Category Archives: strategy

10/17/18

Strategy Report Card – Better Next Year

Big Red Car here in rainy and flooding Austin By God Texas. The flooding situation is getting very serious in the Hill Country to the west of Austin. Lake Travis – an enormous body of water, 30 square miles in surface area – is full to overflowing. It is at the sixth deepest depth of water since it was inundated in 1942.

Image result for images hill country flooding 2018

Floodwaters topping Max Starcke Dam on the Colorado River by Marble Falls and upstream from Lake Travis. Lake Travis is a flood control dam — thank you, Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn.

So, today we talk about planning your strategy for CY 2019.

But, first, we have to take stock of how the strategy fared in 2018. Now is the time to begin that reflection.

Here is a guideline to begin the process.

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08/3/18

Pricing Strategy – Rent the Runway

Pricing strategy, Rent the Runway, Big Red Car? Huh?

Full disclosure: The Big Red Car has never rented a dress from Rent the Runway, but the Big Red Car has always been intrigued by RTR’s pricing strategy.

Oh, my goodness, Big Red Car!

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 24: Jenn Hyman, Christian Siriano and Jenny Fleiss attends the Rent the Runway DC store Opening at Rent The Runway on November 24, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images for Rent The Runway)

Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss – co-founders of Rent the Runway – at their 24 November 2014 opening in Washington, DC (Kris Connor/Getty)

So, it’s a beautiful warm Austin day and we live in the greatest city, in the greatest state, in the greatest country in the world! Ahhh, on Earth as it is in Texas!

So, the Big Red Car has always been a fan of a smart pricing strategy. I think one of the smartest guys out there is a chap named Patrick Campbell of Price Intelligently by Profitwell.

Here is their website: Price Intelligently.

Pricing strategy is a way for a company to obtain a better source and magnitude of revenue by being smart. You should be reading that Price Intelligently blog.

As a bonus, here is the Price Intelligently “Tear Down” on the Rent the Runway pricing model. Read it here.

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09/23/17

Facts & Strategy

Facts are nice things. Not as nice as a root beer float, but nice.

Big Red Car here on a cool Texas morning with the Fahrenheit set at 72. Hello, Fall!

So, I am in the midst of helping a bunch of CEOs either craft their first crack at strategy or to revise something they did some time ago.

Writing strategy is an exercise in storytelling. It is fiction. It is the future and all writing about the future is fiction. It is fiction you intend to make come true, but it is still fiction.

It is, however, based on facts.

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09/12/17

Editing for CEOs — CEO Shoptalk

Editing for CEOs, Big Red Car? Huh?

Big Red Car here on a perfect Austin By God Texas morning, y’all. Day for a long run with the top down in the 70F weather? Indeed!

OK, today, we talk about editing in the context of finally getting you to commit to writing the Strategy for your company, dear CEO. Just a first draft.

That is Strategy in the Vision, Mission, Strategy, Tactics, Objectives, Values, Culture continuum with a side of crawl, walk, run. Whew! That is a mouthful.

Nothing is done until it is done and that means you have to edit it. So what exactly does that mean?

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09/2/17

Strategy — First Draft

Strategy — let’s get you writing that First Draft, shall we? First, let’s figure out where it fits.

Big Red Car here on a sunny, dry ATX morning. Sun is shining, but it is cool. Maybe the summer is over? Haha, you’re so silly. This is Texas. Summer doesn’t end until October 23.

OK, so I keep getting folks who don’t get where Strategy fits into the Vision, Mission, Strategy, Tactics, Objectives, Values, Culture continuum.

I want to help y’all, so I made a picture of it for you.  Continue reading →

08/25/17

Writing Strategy — CEO Shoptalk

How does a new CEO write Strategy? First, she gets her mind right. Here’s how.

Big Red Car here expecting Hurricane Harvey this weekend. Likely won’t get to the ATX until Tuesday. Whoa, Nellie!

Pray for those along the Gulf Coast who will be dealing with the first hurricane to hit Texas since Ike in 2008. Governor Abbott has already designated thirty Texas coastal counties as disaster areas. The Feds are already pouring into the fray. Well played, FEMA.

So, the Big Red Car is constantly talking to CEOs about their Strategy — the Strategy for their company. It is, sometimes, a confusing and disjointed talk.

We see CEOs having no problem with Vision and Mission, but the second it turns to documenting their Strategy, things go haywire.

The objective today is to get you in the right frame of mind to write your Strategy. Not to write it, but just get into the right frame of mind to be able to write it.

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02/13/17

Employee Retention III — For CEOs Only

Big Red Car here in a Grammy swoon. Didn’t watch them at all. Sorry.

The BRC got a lot of emails about — the difference amongst Strategy, Tactics, Objectives.

I sent the emailers here: Strategy v Tactics v Objectives for Startups << link.

Somebody wrote to me, “That’s simple, BRC. Can you make it even simpler? Please?”

Huh? Go read that. It’s pretty damn simple, but being the accommodating chap I am, here goes.

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