Fernando Labastida, communications specialist

Continuing the series on fast growth companies or “gazelles,” in the previous post I discussed what a gazelle was and what three aspects of a company determined whether you are a gazelle or not.

In this post I continue to dissect Javier Murillo’s article to discuss the two axes of the gazelle “chart.”

How Does Your Company Compare to Others?

Technology companies have several resources to show them where they stand compared to others. For example, Gartner’s magic quadrant provides technology companies in dozens of industry sectors with a graphical display of where they are vis-a-vis their competitors.  Read more... (499 words, 2 images, estimated 1:60 mins reading time)

Fernando Labastida, communications specialist

What’s a “gazelle”?

How do you know if you’re a “gazelle”? Does it just mean growing your sales quickly? What does “gazelle” even mean? What about this definition:

Gazelles are companies that display rapid growth, or a potential for fast growth, that have institutionalized and professionalized, in an orderly and continuous manner, the transfer of the intrinsic value of their human capital into it’s structural value, and at the same time strengthens both by managing it’s relational value for the co-creation of value in a sustainable and scalable manner. A gazelle enterprise is one that, despite it’s size, is a good candidate for being acquired by another company, thanks to its structural and relational value, present and future.  Read more... (362 words, 2 images, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Fernando Labastida, communications specialist

As the owner or executive of a business, you have business goals. You have your 5-year goals or your long-term goals, and then there are steps along the way to reach those goals: medium-term goals and short-term goals.

If you were a retailer you might have the following goals:

Short term: sell a certain amount each sunny day, a certain amount each rainy day, a certain amount each holiday, weekend and weekday.

Medium term: Identify your best suppliers. Establish relationships with the most efficient, timely, reliable and innovative suppliers. Attract a higher number of baby boomers than your competition.  Read more... (471 words, 1 image, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Fernando Labastida, communications specialist

With the good news that retailers are increasing their IT spending, I thought I’d give a brief overview of how smaller and medium-sized retailers can improve their performance with business intelligence tools.

As a small or medium-sized retailer you face many challenges, not the least of which are increasing competitive pressure from superstores such as Wal-Mart, from smaller niche players, Internet-only Ecommerce sites, and many more.

You can start a social media marketing campaign, as that’s a good low-cost way to improve your marketing reach.  Read more... (450 words, 1 image, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Fernando Labastida, communications specialist

Clichés explain the need for business performance

Did your mother ever tell you things like: “you are what you eat,” “Hindsight is 20/20,” and “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”? Well maybe she told you the first one, and perhaps you heard the 2nd one in school, and maybe the last one you heard from your first ever business guru that your company hired to motivate everybody.

These three phrases seem like clichés, but they describe why your company needs performance management.

1. You are what you eat  Read more... (518 words, 1 image, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)