Articles
BMN Soapbox articles by Mike Rigby
- The end of the affair - Fifty years ago, DIY took off because homeowners could bypass unreliable, hard to get tradesmen, and save a bomb by doing their own home improvement.
- On top, online - The early part of 2006 looked grim for retail and trade sales.
- Clicks or bricks, or clicks and bricks? Tick, tock, tick... - Which of these two statements comes closer to your own view?
- Half a dozen eggs and a bag of cement please - When did you last see a Tesco store? Today, yesterday, whenever it was I bet it wasn't longer than a week ago.
- Installation services, the next frontier? - Shopping for a fridge is easy. You go to your local electrical retailer and pick a fridge. It gets delivered, and placed where you want it.
- The magic of lean - Toyota is now North America's third largest vehicle maker. And while Toyota was able to raise the prices of its new North American models, General Motors and Ford had to cut theirs to induce customers to buy.
- Follow the money - In the fities and sixties few home owners had the time, skills or inclination to tackle home improvements.
- To thine own self be true - Postal regulator Postcomm says 92.5% of first class post should be delivered the next day. Royal Mail hasn't met this target for years.
- All fall down? - The 1993 movie 'Falling Down' starts with Michael Douglas' character at the end of his tether as he walks across sweltering downtown LA. Hungry, he visits a fast food restaurant.
- Size isn't everything - Size matters, but it isn't everything.
- Fish rot from the head - Builders' merchants have traditionally regarded themselves as 'traders' - companies that buy and sell. The better they do it the more money they make - it's simple!
- Death by a thousand slow cuts - We all think we know our customers, but how well do we really know them?
- The ringing of the till - Years ago Marks & Spencer used to brag that the only market research they did was to listen to the sound of the ringing of the till.
- No free lunch - It's a happy time for national merchants. Everything - growth, profits, power and influence - seems to be going their way.
- Jam today, no jam tomorrow? - Strategic thinkers say there are only two roads if you want to grow.
- Is DIY a dead duck? - Are builders' merchants' days numbered?
- Become a customer for the day - It was meant to be a simple job.
- Seize the day - Is your business growing fast? Let me be more precise.
- Taking your eye off the ball - They say if you are made redundant, you're the last to see it coming.
