Five Essential Elements of Your Business Design

Derived from
Jeff Jarvis; What Would Google Do?

PROFIT : When the economics of anything changes, the most profitable way forward changes too. How you design your business to take advantage of the new economic landscape is crucial. Here’s five factors for you to consider…

1 Stuff It!

Stuff is stale. It’s inconvenient, expensive and you’ve got to buy raw stuff to make refined stuff.
You’ve also got to put it somewhere and then move it to where your customers are.
Until now, business was all about creating, packaging and selling stuff.
It’s now time to build your digital equity. Digital is fresh.
Amazon do it well – so well they turned their cost centre into profit. They personalize your experience, automate your service and can provide the same deal for you and your stuff.
It’s what you know that matters most.

2 Be Fast

When you search on Google, you typically receive  millions of responses in less than a second. Instant answers.
One of Google’s own principles is ‘Fast is better than slow’.
The internet has changed the speed of life. Speed is now a strategic advantage.
The live TV feed is now multiplied by the millions of live feeds on Twitter. ‘What are you doing now?’ Now? Now!
How can you be faster?

3 Go Direct

Are you a middleman? If the web is hurting your business then you probably are.
The internet is a direct connector linking  suppliers and customers. Think Ebay.
Every time you search on Google you can go straight to the source. Direct and to the point.
Unless you’re adding a significant value difference, the place in the middle is being squeezed out the end.
And to accelerate things, the web is doing it quicker, cheaper and possibly free…
Real Estate Agents and other brokers look out!

4 Be Free

In the good old days you gave away a free sample or a short-term trial to tempt new users. Now, you can give it all away. That’s right, give away your whole product for no fee.
Free is a real business model. Most of Google’s offerings, including search and Gmail are free. They make their money from advertising and premium services.
Whilst it may cost something to produce your digits, the cost of replication and distribution is free via the web.
Craigslist has disrupted newspaper classifieds – How do you compete with free? If someone can offer your service at no cost, you can’t undercut them…

5 Innovate Or…

Who’s thinking about the future in your organization? We know everyone is. And, how does your business design reflect this?
Google gives the majority of employees 20% free time. That’s one day a week spent working on new ideas, new products and new businesses. Everyone must innovate. Performance reviews reflect this contribution.
If management are the only ones responsible for innovation then you’re lagging behind. Innovation is not about keeping up. It’s about staying in business.
What are you going to do differently today?