Intrawest ULC, the venerable Vancouver-based ski-hill operator that owns Whistler Blackcomb and nine other ski resorts around North America, discovered in 2005 that it was beginning to feel the passage of time.
Having started out as a ski-resort real-estate developer, it had become a retailer of sports gear, a resort owner and manager, a housing developer and the operator of a luxury adventure travel agency. By 2006 it was a wide-ranging resort conglomerate employing 22,000 people.
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Despite today’s emphasis on strategic planning, few businesses actually think very long-term. Bigger market-listed businesses focus on the quarter to keep their stock up; small businesses are notorious for believing long-term means anything beyond next month.
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Cause-based groups work much like small businesses in B.C. The goal of an association, society or not-for-profit might not have to do with making money, but its operational and marketing requirements are much the same.
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In creativity methodology, there’s a brutal aphorism that describes part of the creative process. “Killing your babies” is the jettisoning of those favourite phrases that were the initial impetus for innovation but no longer serve their purpose.
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Problem: A business plan packed with killer software...that nobody wants.
Solution: Stop listening to the techies, start listening to customers.
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It’s good to know how, but more important to know why
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In the software world, it’s eat or be eaten
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Problem: Balancing on the bleeding edge of change
Solution: Determine what the market needs and deliver it
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PROBLEM: Neglecting to plan for the unpredictable
SOLUTION: Think flexibility as much as finances
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