An entrepreneur, a businessman, who wandered into teaching after finishing his MBA. Now a full time entrepreneur and businessman, discovering what works and what does not work. Surrendering idealism for Pragmatism In entrepreneurship, you do not really know until you find out...
I am a businessman and entrepreneur and an educator on entrepreneurship by accident/or on the side. I am first and foremost a businessman and entrepreneur. I made this blog to gather my thoughts on the subject, make this as a legacy for future entrepreneurs.
Amazon recently announced that it was halting ground deliveries via Fed Ex, in retaliation to announcement that it was evaluating agreements with Amazon. Will this affect the long term value of Fed Ex. Fed Ex says no Because Amazon business is just 1.3% of its total revenues. Some say it will because Amazon, having its Prime Delivery system which delivers more on time and has more systems in place will undercut Fed Ex in many markets. Faced with the reduction in world wide revenues due to tariff wars with China, Fed ex sees reduction in revenues and stock market prices.
Stock market prices of Fed Ex fell 1.6%; Amazon 1.1%
Amazon has been leasing jets for next day delivery. and has sorting centers near the airport and employed last mile truck owners contractors. In a recent survey Amazon topped the on time delivery at 94% with Fed ex at 4th place at 90%
Its either Fed Ex or Amazon announcing that Fed Ex will stick to Walmart and other companies which are on e commerce platform.
From Seattle Times - Fed Ex Net Income falls 40% due to severance with Amazon, shorter holiday period, and higher cost. Its profit for same period for same period was $935 million now down to only $650 million
Analysts sees a weakened and less valuable company in the next five years, which will precipitate a take over. And Amazon will prevail... Because Amazon has its own internal source of Revenues; Fed Ex has none. Will Walmart take over Fed Ex to adopt the business model of Amazon.
Just 2 days before Christmas, time to be happy and to celebrate.
Not for the executives, employees of the two water distributors: Maynilad and Manila water, their employees and investors.
Which includes the govt pensions who owns large chuks of two water companies and the pensioners whose pensions are at risk, what with huge loss of value of the pensions shareholding. The value of water companies dived byas as much as $2.4 billion in a single day of trading, after it was announced that the term extension of the water companies will not be allowed.
What are we talking about as oligarchs? They Ayala and MVP are simply heads, executive and not the sole owners. of the water companies and since they are public held/listed companies, the small investors are the oligarchs are to be sent to jail as well? Not to mention the P17 billion exposure of local banks to these water companies. All ready they are no longer releasing loans
Hinay hinay lang sirs.
It is worth noting that what was lacking in the actions and thought process is systems thinking ie that nothing is the world is now linear cause and effect and that one decision affects a myriad of other factors and elements. The demise, malfunction causes malfunction of others. It was part of the book of Hibino and Nadler PDF Breakthrough Thinking It is change in mindset, not rhethoric or bragadoccio, not high ratings
The top guns may brush aside this post as another mere academic ek ek. But practicing this will not get us to this dilemna, and another problem of the pension fund inability to pay the pensioners because of this showmanship. (The estimated loss to the govt pension and SSS is about P4 billion - peanuts eh.) No one can advise the Chief to analyze the effect of decisions on the nation as he shoots from the hip? I have an acquaintance who is a Usec who have strong ties with the Chief and who can advise...
What about perception of the investing companies of the Philippines as an investment haven? Loss of confidence due to impetuousness of the leader?
Another case in point. Non renewal of Franchise of TV and radio of ABS CBN. Think of the possible exit plans of the said company:
1. They have alternative TV and radio station to go to, ABC 5 which is languishing, the TV station of JIL
2. The company is now a content producer: TV shows movies magazines etc. which they can simply distribute.
3. They have IWAN TV that is a pay for view platform for their movies and other shows.
Who cares sir if you throw me in the river sir? Will the turtle drown sirs...
Well the head of state is the head of state. We are simply analyzing the problems that are being caused by certain decision. Things will be better.
Plenty. It means lower sales. Now consumers see less desire to buy new cars. They can get their rides, new cars pa, safe and convenient via apps. With stringent rules on parking areas, garage before you can buy, strict anti no parking laws, one is less likely to buy a new car. Compound that with the traffic, and increasing cost of ownership: service cost at casa, insurance, accidents, road rage abusive jeepney drivers, traffic enforcers,. Why buy a car when you can Grab?
Toyota has partnered with Grab at least to get a share of the market for initial car sales
This business model is a viable model as:
1. The buyer earns much, Grab just gets a commission only
2. The driver behavior is controlled
3. There is less chance of abusive drivers (the drivers will not earn if they misbehave)
4. Less expense on the part of the operator since the going around is minimized; there are always ready users.
5. The model is self liquidating; the revenue of owner is enough to pay for monthly amortization of the unit that is under installment (that is why the FX and UV transport became popular)
This shuttered mall symbolizes the difficulty in this business
About 8,000 retail stores have closed shop this 2019 which include Gap Stores, K mart, Sears. Most hard hit are electronic and clothes store.
The trend is likely to continue for the next 7 years. The reason: on line shopping e commerce On line shopping which is at 16% now will be at 25% in 2026 says UBS. All ready Amazon has increased its sales by $38 billion which is the equivalent of 7,000 brick and mortar stores. American on line spending is roughly $5,000 per family
Why is ecommerce on the rise:
1. Less hassle of parking and walking around the store;
2. More warranties: free return of merchandise available
3. You can chat with the store on the products (not Chinese sites)
4. You spend less effort (walking) and time going through their products.
This is made possible by convenient payment options: credit card, Pay Pal, Pay Maya and convenient delivery system (hehe tell that to Lazada which has a number of misdelivery, wrong delivery, missing delivery) especially if products come from China.
Ayala which has formerly focussed on brick and mortart mallss realizes the changing trend and has bought an on line retailer: Zalora to its portfolio. Those who still are into brick and mortar store may see the need as their sales plateau and /or taper off (much worse decline)
This post is bearish on restaurants and retails:
Retail:
1. Strong competition
2. Paper thin profits
3. Thefts (shoplifting) and rotting inventories (BO) or out of trend stocks abound
4. High labor costs
That tops up threats from competition - e commerce
Restaurants:
1. It deals with wants which is very volatile. Customer wants change constantly
2. Tastes of consumers is trendy - Customers may want chicken now but tomorrow it
may be salad, or vice versa
3. Thus, Jollibee in US sees failure with its Smashburger in the US, or BK closing many of its stores
Those that flourish like KFC in the Philippines are innovative in their menus to fit the changing wants
4. Restaurants are in the food eaten out of the house category. There are still food eaten in the house category, and in difficult times, families will scrimp on eating outside the house. Go back to basics
Those with long term prospects business are still in:
1. Finance
2. Real estate
3. Transportation
4. Energy
5. Communications
This will force rethinking on business investments and innovation. Which this site professes. They are huge spending sprees to build brick and mortar stores. Time to reflect as we see the current landscape of retailing and food eaten outside the house
FMCGs and pharma are now shifting to ecommerce platforms to cover all their bases. Medicines, milk and other grocery items are available on line:
Benefits :
To the consumer:
1. Convenience
1. Shopping is done on line at the comfort of the home via android phone and even anywhere
2. No traffic and parking head ache
3. No waiting at check out counters and dizzying crowd
2. Lower price
3. Even deferred payment
4. Delivery service at your door step. No need to lug your purchase hail a cab which becomes rare on these occasion
To the retailer
1. No bricks and mortars investment (except for DC as by Lazada and Ali Express - to control delivery
and inventory
2. In general, there are no inventories; most transactions are flow through, and hence
3. Little or 0 working capital requirement
To the manufacturer;
1. Access to the existing customer of the e commerce platform
2. Minimal or little delivery to the store, less logistic requirement
3. Less or zero collection from retailers (Direct to the Customer business model)
Summary of Book by Dan Kennedy by Sam Davies - how to reliably and afforably attract prospects, customers and clients.
Triangle of magnetic customers, media and message.
The most important ingredient is the target market: how do you market hamburger? By finding a bunch of hungry workers...
1. 5 big ideas:
1. Your biggest problem is that you do not have enough sales
2. If you cant sell to prospects and customers and there are no steady stream of prospects, nothing
matters to your business
3. The advertisement of big companies have nothing to do with sales
4. Make yourself the point center of your products and services..
5. We must deliver the right message to the right market using the right media.
2. Creating the right USP:
1. What is distinctly unique about the product company?
2. How do you uniquely benefit the customer
3. What is your niche?
3. Objectives of a campaign
1. Lead generation (of suspects)
2. Conversion of leads (and or prospects to sale)
3. Retention.
4. Questions about your target market:
1. What keeps them awake about your product (what pisses them off)
2. What is their pain?
3. What is the problem that you can solve for them?
4. What is their secret desire.
5. How do you create a magnetic offer?
Create a widget: a very special product/offer benefits combination Write a compelling irrestible
offer on why they should choose you.
6. Methods of presenting offers:
1. Restate, repeat the same offer;
2. Offer humor on deadlines for extension
3. Third and final notice
4. Change offer
7. 4 jobs of an offer:
1. To strengthen awareness
2. To emphasize unhappiness with competitors features
3. To establish authority
4. To predispose position prospect mind so that they will buy from you.
Copy writing, one of best paid jobs in the world is about converting words, concepts and ideas
into cash. No copy writing, no cash, Poor copy writing, little cash. So you must master
doing this craft if you are business owner or entrepreneur or somebody in sales and marketing
This is one of the best work I have seen on copy writing that really matters
Some copies work better than others, some copywriters give better tips than others.
These video by Chris Haddad. I think is better than the rest. It focuses on being unique and being noticed. And thus, being unique, as a strategy in marketing, would work better than the rest.
1. Find out about the primal desires; why do men/women want about the products (and even work on this
sublimally) People make irrational and illogical decisions based on desires not logic. Find out wheat
they are. Research before hand.
2. PIG (Punched in the Gut Ad) to get attention
Get attention employ drama and emotion into your ad:
"My dad would have died had he not taken this GERD medication"
"Get 30 lbs from your girth and never talk about several stories of belly
fat again"
"The govt would not take care of my family, but with this device, I know
they will always be safe"
3. Make promises and claims with balls. Be bold. Do not be weak and tentative
"When you buy this product you will save 9% per month.
Make the product pay for itself"
"If you enroll in our course, we guarantee you will pass, if not
we will refund"
4. Be helpful and mechanistic with promises: Audience want to be helped.
People do not know how. You have to give them advice and instructions
to do things:
"Our software will let you do your payroll painlesslessly and quickly"
"If you outsource your payroll with us, you will have this on the dot every payday."
Not a minute less
"Our financial advisers will let you earn at least 2% annually year after year..
5. Confirm prejudices that are all ready in the mind of the customers/audience
"Most men lie and are polygamous, how about...."
"Most women/wife will leave you with another man if you cant satisfy her....
"Most people resist buying memorial park because they fear they will die
soon. As per many Filipino superstition Here are more of them...."
We are not selling yet. We are entertaining and making the audience feel interested...
6. Transform buying into a great social or heroic act. Make buying a right thing to do.
"If you buy our product, you give more jobs and opportunities in the community"
"If you buy our product, you help us conduct a feeding program in the community,
to pay more taxes to finance the social services in this town"
'Its the greatest thing you can leave your family. Beautiful life story
not worry and heart aches
"Its the best thing you can do for your elderly. Give them a SC privilege card.
If you buy our product, we will give a Privilege Card that will entitle them to a 20/20%
big big discount. Can anyone beat that support to the seniors?....
7. 7 Deadly sins to use in the copy:
Gluttony - more things than you need. "More wealth than you can imagine
." "Unli rice" "Unlicall"
Libreng Galaxy phone ipaparaffle if you do this....
Greed - GE now only P1,200,000 to accommodate your entire family
Sloth - Easy, simple, we will do everything for you. Let us handle all
your worries
DP of P10,000 all in. Ready to move in.
We will handle all paperworks for you.
Envy - " You will be talk of the town" You will be most beautiful girl in town.
"Wait to see the eyes of your neighbor pop out"
Leave your neighbors in the municipal cemetery. Move into the
new neighborhood. Be the talk of the neighborhood once you
move up
Wrath Revenge. Be rich and let no one mock you more.
In death as in life, there is always a status symbol.
Pride - protect your family, honor tradition. "Leave a legacy and lasting
memory with a uniqueMausoleum; with imported caskets;
"Leave behind a lasting impression - with interment they will never forget."
"Have your mausoleum that will stand out. Have it designed by Michael
Adriano, the Phiulippines renowned Mausoleum designer/builder
Lust - "Last the whole night with this tablet Age is but a number..."
8. IF, THEN, WHY?
"If you are indebted by P100,000 as of now, and you have no source of income, then you should...
so that you should get off the hook.
If you have planned for everything in your life, and still you have invested in the final chapter of your life
then you should.... soon why so that the story shall be complete
How do you convert value or your product into cash. You need to communicate this effectively.
What leverages this is copy writing.... (It is salesman in print) Writing to sell...
How to influence others?
How to make words into money? Use written word to enhance and extend relationship with customer that includes salesmanship
How to do it/
1. Make tons of research on customer to make a good copy
2. Find the words: that arouse curiosity, take action,
3. Look at the ads of Lazada, Amazon
1. Language of the PTM
2. Competition
3. Engage with the audience
4. Swipe cheats... (headlines that work)
Start writing, start writing, edit, edit
1. Some tips.
not more than 4 lines per paragraph
one word
too much me me me (more of the customers needs and problems
2. Headlines:
First research:
1. Kind of conversation
2. Find the pain
3. Find the needs
So that you can connect
3. Headline: Claim as a question:
Who wants to.... (make P100,000 a year.)
(Squeeze page - secret)
Make subject new: (discovery) product Introducing, announcing Discover Copy is not what you learn in school. Write the way you sell/speak New
Interesting
Latest
Avoid telling the why, more of the how. How to make Pxxxx a year.
4. Opening
1. Imagine
2. Here is what its all about
5. Establish credibility
1. Establish yourself as an expert (here is the me part, boasting part)
2. Anticipate objections
3. Position yourself as an expert
6. Bullet points on benefits:
Short sentences that tell much in condensed form about your product
7. Testimonials
1. A video
2. Statement with picture and address
8. The value justification:
1. Is the product worth it?
2. Is it solving the customer problem
9. Options for the customer
1. Give it up, go for the old product or strategy
2. Do it yourself - bumili nag sariling casket or gawin or maglibing sa likod bahay or farm plot
3. Risk reversal: Can you guarantee the product; (will the customer abuse?)
If you dont pass, we refund
If you are not happy with the product, we will refund
If the lot will not appreciate, we will buy this bac
10. Call to action:
Text, cal or email or message. Put all the information that is needed
11. If you dont do anything you lose....the opportunity the discount or the great offer
Why FB is impt.? It is important place to advertise. It has made many people addicted. Learning this FB ads is a great way how to make money
The video here I think focuses on PTM - targetting and does not talk much about the ad.
Here the author talks about the:
1. Campaign
2. Adsets (the PTM)
3. Open the ads manager
1. Determine the objectives: traffic, conversion etc.
2. Determine the PTM
You can encourage people
4. Make the ads.
1. Custom Audience
Narrow down the target: Custom audience (what people are all ready visiting your website or are all
ready who liked you or followers. Or people who have bought the products.
1. Location
2. Age
3. Sex
2. Look alike audience Who are just like the custom audience. (FB will look for people who bought
all ready your products.
1. Religion
2. Likes/dislikes
5. Facebook pixels - you put on your website to determine the demographics of people who visit your ads...
Targetting - how to do it? But by research; narrow down the target market so that you dont waste the
money, you cant sell to say 200,000,000 audience
Do we, you to be wildly successful as Startbucks? Only Starbucks can do it? Cant we?
Howard Schulz, the chairman of Starbucks and steps down to become Chairman Emeritus. He is worth $3 billion and is considered a US Presidentiable. Will he run?
He said he owes everything, ie the success of Starbucks to the great team he has. And said that with many formulas being taught, one thing can be taught to be a success in business schools - fierce determination
Some people we know in the camera division are being laid off and in the US, camera service center are being shuttered.
From a peak of 120 million units in 2010, the sales of digital cameras has declined by 84%. In 2018, shipments of digital camera, has shrunk to only about 19 million units
Of that, Canon which holds 10 million units expect that to fall by half in 2019.
All because of smarthphones, which although can not come up par to DSLR qualities have continuously increased MPs, have front and back cameras are capable of 360 degrees and 3d shots and are convenient. No need to lug bulky gears. Plus it comes free with an affordable price. You can have a $200 phone with high resolution camera and which are as good as the SLR. for ordinary photography. But a DSLR can set you back by as much as $500.00 quite tough for ordinary consumer.
Me for example, I not used my point and shoot Canon camera. All used is the camera at my Motorala phone. The digital SLR does not have the feature of immediate sharing the photo once it is shot. At Instagram or FB.
Olympus, Nikon and Canon are reported to be shifting resources to Medical Imaging. (Too late)
Canon sees a 50% decline in sales in 2019 and 81% decline in operating profit We have to be aware of the changing fortunes of time and be prepared
Same happening compared to Kodak, the company that invented Digital Photography
