If I were to ask you “What are some of the key opportunities for your business right now?”, chances are you would start thinking about your key offerings and how they serve your customers’ needs.

There are however, much more scope for hidden opportunities at the edges where your offerings stop and the wider world begins.

Think of one of your customers. What are the peripheral pains that are associated …

Waiting at the checkout can be a great opportunity to practice creativity. Look at your purchases: what is the weirdest and funniest “meal” you can make out of what you have? (I had bleach, kitty litter, peanut paste, eggs…) This is good practice to see different uses for everyday things. What’s in your shopping basket today?

My barber charges $14 per hair cut. Some customers choose to leave a $1 tip. This is an interesting and easy way to gauge customer satisfaction – easy for the customer to round up if they want to, and easy to process. Divide the day’s takings by $14; and the remainder is likely to be the number of satisfied customers. In Excel, the formula is =MOD(takings,14). And yes, …

On blue days, turn off your phone, shut down your computer, and schedule a one-hour meeting with yourself and three pieces of premium chocolate.

This article by Nick Usborne, Flywheels, Kinetic Energy, and Friction, beautifully describes the behaviour of customers in the lead up to buying and in the act of buying. It shows what you as the vendor can do to help, or get in the way of your customers.

Whilst Nick’s article focuses on websites, I believe the concepts therein apply equally to all the customer touchpoints in any …

Keep a fly diary. Seriously.

Every morning, when you are getting ready to go to work, take 15 seconds to pause and assess your tummy. Therein be butterflies? Or blowflies?

Butterflies are what you get when you are doing something exciting, scary, new, and GOOD. You are probably doing something you love, or trying something new that you are seriously interested in or passionate about. Experimenting. Innovating.

Blowflies are what makes …

On the chalkboard of a cafe in Perth: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt

2006 is still young. What is your dream for your business this year?

Pope’s Law of Retroactivity says “It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.”

There is a lesson here for acting on a strong gut-feel towards your cause, and perhaps not spend as much time seeking permission and the approval of others. The act of seeking permission and approval can instil doubt and fear, especially within a corporate situation.

Had their creators paused to seek permission, validation and approval before execution, …

In a session with a client today, I was attempting to put into words their cause, their reason for being in business. As I wrestled with different words and visions, telling and retelling their story in different ways, one of the partners said “Oh … I am going to start crying…”. And I realised I was feeling all funny inside (in a good way) also!

Does your “mission statement” …

An oldie but a goodie: For any given endeavor, you can only achieve 2 out of the following 3 outcomes.