The B.I.G. Blog

If sales is the lifeblood of every company, then marketing is the heart that keeps a steady flow going so that we don’t run out.  Unfortunately, many small business owners discredit the value of marketing and see it as either an unnecessary expense or something for the bigger guys. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and this short-sightedness could certainly be a key contributing factor explaining why 50% of all businesses fail within their first 5 years.  Fortunately, we have a simple approach to marketing to meet any company’s budget, no matter the size…

Now more than ever, small business owners rely on information to make sound business decisions.  Whether trying to determine the market potential of a new product or service, or to gain a better understanding of needs within their target market, this information is not only nice to have, but essential for small business success.  While there are many ways to obtain this valuable information, surveys remain a leading method due to their convenience and relatively low cost.  However, business owners must also be aware of the short comings when considering conducting surveys and interpreting the results.   Case Study In an effort to teach students a real-world example of the scientific method and probabilities, we conducted a brief study on Facebook where we simply stated our hypothesis, that >10% of the population owns a small business. We then asked my network of over 600 individuals, “Do you currently own a […]

Remember the first time you went to that new restaurant down the block and it was SO GOOD! It was so good, you just had to take your friend there, but then… it wasn’t as good. Something was different. While this might make your dinner experience less than it could be, it (usually) won’t hurt you. In some industries, however, this amount of variation is unacceptable, because it could be deadly. Consider an airplane manufacturer. The processes they use to manufacture must be designed with the highest standards in mind and the tightest tolerances. A mistake on your plate at dinner is annoying. A mistake on your engine 32,000 feet in the air is lethal. So, we need a way to anticipate and test for issues in our processes and products to a specific, quantifiable standard.   Processes in Review When discussing process design a few weeks ago, we examined the IPO […]