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NobleOak's team of business experts have put together articles on business planning and business models, marketing plans, and tips and strategies on web site design and functionality. We also introduce the terms 'pixie dust' and 'guerrilla marketing' both vital elements to your short and long term business success. Enjoy!

"Getting the Business Model Right and Pixie Dust"

Assuming that you have the correct basic business model in place, there is one last thing that you need to consider in order for your business to meet with success – pixie dust. In every business, there are 'secrets' to success. Things that the experts do that may never be verbalized or written down but that are essential for success in that industry. It is that 'magical' something that allows them to really make money.

If you get the business model right, the harder you work, the more money you make. If you get it wrong, no matter how hard you work, you just end up losing more and more money. And the 'pixie dust' is what differentiates your business and gives you leverage in the marketplace.

Here are three examples of 'pixie dust':

Example 1: Dell

In Dell's business model, their secrets are deceptively simple- Dell's Business Model is make-to-order. Instead of building a generic product and then selling it (traditional model), they sell their product and then build it to order. Think of the implications to the inventory carrying costs. They also are able to produce custom results from standard inputs in a timely manner. This is the 'pixie dust' that makes their business model work so that a college dropout (Michael Dell) can build the biggest PC manufacturer on the planet. The differentiator is the pixie dust.

Example 2: Amazon

Amazon's business model pixie dust is their use of a relational database: "Do you want to see what others who bought this book are also buying?" Obviously that is an up sell pitch for Amazon but also an incredibly useful research tool for many consumers who can utilize the millions of Amazon customers to work for them doing research. This up sell also satisfies the goal of increasing the transaction size. Having one consumer buy two books instead of one is as good as having two customers each buying a single title. The value and ‘quality’ of your customer just increased.

Example 3: Walmart

Walmart's pixie dust is simply automated and integrated inventory management (integrated with POS (Point of Sale) systems) - having suppliers send (directly) basketballs to Nashville and hockey skates to Toronto in the right quantities and at the right times. Once again, this assumes that the basic correct business model is in place: they are located in suburbia where real estate is cheaper and where they are surrounded by potential consumers, their low prices are a good value to the average consumer, and they stock the right products. K-mart had almost all of the business principals correct but the inventory system that Walmart had in place allowed them to even further lower their prices while maintaining better control of stock (less unhappy consumers who traveled all the way to the store only to find that the desired item is ‘out of stock’). Kmart just couldn’t compete while lacking the pixie dust.

There is something 'magical' in most businesses that allow them to really make money. What is the ‘pixie dust’ that will make your business successful?

11/1/2002

"Mapping Interface"

"Getting the Business Model Right and Pixie Dust"

"Tips On Web Site Design"

"Web Site Functionality" (Part 1 of 2)

"Web Site Functionality" (Part 2 of 2)

"Marketing Plan: Find Clients and Customers through Guerrilla Marketing" (Part 1 of 3)

"Marketing Plan: Find Clients and Customers through Guerrilla Marketing" (Part 2 of 3)

"Marketing Plan: Find Clients and Customers through Guerrilla Marketing" (Part 3 of 3)

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