“Same procedure as last year? Same procedure as every year…” Who doesn’t know these legendary lines from “Dinner for one”? But they cannot be applied to business models, especially not in such turbulent times as today. [Read more…]
Research and Development in Times of Crisis
The forecasts are currently driving beads of sweat down the foreheads of many SMEs: falling exports, low economic growth (if any), rising energy prices, uncertain supply chains. But the glass is also half full: SMEs are more flexible than large corporations and can therefore exploit untapped opportunities more quickly. One possibility: to push ahead with research and development in order to be able to offer optimised or new products quickly.
Crisis winners – crisis losers: What are the consequences?
The word “crisis” is being used inflationarily right now, because we are spoiled by years of growth and economic success. And now this: still a pandemic, uncertain supply chains, plus a war-related energy crisis and the climate crisis that can hardly be explained away after a dry summer. Yes, these are more difficult times than five years ago – for people and for the economy. But crisis winners – crisis losers: is that the right question? [Read more…]
Bob Dylan already knew: “The times they are a-changin”.
In these weeks, many companies are busy preparing for the next year. Strategies are being rethought, plans are being made, budgets are being calculated.
Some companies are also putting their own business model to the test. The profound changes brought about by digitalisation and automation have left their mark, as has the pandemic. Many have already learned to embrace new things, have tried out a few things and have been successful.
This also applies to the new course set by the pandemic. For these, the question now is whether to keep the new or go back to the previous model. Here I would like to invite you to pause. Because times are changing and sometimes business models born out of necessity are actually the better solution in order to be well positioned for the future. [Read more…]
Don’t bake small rolls
That’s what the bakery ‘Die Brotpuristen‘ in Speyer told itself. Because it was becoming increasingly difficult to find young talent, the owners analysed what prevents young people from becoming bakers. And the night shift was at the top of the list. But who actually says that you have to start at 2 a.m.? That is actually only necessary if you want to offer customers freshly baked rolls from 7 am. The bread purists therefore decided to stop baking breakfast rolls and to start operations at 6 am. Sales now take place in the afternoon, and the offer focuses on artisan breads. This gives the dough more time to develop, resulting in tasty breads that last longer and are easy to digest. And the customers? They’re thrilled and are overtaking the bread purists.
What does such an example mean for other companies that also have problems with young talent? [Read more…]