Cruising Pulsepress, I found Julia’s post on the topic of competition for Netflix (I know, I gasped too) and felt the need to comment back.

The appearance of Shomi, the collaborative creation by both Rogers and Shaw, was expected– maybe not so much the creator partnership between Rogers and Shaw, but the idea of a rival for Netflix was heavily anticipated.  And it’s unlikely that Shomi is the first of its kind to take on the beast that is Netflix.  Although, none have been successful as I was not aware of the ‘competition’ until a quick google search enlightened me.

While it is a good move for Rogers and Shaw to follow the trends, as most people now prefer steaming television rather than cable, is it worth it this late in the game?  As recalled from the article for the class 8 prep on positioning, Ries and Trout both agreed that “It is quite difficult to change a consumer’s impression once it is formed.”  Since Netflix was the first one there, everyone remembers it.  Netflix is iconic.  Netflix has left a lasting impression on consumers.  Supposed ‘rivals’ will have a tough time even getting near the level of recognition that Netflix has among the general population.

Yes, there are some weak points in Netflix, particularly in their Canada website which only offers roughly half of its American counterpart (and it seems to offer the bad half to be honest).  However, that isn’t a major issue as there are still ways for Canadians to access the American Netflix site.

I actually don’t think that Shomi will succeed in taking out Netflix, but I also don’t think that destroying Netflix is its purpose.  Shomi’s purpose is to offer another direct streaming source.  They don’t want people to abandom Netflix (as they realize few people will), they want people to embrace Shomi additionally.

And a shout out to Julia for her lovely post. 🙂

Sometimes, it’s hard to work with your friends to get anything done, to make any productive decisions everyone agrees with.  If that is true, what made Tim Warrillow and Charles Rolls decide to go into business together just after about a few hours of knowing each other?

Well, Warrillow made quite the first impression on Rolls.  Rolls said he was not too concerned about starting a tonic water brand (Fever-Tree) with Warrillow as “‘[Rolls] could see an energetic, but pretty mature and determined individual.  Tim was exactly the right type of person.'”

But what is the right type of person?  What makes someone good in business?  When I sit in the CPA Hall between classes, I see all these people– older students dressed far more professionally than myself, fancy latte in one hand, fancy smartphone in the other– and they almost seem to blend together.  Like they were all cut from the same mould that mades a businessman/businesswoman.  But what about those people who don’t feel like they fit that mould?  The ones who are different.

Good news for them is that there isn’t a mould and business is driven by being different.  In products and people, differentiation is a positive thing (a strategy in fact).

From Rolls’ first impression of Warrillow, I gathered that while there isn’t a cut-and-dry type of business person, there are some advantageous traits that I feel successful business people share.  As quoting Rolls, some of these are maturity, energy and determination.  You won’t get anything or anywhere in business by being a whiny child– maturity.  Business is fast and dynamic– energy.  And nothing will ever move forward if you don’t have the drive nor the motivation– determination.

Or maybe it doesn’t take any of those traits.  Maybe if you just care about what you’re doing then you’re set.  Maybe passion for something is what motivates and drives success.

Rolls also says that, “‘As long as you have mutual respect you can go a long way further in business with two heads rather than one.'”  In business, even if you’re the boss, teamwork is key.  You have to respect and cooperate with one each other— fundamentals most are taught in preschool.  With the right team of committed and driven individuals, any business can flourish.

What does it mean to be in business?  This is something I think about a lot.

I will always think about this a lot.

Bibliography

Setting up business with a stranger. (n.d.). BBC News. Retrieved September 28, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29209814

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/09/us-diamond-sec-accountingfraud-idUSBREA0813020140109

From my readings, the major point I gathered regarding ethics as a whole is honesty.  In fact, what I have learned in my eighteen years is that honesty is typically ethically responsible, in both business and personal affairs.
The article I found talks of a company, Diamond Foods, being forced to pay five million dollars to settle civil charges regarding artificially inflated financial statements– misleading investors.  The dishonest, and also illegal, practice made the net income for that fiscal year appear higher– exceeding the expectations of analysts which raised suspicion.
No one wins in cases of fraud. (Especially the corporations doing the deceiving in the first place so they are basically shooting themselves in the foot in regards to the long run).  Corporations, when caught, lose reputation points, trust from investors and also the value of their stock (the stock of Diamond Foods fell to $17/share from a high $90/share after the unraveling of the accounting scandal and the restatement of the proper– much lower– amounts).  Meanwhile, shareholders, who trust that the business is being honest about their financial statements because it’s the law and morally correct, are being fooled.  Once they discover the fraud, they are quick to pull out their shares– causing the stock to plummet (which for those who’s strategy is shorting the market but that is an entirely different matter).
It’s purely a no win situation– financial dishonesty may be a short term solution to a financial crisis by hiding it behind false numbers but the truth will always be revealed– eventually.