The cover article on BusinessWeek Magazine  (issue 1/18) focuses on the current and future state of the workforce in the US.  An excerpt from  "The Disposable Worker" ..... this recession's unusual ferocity has accelerated trends—including offshoring, automation, the decline of labor unions' influence, new management techniques, and regulatory changes—that already had been eroding workers' economic standing. The forecast for the next five to 10 years: more of the same, with paltry pay gains, worsening working conditions, and little job security. Right on up to the C-suite, more jobs will be freelance and temporary, and even seemingly permanent positions will be at greater risk. "When I hear people talk about temp vs. permanent jobs, I laugh," says Barry Asin, chief analyst at the Los Altos (Calif.) labor-analysis firm Staffing Industry Analysts. "The idea that any job is permanent has been well proven not to be true." As Kelly Services CEO Carl Camden puts it: "We're all temps now." Wow, when you read that who the heck wants to work for any company.  Do yourself a favor and read the entire article it's chalk full of insight and realities that are bound to slap you between the eyes if your dreaming of working for one company until you retire. So why is this good news?

...it's your competition. "I've never used an iPhone" was the quote from Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein during a recent interview.  That makes him either a liar or a fool. The arrogance of not deeply knowing your competition is something that perhaps would work in the past, but today and into the future is a direct line to failure.  As an entrepreneur one of the most important things you can do is to understand who your competition is and what they bring to the market.  Whether you're a manufacturer, service provider or blogger you need to make it a pillar of your career to have the mindset of researching your competition.  Here are some reasons why... In sales you will be better prepared to sell your features/benefits over your competition In design you will be able to exploit the design weakness of your competitions products In marketing you will be able to position your product where others aren't and where others fall short In pricing you will be able to target your markets more competitively In support you will understand opportunities that your offering can utilize to reduce complaints In usability you will find nuances that no one can share with you, no matter how many videos, reviews or articles you read. Being an entrepreneur today is all about learning. You need to learn your about your competition, market and customer.  A lack of understanding in any one of those three areas is done at your own peril. How about you, do you research your competition? How? photo credit

Avatar, essentially Pocahontis in space and Titanic a story that is part of history are the top two grossing movies of all time. As an entrepreneur you should be paying close attention to them. Both of them utilized a similar formula for success that can be duplicated, tell a familiar story and infuse it with the latest technology. Each of these movies applied only minor  twists in familiar story lines but employed the latest technological process to deliver a superior experience. It's the breakthrough process coupled with a very familiar idea that makes them so successful. This is certainly not something unique to movie making. Look at two products introduced over the last decade, both technological breakthroughs, however one was hugely successful and the other was arguably the biggest bust of the decade. The iPod,  not a unique invention, not even the first MP3 player but a complete process that created something greater than the product itself. By implementing the latest technology to the process of finding, collecting and listening to music the iPod changed an entire industry. Now contrast that with the Segway, certainly a technological breakthrough but hardly a familiar idea of transportation. Without a familiar story for users to fall back on the technology was lost on most people. The thing that both of these movies and these products show us is that you don't necessarily need to start completely from scratch.  By being creative and taking existing ideas you can apply the latest technology and have a winner. What areas of your business could you apply the latest technology to a familiar idea to create a huge success?

How do you know if you're ready for what's up ahead? Are you open minded? Are you trying new things? Are you engaging others outside your industry? Are you talking to customers? Are you thinking about the future? Are you analyzing the past? Are you collaborating with others? Are you actively involved with organizations outside your industry? Are you reading? Are you watching? Are you listening? If so you're ready for whats next.  No matter what it is. Join my free newsletter where we discuss many of the things that are next. photo credit

The other day I was  driving in the car with my kids and one of my daughters hears a song on the radio that she liked.  She says "Daddy will you get this song for my iPod?"  Now she's not quite ten years old and that got me thinking about what the music listening experience was like when I was ten, that would be 1983. Remember cassette tapes? The progression of the music experience in just my lifetime has gone from records - cassette tapes - CD's - MP3's .  The MP3 format seems to be the norm (for now) while the distribution model is whats being innovated. The point to all of this is that there is a $1 billion dollar industry surrounding the iPod.  So what's the next iPod?  What business idea can you develop to help cater to that emerging market?