How to Choose Your Battles More Wisely
Compete where you have an advantage and can win, and don’t be tempted by the siren song of business models you don’t know how to execute. Read story
HERDING GAZELLES 
Karl Stark and Bill Stewart
How Attractive Are You to Potential Suitors?
When showcasing your capabilities for a prospective business partner, three key elements could help you close the deal. Read story
How to Make the Toughest Decision
If your business model has run out of steam, you can’t afford to wait. Here are six steps to help you make difficult strategic decisions more quickly. Read story
Outsmart Your Competitors Every Time
How to leveraged a low-cost structure into a strategic growth plan focused on low-risk, low-cost acquisitions. Read story
A Lesson on Cost From American Airlines
How your costs compare to your competitors can have a significant impact on profitability. Just ask American Airlines. Read story
Don’t Grow Your Business into a Corner
Even well-run companies can fail if you don’t manage the business's financing properly. These five questions can help you minimize the risk. Read story
You Can’t Cut Your Way to Growth
Trimming the fat is great; cutting to the bone will reduce your revenues, your profits, and your survival prospects. Read story
All Markets Are Not Created Equal
Developing a better understanding your markets and competitors will give you better insights about where and how to compete. Read story
Are You Bigger Than Your Widget?
The value of customer relationships runs much deeper than a good product or service. Read story
What You're Not Doing to Maximize Profit (But Should Be)
If you don’t know which products create the most value for your business, you’re probably missing out on key growth opportunities. Read story
How We Saved 30% on Our Benefits Plan
When your business is built around talent, you can’t afford to skimp on healthcare and other employee benefits. Read story
Redbox's Smart Move: What You Can Learn
The company's movie streaming deal with Verizon is a classic adjacency move that leverages the brand while limiting the risk. Read story
6 Steps to Define Your 'True North'
Identifying your business’s one true objective will provide a strong foundation for all strategic decision-making. Read story
How to Fix Your Sales Team: 3 Ways
How one company re-incentivized its sale force to pursue high-value customers. Read story
Don’t Grow Your Business With Bad Customers
Take the time to discover which customers add the most value to your business. Read story
Get an Offer That's Just Right
Finding the perfect investor can be a Goldilocks-type challenge. Here's how one company found that 'just right' investor. Read story
3 Characteristics of a Great Investor
Outside investors can propel your business and create a foundation for long-term success. The trick is finding the right ones. Read story
3 Ways to Lower Your Break-even Point
Taking steps to improve profitability can actually help you to increase customer value and build brand equity. Read story
3 Problems with the ‘Bain Capital’ Model
The traditional private equity model could use a makeover. Our goal: build a new model that creates more value for investors and management teams. Read story
Who Are Your A-list Customers?
Which customers should you be rolling out the red carpet for? Follow these three steps to identify the customers and prospects worth nurturing. Read story
Are You Doubling Down for Growth?
Entrepreneurs and growing companies must be willing to bet last year’s profits to increase the odds for future growth. Read story
Who’s Accountable for Your Growth?
Capturing growth opportunities requires alignment on targets, timelines, and, most of all, accountability. Read story
Why Your Banker Cares About EBITDA
There's no good reason to care about EBITDA, right? Wrong. Your banker and investors will care--so should you. Read story
Why You Need an Advisory Board
An outside perspective is critical to building the future of any business, big or small. Read story
The Price is Right – Or Is It?
How to develop a pricing strategy that reflects the true value of your products. Read story
How to Build Long-Term Shareholder Value
Don’t goose near-term results at the expense of long-term value creation. Read story
4 Rules for Better Marketing
Great companies use this approach to cut their cost per acquired customer in half and generate a positive return. Can it work for you too? Read story
Maximizing Shareholder Value Is Not a Dumb Idea
Despite what the critics say, management teams should still try to increase shareholder value--by delivering value to customers. Read story
Why You Should Broaden Your Investment Choices
Big, nonsensical blunders such as a bad acquisition can happen when you don't consider a broad enough set of growth paths. Read story
Building a Growth Agenda? Keep It Simple
A short list of high-value opportunities will keep you focused on what really matters. Read story
Unlikely Cities Yield Surprising Profits
A retailer expanding its locations holds lessons for any growth-oriented company. Read story
Your Team Can’t Agree on the Facts. Now What?
Get your facts straight before you launch an attack on your competitors. Here's three facts you can't get wrong. Read story
Happy New Year! Your Revenues Are $0
Each year provides a clean slate and a chance to grab market share from competitors. Here are three tasks to get you started. Read story
The Secret to Retail Store Profitability
How one retailer discovered the secret to expanding from three to 15 stores profitably. Read story
Get Your Team on the Same Page
If your strategy’s off track, complete this four-step process to put your business back on a growth path. Read story
Your Value Model is Dead. Now What?
A dead or dying value model can take your company down with it. Here's how one company came back from the brink. Read story
How Do You Define Customer Value?
Business owners sound off about determining customer value. Read story
5 Steps to Creating More Customer Value
By focusing efforts on your best customers, you can increase customer value and grow your business. Read story
The Real Value of Your Business
Measures like Price-Earnings Ratio and EBITDA multiples are just gross generalizations of the value of your business. Here's how to determine the real value. Read story
4 Steps for Calculating Customer Value
Understanding customer value is by far the most important factor when looking for ways to grow your business. Read story
