The Value Dilution of "Deal of The Day"

Just saw this article that only 2/3's of Groupon "deals" are profitable for the businesses offering the discounts.  

The article highlighted the benefits of promoting the deals of the day for businesses....

      1)  Immediate visibility to a large audience that is motivated to buy

      2)  Burst of cash flow

      

Downfall of these deals: 

      1)  Might be attracting the wrong crowd (poor tippers and no loyalty/repeat buyers)

      2)  "Robbing Peter to pay Paul" might be good for a business in the short-term for businesses with limited           

            financing options, but lost leaders are rarely winners for struggling businesses.

        

My prediction for these "deal of the day sites" like Groupon, Scoutmob,Grouptabs, etc.. .....and many more copycats coming on their heels.... the buyers who are attracted to these sites will have hundreds of options and sites that offer these.  Loyalty to "the deal of the day sites" will be non-existent.  There will be aggregators of deals of the day.  Aggregators of aggregators of aggregators are coming where at the bottom of every email will promote a deal!!!!

Look no further than the tip offered by the writer of the article to businesses considering a "deal of the day". Break up the offer....  to essentially trick the buyer into loyalty/repeat visits or worse sell "unpopular items or underused services".  Crap is crap and will always be crap...... even if it is 60% off.

Government Healthcare Cost Containment: The Shell Game of Chasing Ponce de Leon

If we as a collective society in the US come to agreement that quality healthcare is a "human right" and should be paid for by the people through government, I think it is absurd to think that we could ever contain healthcare costs.

Healthcare today is BIG business constructed in the never ending cycle of profits and innovation.  Healthcare is not an altruistic venture.   Profits get plowed back into research to create the next drug, device, cure, etc...With all of this activity and investment around the world, nobody has cured DEATH yet.  Ultimately it seems like a futile enterprise to me.....doesn't it?

You might prolong the life by curing cancer, but people will die of something else some other day. And at some point there are diminishing returns to investing in healthcare as each innovation escapes death's immediate clutches, but will never extinguish one persons ultimate expiration date.

Since Ponce de Leon never found the fountain of youth and nothing can be done to make healthcare a non-business I would rather not potentially bankrupt this country with healthcare reform that would have no end to service and coverage caps.

Keep the incentives of healthcare in private enterprise.  Doctors and nurses know how to treat their patients.  Med device, pharma, etc.... will innovate so long as there are profits to be had.  I think it is necessary to have government serve as the stop gap support to the underprivileged and poor.  But it is absurd to me that Warren Buffet and Bill Gates could ever qualify for Medicare solely based on their age and not their need.  There should be a base line of services available for the needy but lets not dilute our overall healthcare quality by covering everyone and taking incentives out of private enterprise.

And if you had the thought that healthcare is an altruistic enterprise, try to find many pre-med/med students who are willing to go through an additional 8 years of school, fellowships and training to make $25K a year. Money is part of their motivation for getting into the business of healthcare and we should protect those incentives.  I don't want to see a diploma from ITT technical college on the wall of my physician.

Many, many years from now, once the average life expectancy is maxed out because of advances in science and technology, I say you pass it over to the government to be the custodian of services and nationalize the coverage.  Until average life expectancy is 105....stay out of the way.

Great Management Quote of the Day!

Confuscious says..... "You should teach your team to fish.  But give your boss the whole fish!".... and preferably fileted, deboned, grilled and served with a lovely lemon butter sauce.

Love it!  Actually Bill Hayes said it!

Finding THAT First Customer..... to build your business around!

These are summary bullets of a presentation I gave yesterday at the ATDC.  Folks in the audience asked me to post.

1. Interview everyone


2. Don’t Give it AWAY


3.  I am SoRRY…. YouR IDEA  STINKS


4.  Not All Customers are created equal


5.  Listen to the market and ignore logic and reason


6.  Get someone using your product ASAP
7.  MAP your Ideal customer Profile

Tell Your Idea to EVERYONE

Most folks think that sharing business ideas without a non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement is a big mistake. I say "hog-wash"!

Ideas are a dime a dozen and you don't ask for a Prenup after the first couple of dates. That comes later.... after you realize the person that you are going to be in partnership with has the propensity to screw you over at some point in the future (some irony there of course).

Face it....people are too wrapped up in their own work, families and hobbies to steal your idea and run with it.

I heard former Atlanta Braves pitching coach, Leo Mazzone, say that the best way for young kids who wish to strengthen their arms is to throw hard every day, until tired. That is how I feel about pitching new business ideas. PITCH, PITCH, PITCH until tired, every day.

If you have gone to the trouble of forming a company then you have a responsibility to protect the intellectual property of the business. However, until you have formally created your company..... TELL EVERYONE YOUR IDEA!

Pitch your friends, your relatives, your neighbors. Talk to potential customers, investors, partners, and suppliers. The more you pitch it the, the more refined the idea will become. Without pitching "your idea" at nauseum, you will never know where the pitfalls and trouble may be?

You will get a lot of negative feedback. You will get a lot of bad advice. But don't fear the wrath of negative feedback. It will hone your pitch skills and sharpen your responses. PITCH, PITCH, PITCH. Good luck!

Dare To Do!

I took my 8 year old son to DC 2 weeks ago. It is something that I always envisioned doing with my children to help them gain an appreciation and some context of what they are about to learn in school as they enter 3rd grade. When their teachers start to talk about US history, my kids will be able to say "i have been in that room of the White House" or "I was inside Ford's Theatre". It made history jump off the page for me growing up and I hope it does the same for my kids.

The Air and Space Museum was our second stop on our tour. He saw how small the Gemini capsules were and how big the Saturn V rockets were. He saw how in less than 70 years man was able to go from the Wright Brothers to the moon. We watched short movies of how 1 idea... the reality of flight.... could be used for warfare and for commerce.

As long as man has roamed this earth, he has looked up at the moon and wondered how he could reach out and touch it.... and my son touched a moon rock. It was doing that got us there. It was the thousands of failed attempts at flight that made the moon mission possible. As you see the position of Wilbur essentially laying down on his stomach gripping the controls, you realize how vulnerable and dangerous a venture this was. Injury and death were a strong probability.

So today on the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing.... possibly man's single greatest collective accomplishment, I challenge you to risk something today by "doing". Stop wasting precious minutes/hours and write down that idea that has been bouncing around your head, that business plan, that concept. Start it today! Do something and you might let other children touch the moon.

Andy

Thinking Big and Acting Locally

I saw this CNN.com piece titled, Heroes of the Economy, that really exemplifies the Think Bigger Now mantra.  I really like how folks have decided to act locally to make a difference. Take a look at the examples of folks who are paying forward or giving back to help neighbors in need.  It seems like when the world is in turmoil, the best in human kind is revealed.

Enjoy and get out there and Think Bigger Now!!!

Andy