Tag Archives: business

All You Can Eat

A Chinese buffet restaurant in the United Stat...

Image via Wikipedia

For our Foodie Friday post I want to talk for a second about “all you can eat.”  I’m not going to spend any time on a debate about whether it’s a healthy approach or not although I think most of us can agree that there’s an obesity problem in the U.S.  Instead, I want to focus on the business approach to it and not just in the food industry.

You might say – oh, I don’t really do the “all you can eat” thing except you do.  Your internet access, for example.  But unlike unlimited “seconds” on the buffet line, AYCE (I got tired of typing the whole thing out) might not work in your business and, more importantly, can have exactly the opposite effect you intend. Continue reading

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7/4 Time

Basic time signatures: 4/4, also known as comm...

Image via Wikipedia

How about a little music this morning to provide the soundtrack to our daily business discussion?  I think most of you are familiar with the basic rock beat of thousands of songs.  You might be tapping your feet to that 4/4 beat as you read this.  Or maybe you prefer 3/4 time – a typical waltz.  If we add in 2/4 time – kind of a baby brother to 4/4 – and 6/8 time – maybe a big brother to a waltz – we’ve about covered most of the music on your iPod.

Then there are those who think differently and use 7/4 time.  You’ve heard it – “Money” by Pink Floyd and “Estimated Prophet” by The Grateful Dead are the two best known examples.  This is a time signature that feels familiar and yet it’s just a bit off.  Sound like something you can use? Continue reading

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Fred Harvey

Cover of "Appetite for America: How Visio...

Cover via Amazon

Long before there was McDonald’s or Starbucks, there was Fred Harvey. You probably have no clue who he was but he’s more of an influence on your life than you might appreciate. More importantly, he put forth a bunch of business lessons that hold true today, more than 100 years after he taught them.
There’s a great book which tells his story called Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West–One Meal at a Time that I’d encourage each of you to enjoy.  But I want to take a minute and relate a couple of key things today.

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