Many people believe that in order to succeed in the business world, one needs to be cocky, brutal, arrogant, and snobby, as mentioned in Akaash’s blog post titled, “Being a Civilized Human Being and Succeeding in Business?” However, Abby Cohen is an example of someone that does not need portray these negative characters in order to be successful. Why do people believe that in order for one to succeed in business, one needs to be feared by others? The best form of a leader is someone who anyone can approach comfortably, but has charisma that induces gentle fear into them. In other words, it’s (clarify) someone who is kind and caring but strict when things need to be taken care of. Furthermore, according to the book named “Bringing Out The Best In People”, by Aubrey C.Daniels, it’s how the boss motivates their worker that differentiates a successful business from a non successful business. The book mentions that bosses need to award employees that do a good job rather than punish the ones that do a poor job – something that many companies fail to do. Lastly, the boss has to motivate the workers by giving them long-term goals that have successive rewards throughout the process.

Source: Akaash’s blog

Not only is knowing the market for your product necessary, knowing your competition is essential as well. According to the blog, “Competitive intelligence: Know your rivals,” from Canada Business Network, “Gathering information about your competitors is a sensible market research practice that allows you to be proactive about your business decisions.” Even in sports, for instance, UFC fighters train with their trainers specifically for the style of their opponents. Knowing the opponents and their strategies is crucial for UFC fighters to make smart decisions with less risk of surprises that may have come if they hadn’t prepared. Things that should be looked for according to the article are: new products or services, changes in personnel, and how competitors achieve their goals.

In business, information about competitions can be found in many ways. Some of them include: talking to the opponent’s intermediaries, customers, and other organizations familiar with the rivals. However, there isn’t a set line between ethical and unethical ways of retrieving vital information; cheating companies will inevitably have a further advantage by knowing more information. Companies should therefore invest money on ways to prevent unwanted data leakage. One way to implement this is by dealing with suppliers that only work for that company.

Due to rapid changes in technology, expectations of living, and businesses competing with one another, the world is a dynamic place. Businesses need to constantly look for more efficient ways of running their business if they are to stay in operation and make profit. Many companies in the past have focused mostly on marketing, research, keeping costs low, and improving the quality of their products. However, they missed one of the most crucial tactics for a successful business: customer loyalty. As mentioned in Adrian’s blog, “If a company wants to grow big … an excellent customer service system has to be developed.” Customer loyalty builds a relationship between the customers and the company, decreasing the likelihood that customers will switch brands when not satisfied with its product. However, the recording of a man talking to Bell’s service representative during class demonstrated that simply having a customer service does not equate to a healthy customer relationship. Customer service has to be executed in such a way as to ensure that information exchange is quick and reliable. As pointed out by Adrian, the cost and time required to establishing an effective customer service department creates a high barrier of entrance but is well worth the effort.

Source: Adrian Fung

According to the article, “What’s Luck Got to Do With It”, on New York Times, 10Xers are entrepreneurs who built small enterprises into companies that outperformed their industries by a factor of 10. The question posed by the article is whether luck was what made the 10Xers so successful. The article gave few examples where either positive luck or negative luck was occurring for the 10Xers, and how they used it to to their advantage. The examples were of Bill Gates and Microsoft; Peter Lewis and Progressive; and Lamar Muse and Southwest Airlines. This article made me realize that luck, whether good or bad, is actually not what makes a person successful, but it is his work habit, determination, and execution that sets him apart. Luck is everywhere; luck is part of everyone’s lives. It’s just the fact of how someone uses his environment around him wisely and to his full advantage that will make him a successful person. Good luck will follow hard work, and good things can come out of bad luck. “Be ready when opportunity comes…Luck is the time when preparation and opportunity meet.”- Roy D. Chapin Jr.

Source: New York Times

Zappos is a good example of an entrepreneurial company. Founded by Nick Swinmurn in 1999, this online shoe store has been growing exponentially. Zappos’s first year of sales were minimal, but brought in 1.6 million dollars in revenue just a year later. Then, in 2001, Zappos quadrupled their previous sales, cashing in 8.6 million dollars. This rapid growth in revenues shows one of the characteristics of an entrepreneurial company. Zappos’s way of selling shoes and serving customers is unheard of in today’s business market; they revolutionized (innovated) internet shopping. By providing free shipping both ways and having a 365 days return policy, it eliminated the necessity for a customer to play “guess the right size” game. In addition to these services, Zappos has a 24/7 call center, where actual human beings pick up the phone. Zappos’s also has a unique style of operation. It has a family like environment, where the workers constantly interact with each other. Throughout the year, Zappos also hold many events for the employees.Though now the company is successful, this good fortune did not come easy. There were huge risks that Mr.Swinmurn had to take in order to develop his company. Ultimately however, it paid off for him, and he can call himself a successful entrepreneur.

The renewable energy market was a very popular and strong market in the past years but has been struggling in recent years due to the economic crisis and the rise of abundant natural gas. Jose Manuel Entrecanales, the chief executive of Acciona, a major engineering company that operates wind farms worldwide, showed from a study done by Ernst & Young that investments in wind energy are better for some nations’ GDP than those in natural gas. Leaders of the oil and gas industry responded by stating that such resources are overpriced and that extracting unconventional gas can be done safely, producing low levels of carbon. Reasons why many companies find natural gases to be preferable to renewable resources is because it’s readily available, while the newer eco friendly methods are have not been around as long, causing companies to be hesitant. However, as discussed in class, being green doesn’t just mean being green. It’s a way to attract more customers and build a stronger relationship with them. One false move of harming the environment and the general public can retaliate with great force, costing millions of dollars to a company. Therefore, companies should work towards using clean energy, for the well being of both the environment and for the health of the companies.

Source: New York Times