Are events the new philanthropy driver?

by Simon DochertyInsightsPosted on Comments are Disabled

The twice yearly NAB charitable giving index was recently released, showing that Australians again increased their overall charitable giving by 6.5% for the year to February 2016. http://business.nab.com.au/nab-charitable-giving-index-indepth-report-12-months-to-february-2016-16416/ The report notes that factors such as, “…a resilient economy, strong employment growth…and lower levels of consumer anxiety helped support the charity sector and the ongoing generosity …

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Embrace the cult of the individual

by Simon DochertyCulture, Data, InsightsPosted on Comments are Disabled

The term “one size fits all” is quickly becoming a turn off for consumers in a world where data availability is personalizing our every experience. It’s the old corner café mantra “know each of your customers by name”, but in operation for big business. Where before businesses with large customer numbers may not have had the …

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The business of everything

by Simon DochertyBusiness Strategy, InsightsPosted on Comments are Disabled

We live in a commercial world. Nearly everything in our lives today is run on the business principles of return on investment, cost minimization, and increasing profitability. This includes many things still considered community services like education, the arts, hospitals, transport, sports, your local kindergarten fete, and religious activities. The idea of community service runs …

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Too big to pivot

by Simon DochertyBusiness Strategy, Insights, Startup StrategyPosted on Comments are Disabled

Over at my startup, Pleezpay.com, we’re currently working through a minor “pivot” for our business. A pivot for a startup is where you shift from the premise of your original business in order to chase a specific opportunity (that’s us), or because customer feedback has told you your original premise isn’t working. It’s common with …

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The Gordian Knot in business

by Simon DochertyCulture, InsightsPosted on Comments are Disabled

“An intractable problem solved with a bold stroke” – Legend has it the untie-able Gordian knot, an ancient riddle, was solved by one of history’s iconic leaders, Alexander the Great. At just 30 years of age Alexander the Great commanded one of the largest empire’s in ancient history, stretching from the Ionian Sea on the …

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Losing your Innovation mojo

by Simon DochertyBusiness Strategy, Culture, InsightsPosted on Comments are Disabled

It’s obvious to say that most established businesses are good at what they do. They understand their product or service, they understand their market, they understand their competitors, and they understand their customer. So why do so many businesses reach a stage in their growth lifecycle where they stagnate, or get trapped in their niche? …

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Surprise and delight is important

by Simon DochertyBusiness Strategy, Culture, Emotional Intelligence, InsightsPosted on Comments are Disabled

As humans we like to quantify our world as a way of making sense of it, and to cope with change. One way of quantifying our world is to break it into easily understandable stages of time. e.g; the Stone Age, the Ice Age, the Industrial Age, the Information Age, etc. We are currently living …

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