Jim Blasingame

Business futurist, award-winning author, speaker and columnist

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Archives for January 2018

The Customer What Customer Syndrome Part I

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Here’s a classic business maxim that was an article of faith for generations: “It’s essential to know at all times what your competition is doing, or you might lose old accounts and new prospects.”

Do you still worry about the competition? In the Age of the Customer, an obsession with the competition can result in an unfortunate and dangerous condition I call the “Customer? What Customer? Syndrome,” or CWCS for short.

A company has CWCS when it’s more likely to ask, “What’s my competition doing?” than the much more appropriate questions, “What do my customers want?” and “What are my customers’ expectations?” 

There are two levels of CWCS. In this column, we’ll focus on Level I.

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Use your spirit for discovery and growth

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Do you think about the force that drives your protoplasm around; the keeper of your courage; the only thing that’s different about identical twins? 

You know – your spirit.

Everyone should be conscious of their spirit, but it’s essential for entrepreneurs.

In his beautiful book, Eternal Echoes, my friend, the late John O’Donohue spoke to entrepreneurs: “When you open your heart to discovery you will be called to step outside of your comfort barriers; you will be called to risk old views and thoughts. But your spirit loves the danger of growth.”

Let’s consider a few of John’s words.   

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How to get success to come and play in your backyard

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This is a “How to get your business off to a good start in the New Year” column, without any resolutions. You’re welcome.

It’s about fundamentals that have served businesses since proto-market was born, when Og dropped his club and suggested to Gog that they do business instead of killing each other for what they wanted. If you’ll find a way to incorporate these ten fundamentals into your daily/weekly/monthly management practices this year you’ll have more fun because success will come and play in your backyard. If you don’t, well, you know.

1. You must produce and manage with regular and accurate financial statements: profit and loss (a/k/a P&L, a/k/ an operating statement) and balance sheet. In business, you can’t get where you want to go if you don’t know where you’ve been. 

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Jim Blasingame’s 2018 Crystal Ball Predictions

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Here are my 2018 predictions. My 18-year accuracy is 73%. 

Tech Stuff

1. Remember this prediction I made in 2016? “Expect to hear more about blockchain technology, disconnected from Bitcoin.” As a technology platform, blockchain stops being a novelty in 2018.

2. Multi-year prediction: Blockchain, and variations on the theme, will be the next Internet-class disruption, except it will be a much greater one. You’ve been warned.

3. Crypto-currency (Bitcoin is just one of many) is the money of the future, but the future isn’t here yet. As long as there’s high speculation in a currency – crypto or otherwise – it won’t be a dependable, stable store of value (see Tulipomania).

4. You’ll become increasingly aware of a new concept – digital ethics – as you discover that by using apps, games, social media, virtual/augmented reality, digital assistants, etc., you and your online behavior, are in fact, the product being sold.

5. One positive result of the above prediction will be your increased scrutiny of how Big Corporations employ digital leverage -artificial intelligence, Big Data, etc. – regarding manipulation, privacy and security.

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The good, the bad and the ugly of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

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This is my third column (Apr/Oct) on tax reform in 2017. The first two warned about how small businesses might be treated badly. I was right.

This analysis of the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) primarily concerns all businesses and how they might use tax savings in the economy. But first, some perspective.

There are three groups vying for tax cuts: large businesses (corporate America), small businesses (pass-through entities) and individuals, who usually spend their tax cuts. 

Businesses have a threefold impact by spending, investing and creating jobs. For small businesses, it’s an article of faith that they reinvest any cash from a tax cut back into their business. Everybody knows that. Nothing new here. 

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