons on branding and licensing. Kathy Ireland: The Brand and the Business Kathy Ireland's transformation from an international supermodel to a successful businesswoman is nothing short of inspiring. I had the privilege of interviewing her for our magazine, Valiant CEO. With over 100,000 monthly readers and peaks reaching up to 700,000, we've featured many celebrities, but Kathy's approach to branding and licensing stands out as particularly impactful. Transitioning from Supermodel to Business Mogul One of the first questions we asked Kathy was about the challenges she faced in transitioning from a supermodel to a business mogul. She emphasized the importance of forming strategic partnerships. According to her, finding the right people is crucial—it's all about people. She has worked with notable figures like Marcus Lemonis from CNBC's "The Profit," who stresses putting people before profits, a principle she strongly believes in. "Finding the right people is crucial. It's all about people," Kathy says. The ability to reach a broader audience through licensing has been monumental in her growth. The process involved collaborating with others, leveraging mutual relationships, and fostering loyalty and recognition. Overcoming Obstacles and Building Resilience Kathy faced numerous rejections in her modeling career, which developed her resilience. She explains that obstacles and rejections fueled her determination rather than defeating her. One of her notable quotes from the interview is, "Anytime you embark on something new, facing opposition is inevitable. Reflecting on my modeling career, one of the greatest gifts was the resilience developed through numerous rejections." This mindset has been crucial in her entrepreneurial journey. She advises that instead of merely trying to overcome obstacles, use them as opportunities to build resilience. Evolving Mindsets in Entrepreneurship We also discussed how Kathy's mindset evolved from the early stages of her entrepreneurial journey to her current endeavors with Kathy Ireland Worldwide. She points out the importance of not letting others' opinions define or destroy you. "Not letting someone else's opinion define or destroy you is critical to not limiting yourself," she says. Setting clear goals and understanding your audience are essential to navigating negative opinions and remaining focused on your objectives. The Cornerstone of Licensing Licensing played a pivotal role in Kathy's brand expansion. She highlights the importance of establishing strong relationships with potential partners, noting that it's as much about partnerships as it is about the licensing model itself. Early Stages and Initial Licensing Deals In discussing her initial licensing deals, Kathy shares a humble beginning with just a pair of socks. Her partnership with John and Marilyn Moritz has been fundamental to their success. Quality products, simplicity, and practical vision were the cornerstones that guided their initial endeavors. Risk Management and Integrity Maintaining brand integrity has been one of Kathy's priorities. She stresses the significance of conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to evaluate risks comprehensively. Financial circumstances should never be an excuse to overlook risk management. "In the world of licensing, just because we can doesn't mean we should," she points out. Kathy's example underscores the importance of aligning deals with your brand values and long-term vision. Passion Drives Success When asked about sectors she is passionate about today, Kathy mentioned her continued interest in fashion, home, and FinTech. However, what excites her most is the privilege of making a difference through her business endeavors. "Success for me is making a difference," she concludes. Final Thoughts: Building Your Personal Brand In wrapping up, I emphasize the importance of building your personal brand and creating authority in the market. Standing out is more challenging than ever, but featuring yourself in magazines, podcasts, and social media can help you build trust and create a lasting impact. Upcoming Topics Join us next time as we explore "10 Communication Strategies for CEOs and Business Owners." Until then, share this post, follow us on social media, and visit our website for more free resources. Have an amazing day!   Engage with us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, or visit DailyMastermind.com for more resources.

Welcome back to The Daily Mastermind with George Wright III, your source for daily inspiration, motivation, and education. Today, we delve deep into the fascinating world of branding and licensing with none other than Kathy Ireland. From her early days as a supermodel to her current status as a business mogul, Kathy offers invaluable lessons on overcoming obstacles, building relationships, and creating a brand that stands the test of time. The Power of Authority Marketing In recent episodes, we've explored various ways to grow your business using authority marketing. Whether through magazines, podcasts, or mobile video technology, establishing your authority can significantly boost your revenue and personal brand. Today, we focus on an exemplary case: Kathy Ireland. As a supermodel turned business mogul, her journey offers profound lessons on branding and licensing. Kathy Ireland: The Brand and the Business Kathy Ireland's transformation from an international supermodel to a successful businesswoman is nothing short of inspiring. I had the privilege of interviewing her for our magazine, Valiant CEO. With over 100,000 monthly readers and peaks reaching up to 700,000, we've featured many celebrities, but Kathy's approach to branding and licensing stands out as particularly impactful. Transitioning from Supermodel to Business Mogul One of the first questions we asked Kathy was about the challenges she faced in transitioning from a supermodel to a business mogul. She emphasized the importance of forming strategic partnerships. According to her, finding the right people is crucial—it's all about people. She has worked with notable figures like Marcus Lemonis from CNBC's "The Profit," who stresses putting people before profits, a principle she strongly believes in. "Finding the right people is crucial. It's all about people," Kathy says. The ability to reach a broader audience through licensing has been monumental in her growth. The process involved collaborating with others, leveraging mutual relationships, and fostering loyalty and recognition. Overcoming Obstacles and Building Resilience Kathy faced numerous rejections in her modeling career, which developed her resilience. She explains that obstacles and rejections fueled her determination rather than defeating her. One of her notable quotes from the interview is, "Anytime you embark on something new, facing opposition is inevitable. Reflecting on my modeling career, one of the greatest gifts was the resilience developed through numerous rejections." This mindset has been crucial in her entrepreneurial journey. She advises that instead of merely trying to overcome obstacles, use them as opportunities to build resilience. Evolving Mindsets in Entrepreneurship We also discussed how Kathy's mindset evolved from the early stages of her entrepreneurial journey to her current endeavors with Kathy Ireland Worldwide. She points out the importance of not letting others' opinions define or destroy you. "Not letting someone else's opinion define or destroy you is critical to not limiting yourself," she says. Setting clear goals and understanding your audience are essential to navigating negative opinions and remaining focused on your objectives. The Cornerstone of Licensing Licensing played a pivotal role in Kathy's brand expansion. She highlights the importance of establishing strong relationships with potential partners, noting that it's as much about partnerships as it is about the licensing model itself. Early Stages and Initial Licensing Deals In discussing her initial licensing deals, Kathy shares a humble beginning with just a pair of socks. Her partnership with John and Marilyn Moritz has been fundamental to their success. Quality products, simplicity, and practical vision were the cornerstones that guided their initial endeavors. Risk Management and Integrity Maintaining brand integrity has been one of Kathy's priorities. She stresses the significance of conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to evaluate risks comprehensively. Financial circumstances should never be an excuse to overlook risk management. "In the world of licensing, just because we can doesn't mean we should," she points out. Kathy's example underscores the importance of aligning deals with your brand values and long-term vision. Passion Drives Success When asked about sectors she is passionate about today, Kathy mentioned her continued interest in fashion, home, and FinTech. However, what excites her most is the privilege of making a difference through her business endeavors. "Success for me is making a difference," she concludes. Final Thoughts: Building Your Personal Brand In wrapping up, I emphasize the importance of building your personal brand and creating authority in the market. Standing out is more challenging than ever, but featuring yourself in magazines, podcasts, and social media can help you build trust and create a lasting impact. Upcoming Topics Join us next time as we explore "10 Communication Strategies for CEOs and Business Owners." Until then, share this post, follow us on social media, and visit our website for more free resources. Have an amazing day!   Engage with us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, or visit DailyMastermind.com for more resources.

Send me a textWelcome back to all our listeners, and a huge thanks for joining us on another episode of the Be Better Tomorrow podcast. I'm your host, Jason Fisher, thrilled to be with you again to explore more ways we can all be better tomorrow than we are today.This week's episode continues our discussion on the necessary yet often misunderstood concept of quitting. If you missed the previous episode (221), where we introduced the idea of quitting not as a failure but as a strategic choice, make sure to check it concisely explained at www.bebettertomorrow.com/221. Remember, quitting can signify strength, help refocus on what truly matters, and can open doors to new opportunities.Our sponsor for today's episode is Audible, an incredible resource with over a quarter of a million audiobooks to help you fill your mind with knowledge, inspiration, and entertainment. Be sure to visit bebettertomorrow.com/Audible  for a free audiobook and discover the wealth of knowledge waiting for you.Key Takeaways from Today's Episode:- Quitting and Opportunity Cost: We delve deeper into the necessity of quitting as a part of strategic personal development, focusing on the concept of opportunity cost. Letting go of less critical activities to focus on ones that drive us towards our true goals.- Self-Assessment and Goal Setting: A crucial part of making informed decisions about quitting involves understanding ourselves better through self-assessment and aligning our actions with our personal and professional goals.- Books and Resources Mentioned:  - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, recommended for insights on starting with the end in mind.  - Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek, for discovering your driving purpose.  - Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi encourages finding passion and interests to get into the "flow" state.- SWOT Analysis: We discussed how to apply the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to your life as a tool for making informed decisions about whether to stick it out or quit. - Looking Forward: Next episode, we'll touch on setting "kill criteria," identifying milestones, and recognizing when stagnation means it's time to move on.Your feedback and questions drive this show. If there's something you're struggling with or want to know more about, reach out to me at jason@bebettertomorrow.com or engage with us on Facebook and Twitter at the Be Better pod.Remember, each episode is designed to offer something valuable for your growth journey. So, if you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with someone who might benefit from our discussions, and don't forget to rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform.Until next time, keep striving, keep learning, and be better tomorrow.Learn more faster with AudibleAudible is one of the largest collections of audio books on the planet. Read anytime you can listenDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Follow me at:https://twitter.com/Bebetterpodcasthttps://www.facebook.com/bebettertomorrowpodcast

In this episode, hosts Brad Schelling and Steve Cherrico dive into the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis that our team collaboratively developed during our recent spring meeting. This comprehensive review highlights key insights and strategic perspectives gathered from our staff, and now shared with you!  Takeaways: The importance of humility and healthy conflict within an organization The significance of collaboration and communication in addressing organizational challenges The mission to take the Hope of Christ to every student in America as a driving force for the organization The need for strategic planning and adaptability to address weaknesses and capitalize on opportunities

Step into the driver's seat and master the art of decision-making today! This episode is a game-changer! Join me as we dive deep into the 10 strategies that will empower you to make decisions with clarity and confidence. I am going to teach you how to SHIFT your thinking from worrying about making the right decisions to focusing on making decisions the right way… You can't control outcomes, but you CAN control your PROCESSES and STRATEGIES to give you the best chance of getting the outcomes you want. You must focus on PROCESS OVER PRIZE. Whether you're facing small choices or major life decisions, the insights from this episode will equip you with the tools to move forward effectively. We're talking about more than just making decisions; we're exploring how to make your decisions work for you, turning potential setbacks into stepping stones for what's next. You'll learn: My 10-Step Process that will guide you in making informed and impactful decisions Discover how approaching decisions with certainty can significantly influence outcomes and boost your confidence Find out why timing is crucial in decision-making and how you can capitalize on the right moments to maximize success Overcome common obstacles like doubt and procrastination that can hinder your decision-making process Learn how to use SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to assess the potential impacts of your decisions Every decision has the power to reshape your destiny. It's time to step into your potential and make choices that align with the life you want to live. Don't miss this opportunity to revolutionize your approach to decision-making and see firsthand how the right strategies can lead to a more fulfilling life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

S3E30 Self-Publishers: Escape the Competition: Use AI to Find Your Perfect Niche and Skyrocket Your Sales! In this episode, Cindy Minear and Tammie Chrin explore the crucial strategy of niching down in self-publishing and how AI can be utilized to pinpoint the most profitable niches for new books. They discuss the advantages of targeting specific audiences, the competitive edge gained from niching down, and the role of AI in analyzing market trends to select the right sub-niche for authors. This engaging dialogue provides practical insights and actionable advice for authors aiming to stand out in a crowded market. Show Notes & Links: Prompt: Conduct a comprehensive Market Research and Analysis for self-publishing of novels in the [your genre] genre with the goal being to identify popular sub-niches. For each sub-niche list: 1. Popularity and growth projections for each: - Estimate the current size of the market. - Analyze historical market growth rates. - Project future market growth and identify potential inflection points. 2. Competitive Landscape: - Identify key competitors in the space. - Assess their market share, strengths, and weaknesses. Understand the level of competition (high/low) 3. Consumer Insights: - Profile the target customer segments for [Your Product/Service]. - Investigate consumer preferences, behaviors, and trends. - Explore price sensitivity and willingness to pay for specialized features. 4. SWOT Analysis: Conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis Please provide a summary of findings, key action points, and recommend 5 sub-niches to publish for that will be profitable.

Thanks to our Partner, NAPA TRACS and AutoFix Auto Shop Coaching A deep dive into the SWOT analysis of our industry with a panel of shop owners.  As we navigate the evolving automotive landscape, it's crucial to turn threats into opportunities, revving up for success. Andy Fiffick, CEO Rad Air, 10-locations, franchise. Listen to Andy's other episodes HERE Greg Bunch, Aspen Auto Clinic, Transformers Institute. Listen to Greg's previous episodes HERE. Brian Sump, Avalon Motor Sports, and Urban Auto Care, CO. Brian's previous episodes HERE Watch Full Video Episode The Concept of Mastermind (00:01:58) Discussion on the concept of mastermind, its origins, and its application in the automotive industry. The Role of Independent Repair Shops (00:02:47) The nimbleness and expertise of independent repair shops compared to dealership networks, and the need for better public perception. Challenges of Independent Repair Shops (00:04:49) The weaknesses and challenges faced by independent repair shops, including the lack of unified marketing efforts and lobbying. Perception and Marketing of the Industry (00:09:16) The need for greater respect and recognition for the automotive aftermarket industry, and the importance of effective marketing strategies. Courage and Self-Respect (00:12:36) The courage and self-respect required to succeed in the automotive industry, along with the need for transformation in mindset. Advancements in the Industry (00:14:35) The industry's progress and advancements, challenges faced by smaller independent shops, and the industry's value and fragmentation. Image and Perception of Independent Shops (00:16:25) The importance of image, modernization, and professionalism in independent repair shops to build trust and attract customers. Training Engagement (00:17:15) Discussion on the importance of owners engaging in training with employees and setting an example. Shop Management System (00:17:49) Importance of a shop management system for profitability and efficiency, and the support and training offered by NAPA TRACS. Auto Shop Coaching (00:18:00) The benefits of Auto Shop Coaching in redefining success and efficiency within a shop, and the importance of accountability. Owners' Involvement in Training (00:21:03) The importance of owners attending training classes and being involved in the learning process to understand and support their employees. Challenges in Attracting Talent (00:23:36) Discussion on the challenges of attracting and retaining young talent in the automotive industry. Opportunities in Change (00:28:07) The positive aspects of change, embracing new technology, and being first to market with innovative equipment. Industry Opportunities (00:29:58) Discussion on the opportunities for growth and impact in the...

The "Telescopic Observation" provides an insightful overview of a strategic framework designed to enhance the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis by offering a more structured approach to examining an organization's internal and external environments. It emphasizes the need for a more focused, inclusive, and systematic methodology to better understand business environments and strategically plan for success. The framework, developed in mid-1999, has been tested across various organizational settings, proving its utility in bringing distant or complex aspects into closer, more analyzable view, akin to a telescope. This process involves a dual-matrix system that functions like a funnel, gathering and filtering information for effective analysis and strategy formulation, highlighting its innovative approach to strategic planning. ************ About the Show The Defenders of Business Value Podcast combines nearly 31 years of valuation and exit planning expertise working with business owners. Ed Mysogland has a mission and vision to help business owners understand the value of their business and make it a salable asset. Most of the small business owner's net worth is locked in the company, and to unlock it, a business owner has to sell it. Unfortunately, the odds are against business owners that they won't be able to sell their companies because they don't know what creates a saleable asset. Ed interviews experts who help business owners prepare, build, preserve, and one-day transfer value with the sale of the business.   ************ For past guests, please visit https://www.defendersofbusinessvalue.com/ Follow Ed: Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/defenders-of-business-value Twitter: https://twitter.com/sellabizpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defendersofbusinessvalue/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bvdefenders  

We have over 18 years experience of implementing various ISO's, covering a wide range of topics such as Quality, Sustainability, Information Security and Risk. With a 100% success rate, we're confident in our consistent approach to implementing ISO's, so much so that we've coined our own unique methodology.   Our regular listeners may be familiar with the term ‘isology' from previous episodes referencing our online platform – the isologyhub. But what is isology exactly? Put simply, isology is our 7-step method for implementing any ISO Standard. Join Mel this week as she breaks down each of the 7 steps, including the planning, creation and review of an ISO Management System. You'll learn ·       Our experience implementing ISO's ·       The origin of isology ·       What is isology? ·       The seven steps of isology   Resources ·       Isologyhub ·       Isology synopsis   In this episode, we talk about: [00:25] Episode Summary – Mel Blackmore will be explaining our world leading methodology to implement any ISO Standard, which we've affectionately named ‘Isology'. [00:45] The creation of isology: We've been implementing ISO Standards for 18 years, starting with ISO 9001 and have since expanded our repertoire to over 20 ISO Standards covering risk, sustainability, quality and Information Security. The creation of the isology methodology has been a team effort from all of the consultants who have worked with Blackmores over the years, and is primarily built on best practice. [01:35] Step 1: Plan – Get a copy of the Standard, determine your scope, timescales, leadership commitment, resources and selecting a Certification Body. Timescales: This is typically around 6 months, but could be longer or shorter depending on your specific requirements. Resources: As an example, if you were looking to obtain ISO 14001 certification, you may need to appoint a sustainability champion. For ISO 27001 you'll need a representative from the IT department. Selecting a Certification Body: Ensure whichever Certification Body you choose is UKAS accredited. You can check this on the UKAS website. International listeners will need to verify on your country's national accreditation body website.   [03:45] Step 2: Discover – Time to understand what you have in place already and what you're missing – this is done through a Gap Analysis. This will often involve an initial meeting with the leadership team to establish what you already have in place, i.e. relevant policies and procedures or any relevant objectives. We break this down step-by-step and document it all in a Gap Analysis, which will deduce your current level of compliance. From this an action plan can be created to indicate what needs to be done to become fully compliant, including assigning roles to assist with the Implementation. [05:30] Step 3: Expose - This is where we look at risks and opportunities related to your desired Standard (both internally and externally). This is typically done through a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) and PESTLE (Policital, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Ethical). In this stage you will also need to understand the key requirements of any relevant stakeholders, so this can include clients, subcontractors, regulatory bodies ect. A Risk Register may be created to capture the findings to be addressed later. Some ISO's require a Risk Register, others don't, but in our experience it's beneficial to have one regardless. Companies are also encouraged to create a Legal Register to keep track of all their statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements. [07:50] Step 4: Create – Time to review the requirements of the Standard in terms of documentation – and create what's needed. This includes capturing your way of working with documented Procedures, so make sure you have the relevant staff involved in their creation. Something to remember, you can have additional policy statements that aren't required by the Standard. If they are important to you, add them in! We're in a modern age now, gone are the days of paper manuals gathering dust on an office shelf. Software and applications may be where the bulk of your Management System documentation lives. For example, at Blackmores we use a combination of Monday.com and SharePoint to manage all of our day-to-day activities, including our own ISO 9001 compliant Management System. The key here is to make your Management System accessible for everyone. [10:20] Step 5: Launch  – Once the Management System has found its home, you need to communicate it. Consider the type of launch you want and who will be involved. Make sure you encourage engagement with the Management System. Why should you Launch your Management System? Quite simply, there isn't much point in having controls in your business if no one knows about them! We have 2 key ways of supporting you with the launch of your Management system: 1)    We can run an awareness session on your Management System either in person or via Teams. It can then be recorded and used as refresher / induction training. 2)    Get access to the isologyhub – out online platform with a suite of over 200 ISO courses, training, tools and templates. [12:15] Step 6: Engage - After the launch you want to ensure that employees are fully engaged and they actually not only are aware of the policies and procedures that you've got in place, but they're actively using them. The only way to verify this is through Internal Audits – that's not just our opinion, that's a mandatory requirement of any ISO Standard. We can assist with conducting these Internal Audits, which double up as a dummy run ahead of your assessment visits. These audits are essentially a show and tell exercise to gather evidence that you're doing what you say your doing. [13:55] Step 7: Review - Time to take a step back and look at what's been achieved and what's been highlighted as areas for improvement through your Internal Audits. This is done at what we call a Management Review. These are typically conducted as meetings, but they don't have to be a meeting specifically. We've done a podcast covering other ways to conduct this review. At this Management Review you will collate data on the performance of your business in relation to the ISO Standard. The minutes must be recorded, as your Assessor will expect to see these as it's a mandatory requirement of any ISO Standard. If you'd like to learn more about what's involved with a Stage 1 and 2 Assessment, go back and listen to a previous episode. If you'd like to book a demo for the isologyhub, simply contact us and we'd be happy to give you a tour. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ●      Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ●      Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Academic Research   Researchers Use GPT-4 To Generate Feedback on Scientific Manuscripts https://hai.stanford.edu/news/researchers-use-gpt-4-generate-feedback-scientific-manuscripts https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.01783 Two episodes ago I shared the news that for some major scientific publications, it's okay to write papers with ChatGPT, but not to review them. But… Combining a large language model and open-source peer-reviewed scientific papers, researchers at Stanford built a tool they hope can help other researchers polish and strengthen their drafts. Scientific research has a peer problem. There simply aren't enough qualified peer reviewers to review all the studies. This is a particular challenge for young researchers and those at less well-known institutions who often lack access to experienced mentors who can provide timely feedback. Moreover, many scientific studies get “desk rejected” — summarily denied without peer review. James Zou, and his research colleagues, were able to test using GPT-4 against human reviews 4,800 real Nature + ICLR papers. It found AI reviewers overlap with human ones as much as humans overlap with each other, plus, 57% of authors find them helpful and 83% said it beats at least one of their real human reviewers.     Academic Writing with GPT-3.5 (ChatGPT): Reflections on Practices, Efficacy and Transparency https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3616961.3616992 Oz Buruk, from Tampere University in Finland, published a paper giving some really solid advice (and sharing his prompts) for getting ChatGPT to help with academic writing. He uncovered 6 roles: Chunk Stylist Bullet-to-Paragraph Talk Textualizer Research Buddy Polisher Rephraser He includes examples of the results, and the prompts he used for it. Handy for people who want to use ChatGPT to help them with their writing, without having to resort to trickery     Considerations for Adapting Higher Education Technology Course for AI Large Language Models: A Critical Review of the Impact of ChatGPT https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/machine-learning-with-applications/articles-in-press This is a journal pre-proof from the Elsevier journal "Machine Learning with Applications", and takes a look at how ChatGPT might impact assessment in higher education. Unfortunately it's an example of how academic publishing can't keep up with the rate of technology change, because the four academics from University of Prince Mugrin who wrote this submitted it on 31 May, and it's been accepted into the Journal in November - and guess what? Almost everything in the paper has changed. They spent 13 of the 24 pages detailing exactly which assessment questions ChatGPT 3 got right or wrong - but when I re-tested it on some sample questions, it got nearly all correct. They then tested AI Detectors - and hey, we both know that's since changed again, with the advice that none work. And finally they checked to see if 15 top universities had AI policies. It's interesting research, but tbh would have been much, much more useful in May than it is now. And that's a warning about some of the research we're seeing. You need to really check carefully about whether the conclusions are still valid - eg if they don't tell you what version of OpenAI's models they've tested, then the conclusions may not be worth much. It's a bit like the logic we apply to students "They've not mastered it…yet"     A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis of ChatGPT in the Medical Literature: Concise Review https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e49368/ They looked at 160 papers published on PubMed in the first 3 months of ChatGPT up to the end of March 2023 - and the paper was written in May 2023, and only just published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. I'm pretty sure that many of the results are out of date - for example, it specifically lists unsuitable uses for ChatGPT including "writing scientific papers with references, composing resumes, or writing speeches", and that's definitely no longer the case.     Emerging Research and Policy Themes on Academic Integrity in the Age of Chat GPT and Generative AI https://ajue.uitm.edu.my/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/12-Maria.pdf This paper, from a group of researchers in the Philippines, was written in August. The paper referenced 37 papers, and then looked at the AI policies of the 20 top QS Rankings universities, especially around academic integrity & AI. All of this helped the researchers create a 3E Model - Enforcing academic integrity, Educating faculty and students about the responsible use of AI, and Encouraging the exploration of AI's potential in academia.   Can ChatGPT solve a Linguistics Exam? https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2311/2311.02499.pdf If you're keeping track of the exams that ChatGPT can pass, then add to it linguistics exams, as these researchers from the universities of Zurich & Dortmund, came  to the conclusion that, yes, chatgpt can pass the exams, and said "Overall, ChatGPT reaches human-level competence and         performance without any specific training for the task and has performed similarly to the student cohort of that year on a first-year linguistics exam" (Bonus points for testing its understanding of a text about Luke Skywalker and unmapped galaxies)   And, I've left the most important research paper to last: Math Education with Large Language Models: Peril or Promise? https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4641653 Researchers at University of Toronto and Microsoft Research have published a paper that is the first large scale, pre-registered controlled experiment using GPT-4, and that looks at Maths education. It basically studied the use of Large Language Models as personal tutors. In the experiment's learning phase, they gave participants practice problems and manipulated two key factors in a between-participants design: first, whether they were required to attempt a problem before or after seeing the correct answer, and second, whether participants were shown only the answer or were also exposed to an LLM-generated explanation of the answer. Then they test participants on new test questions to assess how well they had learned the underlying concepts. Overall they found that LLM-based explanations positively impacted learning relative to seeing only correct answers. The benefits were largest for those who attempted problems on their own first before consulting LLM explanations, but surprisingly this trend held even for those participants who were exposed to LLM explanations before attempting to solve practice problems on their own. People said they learn more when they were given explanations, and thought the subsequent test was easier They tried it using standard GPT-4 and got a 1-3 standard deviation improvement; and using a customised GPT got a 1 1/2 - 4 standard deviation improvement. In the tests, that was basically the difference between getting a 50% score and a 75% score. And the really nice bonus in the paper is that they shared the prompt's they used to customise the LLM This is the one paper out of everything I've read in the last two months that I'd recommend everybody listening to read.       News on Gen AI in Education   About 1 in 5 U.S. teens who've heard of ChatGPT have used it for schoolwork https://policycommons.net/artifacts/8245911/about-1-in-5-us/9162789/ Some research from the Pew Research Center in America says 13% of all US teens have used it in their schoolwork - a quarter of all 11th and 12th graders, dropping to 12% of 7th and 8th graders. This is American data, but pretty sure it's the case everywhere.     UK government has published 2 research reports this week. Their Generative AI call for evidence had over 560  responses from all around the education system and is informing UK future policy design. https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/generative-artificial-intelligence-in-education-call-for-evidence     One data point right at the end of the report was that 78% of people said they, or their institution, used generative AI in an educational setting   Two-thirds of respondents reported a positive result or impact from using genAI. Of the rest, they were divided between 'too early to tell', a bit of +positive and a bit of negative, and some negative - mainly around cheating by students and low-quality outputs.   GenAI is being used by educators for creating personalized teaching resources and assisting in lesson planning and administrative tasks. One Director of teaching and learning said "[It] makes lesson planning quick with lots of great ideas for teaching and learning" Teachers report GenAI as a time-saver and an enhancer of teaching effectiveness, with benefits also extending to student engagement and inclusivity. One high school principal said "Massive positive impacts already. It marked coursework that would typically take 8-13 hours in 30 minutes (and gave feedback to students). " Predominant uses include automating marking, providing feedback, and supporting students with special needs and English as an additional language.   The goal for more teachers is to free up more time for high-impact instruction.     Respondents reported five broad challenges that they had experienced in adopting GenAI: • User knowledge and skills - this was the major thing - people feeling the need for more help to use GenAI effectively • Performance of tools - including making stuff up • Workplace awareness and attitudes • Data protection adherence • Managing student use • Access   However, the report also highlight common worries - mainly around AI's tendency to generate false or unreliable information. For History, English and language teachers especially, this could be problematic when AI is used for assessment and grading   There are three case studies at the end of the report - a college using it for online formative assessment with real-time feedback; a high school using it for creating differentiated lesson resources; and a group of 57 schools using it in their learning management system.   The Technology in Schools survey The UK government also did The Technology in Schools survey which gives them information about how schools in England specifically are set up for using technology and will help them make policy to level the playing field on use of tech in education which also brings up equity when using new tech like GenAI. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technology-in-schools-survey-report-2022-to-2023 This is actually a lot of very technical stuff about computer infrastructure but the interesting table I saw was Figure 2.7, which asked teachers which sources they most valued when choosing which technology to use. And the list, in order of preference was: Other teachers Other schools Research bodies Leading practitioners (the edu-influencers?) Leadership In-house evaluations Social media Education sector publications/websites Network, IT or Business Managers Their Academy Strust   My take is that the thing that really matters is what other teachers think - but they don't find out from social media, magazines or websites   And only 1 in 5 schools have an evaluation plan for monitoring effectiveness of technology.       Australian uni students are warming to ChatGPT. But they want more clarity on how to use it https://theconversation.com/australian-uni-students-are-warming-to-chatgpt-but-they-want-more-clarity-on-how-to-use-it-218429 And in Australia, two researchers - Jemma Skeat from Deakin Uni and Natasha Ziebell from Melbourne Uni published some feedback from surveys of university students and academics, and found in the period June-November this year, 82% of students were using generative AI, with 25% using it in the context of university learning, and 28% using it for assessments. One third of first semester student agreed generative AI would help them learn, but by the time they got to second semester, that had jumped to two thirds There's a real divide that shows up between students and academics. In the first semester 2023, 63% of students said they understood its limitations - like hallucinations  and 88% by semester two. But in academics, it was just 14% in semester one, and barely more - 16% - in semester two   22% of students consider using genAI in assessment as cheating now, compared to 72% in the first semester of this year!! But both academics and students wanted clarify on the rules - this is a theme I've seen across lots of research, and heard from students The Semester one report is published here: https://education.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/4677040/Generative-AI-research-report-Ziebell-Skeat.pdf     Published 20 minutes before we recorded the podcast, so more to come in a future episode:   The AI framework for Australian schools was released this morning. https://www.education.gov.au/schooling/announcements/australian-framework-generative-artificial-intelligence-ai-schools The Framework supports all people connected with school education including school leaders, teachers, support staff, service providers, parents, guardians, students and policy makers. The Framework is based on 6 guiding principles: Teaching and Learning  Human and Social Wellbeing Transparency Fairness Accountability Privacy, Security and Safety The Framework will be implemented from Term 1 2024. Trials consistent with these 6 guiding principles are already underway across jurisdictions. A key concern for Education Ministers is ensuring the protection of student privacy. As part of implementing the Framework, Ministers have committed $1 million for Education Services Australia to update existing privacy and security principles to ensure students and others using generative AI technology in schools have their privacy and data protected. The Framework was developed by the National AI in Schools Taskforce, with representatives from the Commonwealth, all jurisdictions, school sectors, and all national education agencies - Educational Services Australia (ESA), Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), and Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO).

In this seminar we will learn how to use a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis to evaluate future plans in English. We will study language of probability and look at vocabulary related to science and technology.

On this episode of the podcast, we take a deep dive into the comparisons between former President Donald Trump and current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis using the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis methodology.   We start by examining the strengths of both Trump and DeSantis. What unique qualities and accomplishments have made them successful in their respective careers? From there, we explore their weaknesses and the areas where they may be vulnerable to criticism or opposition.   Next, we examine the opportunities that each leader has to grow their influence and impact. What challenges are they currently facing, and how can they leverage their strengths to overcome them? Finally, we explore the threats that they face and the potential roadblocks that could hinder their future success.   By using the SWOT analysis to compare Trump and DeSantis, we gain a comprehensive understanding of their leadership styles and their potential to shape the future of American politics. We also examine the wider implications of their actions and how they could impact the national political landscape.   If you're interested in politics, leadership, or the future of America, this episode is a must-listen!

We're back and coming in hot! On this episode we get through the last couple of days since the election before we get into the first of several deeps dives! We start with a look at the election itself before presenting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the NDP campaign that we've been putting together with conversations with experts for the last couple of weeks! From there we get into our open mic and the anxiety that many are experiencing with the election of Smith and the re-election of the UCP before Ziad Fazel breaks down what we know about the arena deal and how badly taxpayers are apparently getting taken advantage of which also sees a surprise appearance and commentary from Jeromy Farkas! It's possibly our longest episode yet, but we cover A LOT of ground! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab. If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at at @thebreakdownab

Joe Pici was the very first guest on The Clarity Advisors Show, and he returns for the first episode of 2023. Joe is a master sales trainer and coach who teaches his clients how to book more appointments and close more business. In this episode, Joe talks with host Ken Trupke about his “Strategic Momentum Intensive” coaching with its three-pronged approach to helping businesses and teams focus on what they need to do to succeed in the upcoming year. Episode HighlightsJoe's “Strategic Momentum Intensive” coaching sessions. The importance of a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Based) goals and establishing milestones on the road to success. Timestamps(01:11): What is “Strategic Momentum Intensive” coaching?(01:56): Start with a “reverse SWOT” analysis.(09:29): Establish SMART, quantifiable goals.(13:19): The importance of milestones.(15:00): Make sure everybody's goals are aligned.(20:40): Client success stories.(27:41): Get a complimentary cup of Joe. Episode Quotes“Good salespeople sell. Great salespeople sell profit margin.” (Joe)“You don't compromise goals. If you're going to compromise goals, don't set them.” (Joe)“The secret to 2023 is hidden in the areas you've got to get better at, and your opportunities.” (Joe)“When you up your game, you may work more.” (Joe)Recommended ListeningThe Sales Edge Podcast with Joe PiciThe Clarity Advisors Show – Episode 1 with guest Joe PiciFollow/Connect with Joe PiciPhone: 407-947-2950Text “Sales Edge” to 55678joe@piciandpici.comJoe Pici on LinkedInpiciandpici.comsellmorevirtually.com

In this episode you will learn the 4-step process to get the best out of your branding efforts.  Social selling and the power it can provide  - Tweaking your profile that tells the story you need it to - Your prospects and anyone to that you meet will be checking out your LinkedIn Profile - Aligning your message with what your product offering provides. Four-step process 1. Skills Gap Workbook – what do you want to accomplish 2. Review your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) for your business 3. Fully defined Target Market demographics 4. Recommendations to fill the gaps of what has been identified. This process is important for any business – small to large. - Ideation of where your business is and if it aligns with your mission and values. - New businesses will get a leg up in building a successful company. - Existing businesses who are developing a new product that is going to market. - This process will work with any industry focus. - Repurpose your content to attract prospects. Tools that assist you building your brand: - InMail feature in LinkedIn - Events on LinkedIn - StreamMart - Grammarly - Audacity for podcasts - Canva Connect with Grant via LinkedIn. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go. 

ASupercars in 2009 was beginning it journey to Car of the Future, and it took a good hard look at itself undertaking a SWOT analysis of the business. SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is a framework used to evaluate a company's competitive position and to develop strategic planning. On this show we look at what were defined as the strengths of the category, and how that looks in 2022.

ASupercars in 2009 was beginning it journey to Car of the Future, and it took a good hard look at itself undertaking a SWOT analysis of the business. SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is a framework used to evaluate a company's competitive position and to develop strategic planning. On this show we look at what were defined as the strengths of the category, and how that looks in 2022.

So you created an app. But can you sell it totally on your own, or should you make it available on the most popular marketplaces: the App store, Play store, etc?  What do you have to gain? What do you have to lose?  Today, we run a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis for independent […] The post MBA1972 Should You Offer Your Product in an App Store + Free Ride Friday appeared first on The $100 MBA.

So you created an app. But can you sell it totally on your own, or should you make it available on the most popular marketplaces: the App store, Play store, etc?  What do you have to gain? What do you have to lose?  Today, we run a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis for independent […] The post MBA1972 Should You Offer Your Product in an App Store + Free Ride Friday appeared first on The $100 MBA.

What do successful presidential candidates, businesspeople, and military generals all have in common? The answer is that none of them go into a campaign without a strategy, without understanding their ultimate goals and the internal and external factors that influence their chances of success. In this week's episode, McKay discusses how having a fully developed and articulated strategy is key in finding success in all areas of your life, and offers sage advice on how to design your own strategy.  First up is a discussion of political strategy and how Biden and Trump utilized it in their 2020 presidential campaigns. McKay points out that while Biden's strategy worked better, the point is that, just as no presidential candidate would ever enter a campaign without a strategy, we can't win at life without one either. Instead, using a series of examples including IKEA, the Disney Corporation, and Frank Sinatra, he demonstrates how having a fully developed, properly articulated strategy is key to achieving success. He also introduces SWOT analysis as a tool for examining your personal strengths and weaknesses to reveal your strategic focus. Finally, McKay encourages everybody to approach 2022 in a strategic manner, which will bring new energy and new success as we head into a new year. The Finer Details of This Episode: -        The core of every political campaign. -   Winning at life. -   Comparing goals and tactics with strategies. -   The stories of IKEA, Frank Sinatra, Walt Disney, and Tata Motors. -   The steps in creating a life strategy. -   The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis.   Quotes:   “Our perspective directs our actions, and my hope is that after listening to this podcast, you have a new perspective of yourself, the possibilities in your life, and how you can find your way forward.”   “I've spoken to groups about having a strategy for life dozens of times, and each time I asked the question, ‘Do you have a written strategy for life?' I usually get about 10% of the audience who raises their hand.”   “A strategy is a dynamic collection of interwoven tactics that enable you to reach and sustain advantage in life.”   “You too can create huge advantages in your life if you're living based on a strategy, versus just letting life come to you however it comes to you.”   “In business, people buy you long before they buy your product. So what strategy have you put in place to make you more attractive? A strategy to improve you would make all the difference.”   “When you look at the external conditions in your life, you may have to make some modifications to your strategy. Perhaps your chosen career isn't working, your daily schedule doesn't allow you to do what matters, or you don't like the group of friends you've inherited, and so forth. It will require some changes. And that's the value of an external analysis.”   “One of the interesting things about COVID-19 has been watching how the changing external conditions in our life have caused so many people to adopt new strategies for life. People have reevaluated where they live, they've changed careers or started their own business. In short, external factors matter.”   “Once you've considered a few of these factors and completed your analysis, next, you need to start trying on a few strategies. Just like clothes shopping at the department store, you try something on and see how it looks and feels and evaluate it before buying into it.”   Show Links:   https://www.audible.com/pd/Podcast/B08JJMDXHL (Open Your Eyes with McKay Christensen)  

Mentors Help You GrowMentors can be assigned or you can seek them out. But what value do they provide?Mentors can help you identify your weaknesses and put plans together to improve upon them. You may know your strengths, but you might be overlooking areas where you fall short. Mentors can help you grow through regular meetings.Many times, the mentor-mentee relationship provides value in both directions. This is typically called co-mentoring. It's a great way to give and receive - you both benefit.If you'd like to learn more about how mentoring works and some areas you might want to explore, you should tune in to today's episode. We als explore the SWOT acronym - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Check it out!Chapters[00:33]Mentors can be friends or colleagues. It could be a local or long-distance relationship, in person or virtually.[02:10]When seeking a mentor, you might learn you have something to give back, as well. That means you're in a co-mentoring relationship.  [03:42]Seeking out a mentor is a positive sign of growth.[05:30]Everybody has several strengths and at least one weakness.  [06:53]Once you've successfully turned a weakness into a strength don't stop there!  [07:36]Feedback can hurt, make sure you take it constructively. What if you're told you have a lot of stutter or filler words?  [07:56]When you get put on the spot you respond loudly and defensively.  [09:34]As your weaknesses change because you're improving upon them, you can ask for help to grow in other areas.  [11:33]In addition to strengths and weaknesses, there are two more areas to watch out for. The last two come from SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.[13:58]The final piece of SWOT is T, which stands for Threats. Do you know where your threats could come from?[15:00]After you've grown, focus on future areas to improve. If you can't think of any, envision being questioned during an interview for a leadership position.Mentioned LinksCGME: Episode 51 - Powerfully Placed Pauses - Improve your listening skills today!CGME: Episode 55 - Getting Rid of Um, Ah...Filler WordsMy new Cover Letter Master Class is out!Coupled with my Resume Master Class it's a winning combination.You no longer need to skip job postings that require cover letters.Get lifetime access to create, update, or redesign your cover letter and resume.Visit craigancel.com and grab your Cover Letter and Resume Master Class bundle today!

#208: How do you choose investment opportunities? What do you look for when entering into an investment deal? There are many things to consider when investing, one of which is making sure that you invest in something you understand and are passionate about.  Today's episode brings back Steve Libman, a managing partner of Integrity Holdings Group, host of the https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free-from-wall-street/id1479043554 (Free From Wall Street podcast), and a member of the Forbes NY business council. Steve first appeared on the show back in July 2019 to talk about investing in self-storage facilities. Now, he will share how he shifted his focus to a different asset class as he learned more about his Investor DNA. So tune in and learn how to find the right investment opportunity that will give you the best chance of success.  Listen to Steve's previous episode: Episode 95: How to Become Recession-Resistant by Investing in Self-Storage Real Estate w/Steven Libman: https://www.wealthwithoutwallstreet.com/podcast/how-to-invest-in-the-self-storage-real-estate-space-w-steven-libman (https://www.wealthwithoutwallstreet.com/podcast/how-to-invest-in-the-self-storage-real-estate-space-w-steven-libman)   Top 3 Things You'll Learn:  Three critical factors to consider when managing other people's money Things to look out for when evaluating investment opportunities How to do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats, Opportunities) analysis   About Our Guest: Steve Libman is a managing partner of Integrity Holdings Group, a real estate investment company involved in sourcing and executing value-add commercial opportunities. Integrity Holdings Group and its numerous partnerships connect and deploy capital into fixed, steady, asset-secured returns that create predictable cash flow. Integrity Holdings Group and its partners currently own and operate over 2k units valued at 150MM in assets. Steve is also the host of the https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free-from-wall-street/id1479043554 (Free From Wall Street podcast) and a member of the Forbes NY business council.  Connect with Steve and Integrity Holdings Group: Website: https://integrityhg.com/ (https://integrityhg.com/) Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/IntegrityHG (https://web.facebook.com/IntegrityHG)

We here at the OTB studios want to ask you a question that could be slightly uncomfortable: do you have a business plan as a real estate agent? If not, don't worry, it's something that even Bernie and Steve haven't worked on in the past, but the past is the past and honestly, it's long past time to get one started!   Like Bernie says in the episode, having a business plan is sort of like having a business constitution. It's a document that asks questions of you to determine what kind of person you want to project to the world and what you're looking for by going into business for yourself. It's also about keeping yourself accountable; not necessarily toward the production goals you have for yourself, but the overall goals you have for yourself, and having them written down on a document can help you revisit those goals to see where you're at.   In the podcast we go over these questions to help build out your business plan, but here they are laid out for ease of use:   Identify who you are as a Realtor. Know who you are and who you're not.   Identify who your Ideal Customers are. What customer base would you ideally be serving?   Analyze your current Real Estate Market. What is the current state of things, what are the trends?   Analyze your Competition. Who is in the market with you and how do you fit in?   Decide What Services You'll Provide. Exactly what will you be bringing to the current market?   Conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Take a deep dive into who you are.   Determine Financial, Personal, and Growth Goals. Create the thought process on where you want to be in certain amounts of time.   You can download a template real estate business plan at these websites:   https://www.zillow.com/agent-resources/agent-toolkit/real-estate-business-plan-template/   https://www.tomferry.com/articles/what-is-a-real-estate-business-plan/   Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Send us a message at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

Leo discusses how to effectively self-analyze ourselves in those moments between stress and overwhelm. If you want go from feeling hopeless to hopeful, lonely to connected and like a burden to a blessing, then go to 1-on-1 coaching, go to www.thrivewithleo.com. Let's get to tomorrow, together. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline800-273-TALK [800-273-8255]1-800-SUICIDE [800-784-2433]Teen Line (Los Angeles)800-852-8336The Trevor Project (LGBTQ Youth Hotline)866-488-7386National Domestic Violence Hotline800-799-SAFE [800-799-7233]Crisis Text LineText "Connect" to 741741 in the USALifeline Chathttps://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/International Suicide Hotlines: http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.htmlhttps://www.nowmattersnow.org/skillshttps://sobermeditations.libsyn.com/ www.suicidesafetyplan.com https://scaa.club/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I wrote this post back in December as we were closing out 2020. December is a great time to conduct an end-of-year SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) self-analysis. Truthfully, you can do a SWOT self-analysis at any time of the year, you don't have to wait until December. Doing them quarterly is a great idea. Right now is a great time to do an end-of-year self-analysis. I am going to give you a few ways to conduct a SWOT self-analysis. I conduct a SWOT self-analysis to take an inventory of my life. Looking at different aspects of my life to see where I became better, stayed the same, and where I'm worse off. Some of the areas that I look at are my goals, my plan, my education, and my expenses. In each area, I evaluate my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

I wrote this post back in December as we were closing out 2020. December is a great time to conduct an end-of-year SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) self-analysis. Truthfully, you can do a SWOT self-analysis at any time of the year, you don't have to wait until December. Doing them quarterly is a great idea. Right now is a great time to do an end-of-year self-analysis. I am going to give you a few ways to conduct a SWOT self-analysis. I conduct a SWOT self-analysis to take an inventory of my life. Looking at different aspects of my life to see where I became better, stayed the same, and where I'm worse off. Some of the areas that I look at are my goals, my plan, my education, and my expenses. In each area, I evaluate my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Thankfully, business is booming again and everyone has plenty of work these days! Today,  I share with you how to increase your profits so that you're not one of the 80% of contractors who go out of business within the first five years. The secret is NOT in getting more leads, it's in keeping up with your gross profit margin. Listen in as I help break it down for you, and share my process for the all-important mid-year review. This will help you see where you stand financially and figure out how to finish off the year more profitably. What you'll hear in this episode: The gross profit margin is the #1 thing you should be looking at. Your sales for each job, minus your direct costs (labor, materials, permits, etc.) is how you figure your gross profit margin. Your rent payment, truck payment, cell phone, and employees are examples of your overhead expenses. You should also be paying yourself a 10% salary as an overhead item! Your gross profit margin covers these overhead expenses, INCLUDING your salary. Running a good business means paying your overhead expenses and reinvesting into the business with your net profit. Hiring great team members and investing in a focused marketing program are two excellent examples that get great results. I teach the business end of the roofing business. Are you looking for a coach? This is also a great way of reinvesting into your business. If your close rate is about 50%, you're not charging enough money. Differentiate yourself by adding value and you can sell your work for higher prices. My overview of the mid-year review: get everyone involved! And start by dusting off your 1-Page Business Plan. Start at the end and reverse engineer: what's your destination? Take a hard look at the kind of customers we want to do business with. Focus down on the elevator pitch. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Operations: sell work, do work, and keep score. Having systems and processes in place that aren't reliant on you. Action - what's the one thing that will make the biggest impact on your business? The view. Keep an eye on what I've detailed and make your adjustments along the way. You'll be able to grow your business, make more money, and have more free time. Don't forget to enjoy the journey!   Resources / Links: Check Out My NEW Website: The Roofer Coach Download My FREE 1-Page Business Plan Text Me @ (510) 612-1450 – Say Hi! I would love to hear your feedback, pros & cons! **Please leave me a review on iTunes!** ~Please Share My Podcast With Other Contractors~ THE ROOFER SHOW SPONSOR INFO: Need Help Answering the Phone Or Online Chat? Use Ruby Receptionists!! Find Out How They Can Help Bring In Leads!! Click here and use the code Roofer50 for a special $50 discount! https://www.callruby.com/roofershow Or Call Ruby at (844) 326-7829 Check out the app!! My Listeners Get a 21-Day Money-Back Guarantee!

Now, as it usually happens… during the first 1 kilometer, (and maybe you can relate to this)… the whole setup in my mind changed. Like when you are in the movies… remember those… and you have been watching ad's for what feels like hours… and then… finally… is this it ? Might this really be it… the start of the movie… Yes, that happened. Relief, because I had envisioned that feeling. I knew it was going to be that type of run. Not that type, but that running. Yes, that's a better way to put it. I anticipated it would be that kind of a run. Exactly. Of course numerous factors come into play here…. It was hot, yellow rapeseed fields, intense blue sky… no wait make that it was very hot (for may) and by being focused on the whole setup the strides, the breathing… that made the whole run extremely intense and of course pleasurable…. But that was my run. What about yours? Listen… whatever you do…. you need to collect and store these types of memories (well that's step two actually.) Step one is like when you enter a room, and your friends where just having a argument… and you can already imagine whats going to happen… That crime novel you know the person who did it is there RIGHT NOW, and you start guessing. Start doing that for your run. You need to realize that a great run in your perfect weather conditions… maybe you love running in the rain… or early morning whatever your “sweet spot” is… You need to be able to really pick up your state of mind, your thoughts, and observe what behavior this leads to. And what comes next is… again this is something you need to DO to experience any kind of effect. Just listening to it…this podcast… it is not going to help you … DO…. Take any sheet of paper you have right now… see often we think we need a black leather clad note pad. A old oak desk, with a view… a dim lit light, perfect setting… to write: Nooooo just grab any sheet of paper. Draw a horizontal line and vertical line through the middle. There you have 4 squares, correct. Well start top right… your strengths… running strengths… only got three points…? Come on… at least 5 ok… if you only have three come back to it later. Second square… weaknesses… write it… weaknesses… might be the moment of truth is a bit hard to grasp… but it shouldn't be If the first thought that came to mind was… weak on trails. Write it down. SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats... Do click on the link below find out more about me www.heikostribl.com and for more running related content do check out https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuoAaTiD4Dc2tMl5r3P09-g and take a free course on becoming a better runner… www.hypnorun.com A rating, a like, a share will be greatly appreciated, and will help other runners' that are looking for such advice find this show. So please do share.

Dae Bogan shares how he sees solutions and “warps” them into business ideas -- which is both a blessing and a curse. He began with selling cakes in middle school and organizing bus tours in high school from Cleveland, OH to New York. From his early history in acting, singing, and creating and producing events, he moved into a long series of start-ups (including putting gogo dancers in store windows) before moving into various endeavors in music tech. Dae has started and sold a variety of cloud-based ventures as well as mentored founders of other startups. Dae shares how he now is bringing those diverse skills to bear as head of Third-Party Partnerships with The Music Licensing Collective. The MLC works with music publishers and artists to collect and distribute their streaming royalties.   Guest: Dae Bogan, Head of Third-Party Partnerships, The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) Dae Bogan serves as Head of Third-Party Partnerships for The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), where he leads The MLC's strategy for engaging third-party entities to support initiatives in rights administration, data management, operations, and membership services.  A passionate music creators' rights advocate who enjoys exploring the global music rights landscape through the lens of business and technology, Bogan is also an adjunct lecturer at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. In this role, Bogan develops and teaches the music industry entrepreneurship course for which he was recognized in Billboard's "The 15 Best Music Business Schools In 2017."  Prior to joining The MLC and teaching at UCLA, Bogan's passion for innovation at the intersection of music and technology led him to found three companies: music rights administration technology company TuneRegistry, unclaimed music royalties, and licenses search engine RoyaltyClaim, and in-store music video network Maven Promo. Each of these companies has since been acquired.  Early in his career, Bogan worked directly and more creatively with recording artists, songwriters, music producers, and DJs as the owner-operator of an independent record label, a music publishing company, and a boutique artist management firm before pivoting into technology in 2012.   Dae holds an MA in Music Industry Administration with a focus on music publishing and copyright administration from California State University, Northridge, and a BA in sociology from the University of California. He resides in Los Angeles, California where he organizes SoCal Music Industry Professionals, an informal networking community of music industry professionals who live in Southern California. Mentioned Links: Website: https://daeboganmusic.com/ (https://daeboganmusic.com/) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daebogan/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daebogan/) Twitter: @daeboganmusic Facebook: @daeboganmusic Instagram: @daeboganmusic UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music: https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/people/dae-bogan (https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/people/dae-bogan) The Music Licensing Collective (The MLC): https://themlc.com/ (https://themlc.com) SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis PESTLE: Political, Economic, Social, Tech, Legal, and Environmental Change Factors TAM: Total Available Market CSUN: Cal State Northridge: https://csun.edu/ (https://csun.edu) SXSW Music Mentors: https://www.sxsw.com/news/2019/2020-mentors-announced-for-interactive-film-music-convergence (https://www.sxsw.com/news/2019/2020-mentors-announced-for-interactive-film-music-convergence) Capitol Music Group / gBETA Musictech program: Your Host: Gigi Johnson, EdD I run transformative programs, speak/moderate, invest, advise, and produce multimedia on creativity and technology.  I taught for 22 years at UCLA, where I ran the Center for Music Innovation and the podcast "Innovating Music," built four industry-connecting programs, and...

Today I'm replaying a course that I did for The Contractor Success Academy. The Contractor Success Academy is hosted by Webrunner Media's Mark Levesque and is a series of around two dozen FREE online courses. In this episode, I cover my 1-Page Business Plan. It's a FREE download, so be sure to get it! You'll learn about how to plan, design, and implement a solid business plan. This is especially important going into 2021 because there's going to be a lot of opportunities available, but in order to capitalize on it, you'll need to be ready. I hope the information in today's show will help you do just that! What You'll Hear in This Episode: Many contractors don't know where to start in laying out a business plan. The 1-Page Business Plan is a simple, eight-step, fillable PDF. Let's reverse-engineer and detail the steps so that we can understand where we need to start: Where do you want to go? Where do you want to end up? What, who, where, and why? Come up with a one-minute elevator pitch. What's the problem that you solve? How do you solve that problem better than your competition? What's the action you want them to take? The “SWOT”: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, & Threats Take a look at the operation, which is like a 3-legged stool: You have to sell work You have to do the work You have to keep score The process: a 2-week vacation The action: What's the ONE THING that's going to make a difference in your business? The view: Do you like what you see? When you're building your team, they want to see someone who is a leader, who has a plan, and knows where they want to go. Mentioned Episode Featuring Mark Levesque: Podcast 197: The #1 Tactic to Get Qualified Leads for Your Roofing Business Dave's Video Lesson on The Contractor Success Academy Resources: Check Out My NEW Website: The Roofer Coach Download My FREE 1-Page Business Plan Text Me @ (510) 612-1450 - Say Hi! I would love to hear your feedback, pros & cons! **Please leave me a review on iTunes!** ~Please Share My Podcast With Other Contractors~ THE ROOFER SHOW SPONSOR INFO: Need Help Answering the Phone Or Online Chat? Use Ruby Receptionists! Find Out How They Can Help Bring In Leads! Click here and use the code Roofer50 for a special $50 discount! https://www.callruby.com/roofershow Or Call Ruby at (844) 326-7829 Check out the app! My Listeners Get a 21-Day Money-Back Guarantee!

In this week's episode, learn: How to create a SWOT analysis, analyze your business and identify marketing strategies. Going through the process of creating a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis can help you identify where you should spend your time and energy, plus how to tie your marketing goals to your business objectives. I walk you through the SWOT analysis I created and how to apply it to jump start your marketing plan. Download my free SWOT analysis guide at: getauthenticbranding.com/resources Music: Tuesday by Sascha Ende, Music.io

The people who would supposedly never stop watching beginning to stop watching. Brandon Thurston looks at the results of the Wreddit Census from 2020 and 2019 and how they may be an informative supplement to linear TV viewership data. What will happen if the timing of WWE and AEW's TV rights negotiations end up coinciding a couple years from now? Plus, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of WWE and AEW. Visit wrestlenomics.com Follow Brandon Thurston at twitter.com/brandonthurston Follow Wrestlenomics at twitter.com/wrestlenomics Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The pandemic has turned all markets upside down. There are many unknowns in what is to come. How do we create our projected goals? What do we do now to be ok when the dust settles?  A Marketing Leader, Creative Writer, Blogger, Editor, Strategic Marketing Consultant, and the Director of Marketing at 8020 Consulting, George Jacob, chats about the best strategies for utilizing your strengths in the current market.   Takeaways: Stuck on what to do next during the pandemic? Try doing a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to reassess what your strengths are and what opportunities you could be taking. Be authentically helpful! You know what your company does best. Use that to help out as much as you can. Think of pay-per-click as a sniper and organic traffic as a tank. The pay-per-click is easy to get out there to get information on making a better decision. Whereas, the organic traffic will take too long to get to the point where the PPC has reached.  Minimum Viable Product is the primary feature or focus of an app for example. This focuses on what the app's bare minimum needs are to be successful and then exposing it to your user base to organize the features list. Technology is a great tool, but it is not always the answer. We often get sold into the idea of technology making everything better. The real answer is the why and how of what you are trying to accomplish. Marketing is a balance of creativity and analytics. There are more metrics you can study being created every year, but sometimes it is the wording of a post or the image that will change the engagement. Don't count out the little details! Successful storytelling starts with having a few simple points and knowing the person you are communicating with. Think “How can I convey what I want to say to that person in a way that they can understand it.” Career advice: Do not compare yourself to others! Take a second to breathe. It takes time to find a position that is your best fit.   Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgejacobus/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_georgejacob Personal Website: https://georgejacob.us Marketri: https://www.marketri.com Marketri Twitter: https://twitter.com/Marketri   Busted Myths: In today's marketing climate, hitting your projected goals is less important than understanding why you did or didn't. - Understand that this pandemic is a different scenario and look at what tools you can take advantage of right now.   Ways to Tune In: iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hard-corps-marketing-show/id1338838763 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1vVLpNI1LssMTiL6Kdsamn Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-hard-corps-marketing-show Google Play - https://play.google.com/music/m/Im7mytmu2wa2mekhoeixlja5hpe?t=The_Hard_Corps_Marketing_Show YouTube - Full video - https://youtu.be/amNn_zan-FQ

SWOTing: it's not something you do to flies. It's a simple but powerful exercise anyone can use to refocus their business and plan for whatever comes next. A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis lets you look around the bend to the future of your business. It's an easy way to assess exactly what your […] The post MBA1426 How To Perform a SWOT Analysis & Stay Ahead of Challenges appeared first on The $100 MBA.

Austrian Capital Theory holds that capital assets are heterogeneous and complementary. In business language, that means an entrepreneur can assemble set of assets that are special to his or her firm and combined in such a way that the combination is unique, or at least hard to copy. If the assets generate consumer value, and hence a revenue stream from consumer purchases, then the entrepreneurial firm can be said to have marketplace advantage—it is unique or advantaged in its creation of consumer value. The Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm came from this thinking. The marketplace advantage available to any firm results from its assembled resources (synonymous with assets for the purposes of our discussion). We talk to Professor Steven Phelan, Distinguished Professor at Fayetteville State University, an expert in this field. Note: The conventional language of RBV is competitive advantage. At Economics For Entrepreneurs, we prefer the idea of the search for uniqueness, where the point of reference is the consumer rather than the competitor. Therefore, we'll use terms like marketplace advantage and commercial advantage. Show Notes Resource-based strategic thinking guides entrepreneurs in the identification, assembly and use of resources in unique (or at least differentiated) ways to create sustained marketplace advantage. The use of resources is how entrepreneurs create revenue flows from consumers. The money-value of the resources—and hence the market value of the firm—derives from these revenue flows. The goal is to align the resources as perfectly as possible with consumer wants and preferences. Entrepreneurs who combine consumer-valued resources in unique ways can establish an advantage in the marketplace. If their combination of resources is unique, or at the very least hard to copy, then the advantage is sustainable and the revenue flows can be anticipated to continue absent changes in consumer preferences. What kind of resources are we talking about? All kinds, both tangible and intangible, and both physical capital and human capital. It's the combination that counts. A handy acronym for the kinds of resources available for entrepreneurs to combine is PROFIT: Physical, Reputational, Organizational, Financial, Intellectual and Human, and Technological resources. It's a good exercise to review your resources under each of these headings and question whether they are unique and hard to copy. Reputational, Organizational and Intellectual (Human) resources are the most usual sources of uniqueness (in the VRIO framework, “unique” translates into valuable, rare, hard to copy / inimitable and non-substitutable). Reputational resources can include brand, customer satisfaction levels and trust. Organizational resources can include processes, methods, and culture, and also includes the bundles of resources we call capabilities. Intellectual resources include people (always unique), teams, decision rights, as well as patents and recipes. Sustainable advantage is reinforced when other firms can't see inside the “black box” of the combination of resources and can't reproduce the “secret sauce”. It might be the case that your Physical, Financial and Technological resources are not differentiated, or even rare. The “secret sauce” is in how you combine them, and especially how you combine them with Reputational, Organizational and Intellectual resources. If outsiders can't see inside, and can't decipher the combination or copy the recipe, you can separate yourself in the consumer's perception as a unique choice. How you deploy the resources can also be a source of advantage. Operational excellence can be differentiating and value-creating. If you can guarantee customers and suppliers that you'll operate with excellence in all directions—on time, on budget, high responsiveness—you'll create an advantage over other firms that don't keep their promises. Think of this as a bundle of resources that you deploy really well. The business literature sometimes calls it “core competence”. High quality, consistent operations do not come easily. This capability is also a resource. Dynamic flexibility can be thought of as a bundle of capabilities around detection of and action in response to the need for change. Austrian economics stresses marketplace dynamics and the role of entrepreneurs in detecting and responding to changes in consumers' wants and preferences. Such agility does not come easily to the firm. It requires “sensing” the uneasiness of consumers and using empathic diagnosis to identify the source of the uneasiness, and creativity and imagination in rearranging resources to produce new offerings. Organizationally, the entrepreneur must make the change occur—ready the organization for the adjustment and orchestrate individuals and functions to shift. It's a rare capability. Implementing the resource-based strategy is a continuous activity. Winning entrepreneurs shuffle and reshuffle resources continuously. Professor Phelan urges entrepreneurs to ask this question every day: what can we do better? Ask it in every resource area of the PROFIT framework. Gather information that tells you where you need to improve or change (You can use a template like SWOT—Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats; but make sure your use of it is deeply analytical and not just a laundry list of what you do). And then execute the hard part of dynamic flexibility: taking rapid action. This is the advantage of small companies and entrepreneurs. Additional Resource Resource-Based Theory of Entrepreneurship (PDF): https://Mises.org/E4E_18_PDF Useful books mentioned by Professor Phelan Entrepreneurship Strategies and Resources by Marc J. DollingerThe E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. GerberCrossing The Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore