StratSim: It's Tough

In our Strategy class, we competed against other teams in our class in an online simulation called StratSim. We simulated 10 years of an auto industry and had to make decisions every year in the areas of marketing, research and development, new product introduction, dealership ratings, and others. Ultimately the success of our firm was judged by our stock price.

Our stock price is around $8 dollars after starting at $25. The best firm in the industry had a price nearer $150. We attributed our lack of success to poor financing decisions and failure to develop exactly what customers wanted.

If I did this simulation again, from the get go we would develop cars that were exactly like what the customer demanded.

Move over Apple: The Adamo is here

So I just heard that Dell is offering the Adamo. The Adamo is a superlite computer with no CD drive, very thin, and made from a single piece of machined aluminum. It's as skinny as the fashion models holding it in the ads.

This is the perfect example of being a second mover. Dell took Apple's innovation and applied it to the Adamo, now competing with the MacBook Air. The target market would be those people who use the computer for net and word processing, nothing too task intensive because of the lack of drives. Specifically, Dell is trying to quell the trend of young computer buyers purchasing Macs. Now, with the Adamo, those purchasers can stay with the PC because a lot of the sleek stylishness of the Mac is found in the Adamo.

A lot of people I've talked to think it's a good idea, but they wouldn't buy it. They wouldn't buy the Air either, because the features are too minimal.

Does Chevron have a RedBox?

I live a block from the Chevron gas station. About a month ago they put a banner out on the corner that stated "Rent DVDs Here: New Releases"--Does that mean they have a RedBox of their own? I don't know. I looked around for a box, maybe a blue or green one, but I didn't see one. I think I actually have to go inside to get the movies, but what if when I go inside there actually isn't a box? What if it's just a rack of DVDs? What if they aren't $1. They way they advertised it made me think it was a RedBox. The sign was even red with white letters. Hmmm...

It's an interesting marketing attempt, but the strategy did not get me to go inside. I feel more comfortable knowing I can just pull up at a red box and push some buttons and get a DVD. Does anyone know about this or do I need to check it out on my own?

Go Big or Go Broke

I am currently working on creating a lounge for student in a college town where the only two places to "chill" are a pizza place and the bowling alley (pretty advanced town, I must say.). Conceptual design was a snap and finding a business savvy partner who has the blessing of the town was even easier. The problem I am running into, interestingly enough, is trying to scale back my ideas into a more affordable pay scale without losing the aspects of the business that were going to make it a hit. I need to tone down the technology and find a smaller space in order to pay for the idea, but now I feel that I am no different than every other little establishment in this town.

Who has a half a million dollars I can borrow?

Consulting for Lawn Mowing Business Owners

Did you ever start your own lawn mowing business????????

So, I'm thinking about a new strategy problem. Adolescent youth all over America are planning on starting their very own lawn mowing business this summer, just like they do every summer. Few succeed at making a profitable business. I know I attempted Hightower Lawn Care a few times and wasn't ever hugely successful from a profit standpoint. I made enough money to pay for my mower and gas, but that was about it. At one point, Hightower Lawn Care became Hightower & Co. Lawn care, or HCO Lawn Care for short, because I hired one of my best friends from High School to work with me. I thought we were true entrepreneurs because of our partnership and budding clientel base.

The tough part about a commodity service business like lawn mowing is getting intitial clients and differentiating yourself from other service providers. The next hard part is managing your clients. For a teenager, that's a pretty difficult job. I was often scared to call on my clients for jobs (I thought that they would think I was hitting them up for money when they just had their lawn mowed a week ago.). I hoped they would just call and remind me. Probably what really happened was I sat at home wondering if it was too early to call again and they sat at home and wondered why I never just came and mowed their lawn.

Perhaps customer management was a challenge peculiar to me, but assuming that it isn't, I want to develop a system where kids can manage their clients. It's all about MANAGING EXPECTATIONS. If I had come to my clients with some sort of semi-formal agreement on paper, such as a lawn mowing calendar or a written list of services I would provide and just how often I would provide them, my business would have been much more lucrative and legit.

So, I'm thinking about making a new website, kind of a non-profit help yourself consulting page where young 12-16 year-olds entrepreneurs can learn from my mistakes and get a leg up on the competition. If anyone has some suggestions for this site or advice for how I should set it up, or wants to tell me what their lawn mowing business was like, I'd appreciate your comments!