Image source: Ana Homayoun – Changing the Teen Lingerie Scene: My Q&A with Yellowberry Founder Megan Grassell

For the last year or so I have been following news stories and articles that have been posted on Facebook by my friend, Megan Grassell. I met Megan while ski racing in Oregon, USA, and have been amazed to watch her develop her own company that designs and sells age appropriate bras aimed at pre-teen girls because of her disapproval of other bras on the market. Recently appearing in Forbes online, Megan has now hit it in the big leagues and has established a unique brand name for herself. I find it interesting when comparing the business strategies we have learned about in class with the path that Megan chose to follow in creating her business. Megan has targeted a narrow market segment with an advantage of product uniqueness to have a focus strategy of differentiation. There are no other companies at the moment that are creating products that compete with Megan’s specialized target scope and this is why she has become so successful in such a quick amount of time. However, as we learned in class, for a company to remain successful they must constantly revamp and re-evaluate their products to stay at an advantage to up and coming competition from other companies. It’s my hope that I will be able to continue to follow Megan’s success and watch her company grow!

Sources :

http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2014/09/20/teen-entrepreneur-megan-grassell-used-her-frustration-to-fuel-a-business/

Changing the Teen Lingerie Scene: My Q&A with Yellowberry Founder Megan Grassell

This past week I came across an article in my local newspaper from back home that I found very interesting. Tesla Motors, has decided to install a Supercharger station in my home town of Revelstoke, B.C. This is big news for a small town with a population of only 7000 people. Tesla chose to install a station in Revelstoke because it is directly on the Trans-Canada Highway and in an ideal location for their customers who are travelling from the West Coast into the interior of BC and Alberta. I think it is a very smart move for Tesla to begin to install these stations on the Trans-Canada as it will attract many customers that are seeking a vehicle that is capable of travelling long distances without having to stop for long, charging breaks. Tesla is beginning to focus on expanding their market outside of the US, which I believe is necessary for company growth. Tesla is also helping to market themselves by building a Supercharger station right along the Trans-Canada where thousands of people drive by daily. Tesla has plans to build more charging stations throughout BC and Alberta along the Trans-Canada which I believe is a very strategic move and will help them exploit the opportunities of growing their business.

http://www.revelstoketimesreview.com/news/275379751.html

Image Credit : Tesla Motors

After learning this week about SWOT’s and earning a greater understanding of potential business growth, an article on Apple’s new September 2014 products caught my eye. Steven Milunovice, a technology analyst believes that Apple’s new Apple Watch and Apple Pay “are the products to watch in the long run.” In reference to company development that we touched on while creating our SWOT’s, I believe that Apple is unbelievably good at using the strengths that they have to exploit their opportunities and grow as a company. Although the Apple Watch is not the biggest news of the September Apple products, they have planned ahead for the future and created technology that no other competitor has touched on yet. Apple is already the leader in the industry, but have used the strengths that they have such as a strong brand name, marketing skills, good reputation, and media coverage to further engage themselves into new opportunities, such as the Apple Watch. Apple has come out with the Iphone 6 to please today’s consumers, but they have also come out with the Apple Watch that they believe will please the consumers of the future and place them at an advantage to their competitors. Steven Milunovice is “betting the watch alone will bring in one third of the company’s revenue and gross profit in fiscal 2015.” This is an optimal example of using your strengths to take advantage of an opportunity or new market . Apple, you’ve done it again.

Apple Watch. Digital image. Apple (Canada). N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2014/9/16/Apple-Watch-good-for-one-third-of-company-revenue-in-2015-UBS.aspx

Teck, based out of Trail, BC, since 1896, is one of the world’s largest zinc and lead smelting and refining complexes in the world. Although it has been the areas main economic powerhouse for over 100 years, the company has also been causing environmental problems for the same amount of time. In September of 2013, a US woman filed a lawsuit against Teck claiming that the company is responsible for her diagnosis of breast cancer due to toxic pollutants that were carried down the river just 30km to where she lives. The environmental issues with Teck are familiar to me as I live very close to the town of trail. Teck has known for decades about the harmful pollutants it has been dumping into the Columbia River and air and has been almost completely ignorant to it. I believe that Teck has always had a corporate social responsibility to make sure that their business practices involved an environmentally friendly and conscious plan. It is in my best guess that Teck ignored the environmental damages they were causing because they were not prepared to pay the costs associated with upgrading to a more environmentally friendly operating system. However, they are now being forced by the government to spend billions to improve their operations and also have to deal with lawsuits against them that are costing them more money and bringing them bad publicity.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/washington-lawsuit-claims-teck-toxins-caused-disease-1.2472544

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