X-Cultural work places

Business, Communication StickyApril 28, 2015 Bhavita Leave a comment

Having worked in a corporate setting in both India and the USA with end users in many South Asian countries, I have noticed a number of cultural differences. While it is challenging to adapt to a culture when you are trying to work (and collaborate) on a project, it is also fun. You learn a lot about different cultures and once you understand the subtle differences, it should be relatively easy working with people from different countries. Andy Molinsky, author of Global Dexterity, states that there are…

User Experience in Mobile Phones

Influencers, User Experience StickyApril 24, 2015 Bhavita Leave a comment

User experience (UX) is a very critical area when it comes to everyone’s favorite device these days – the mobile phones. Apple has certainly laid down a benchmark for exceptional user experience and Android devices are now are trying to match the UX and are providing equally competitive phones. User experience in basic terms is defined as overall experience of the user using the end product. Cnet has expertise in reviewing phones and provided a few years ago a great article on the essential elements along which…

Strategy – Is it overrated?

Business, Strategy StickyApril 22, 2015 Bhavita Leave a comment

Some say strategy is good, some say strategy is highly overrated, some have built their careers on strategy and some, especially in corporate circles, believe strategy is something higher executives deal with and they are miles away from it, working on the day to day issues of their business. As for me, I love strategy. That is because there are so many benefits to it. My favorite quote on strategy is: Strategy involves trade-offs. The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. –…

Targeting Women? Think Again!

Advertising, Marketing, Women August 18, 2015 Bhavita 2 Comments

This is my very first write-up in the series on “Women portrayed in Advertising”. Researching for this topic has been a lot of fun! It was, at the same time, an eye opener and very inspirational. My research overall led to one conclusion – It is NOT easy targeting the women segment. Here’s why… While men’s role and interests have been pretty much straightforward, women have evolved greatly over the years (and they do change roles in their own lifespan). In advertising, women have been portrayed either as the…

August Theme Reveal

Advertising, Business, Women August 3, 2015 Bhavita Leave a comment

Hi Everyone! This time I am glad I am not beginning my blog with the – “Its been long that I have blogged” statement. That is because I did blog in July on Small and Medium Businesses. Though there weren’t as many blogs as I would have liked, still four a month is better than none! Right? Choosing a theme helped and it really does narrow down the scope of topics for me, in a good way. So the theme for August is…Women as portrayed in Advertising. I…

My Favorite Productivity Tools For Business Owners

My Top 5 Favorite Productivity Tools

Business, Habits, Management, Medium Enterprises, Small Enterprises July 10, 2015 Bhavita 4 Comments

When you are an owner of a small business, there is always so much to do! Following are my top five favorite productivity tools that help me increase (or improve) the number of tasks I am able to conquer in a day. 1. Routine I love to-do lists. But long to-do lists are overwhelming sometimes. It helps when you have a routine set. A routine reduces the decisions you have to make in a day and leaves you with more energy to accomplish important tasks. It will take some…

Why 80/20 Matters For Entrepreneurs

Business, Management, Medium Enterprises, Small Enterprises July 9, 2015 Bhavita Leave a comment

The 80-20 rule, also called as the Pareto principle, is based on the fact that 80% of a problem is caused by 20% of the causes. Joseph Juran studied this very basic concept and built his very successful theory on Quality Control and Management. While this is a statistical concept, it has been used in various fields including sales. As a thumb rule, “80% of the sales come from 20% of the clients”. My own personal experience has been the same. 90% of my clients have actually come…

Market Research Resources for Small and Medium Business Owners

Online Market Research Resources

Analysis, Marketing Research, Medium Enterprises, Small Enterprises, Strategy July 8, 2015 Bhavita 2 Comments

Apart from research resources at the local public library, small and medium business owners should really leverage the greatest resource at their fingertips – the world wide web. There are several online research tools that provide a snapshot of your businesses versus the current market situation. I use the following tools on a consistent basis: 1. For businesses in the USA, the most basic resource for business analysis and research is “Sizeup”: https://www.sba.gov/tools/sizeup Once you enter your business category and area code, it provides a list…

July 2015 Theme Reveal

Medium Enterprises, Small Enterprises June 25, 2015 Bhavita 6 Comments

Hi there! I have been missing from blogging and I have missed it! The last blogging marathon I did was the AtoZChallenge back in April. The main reason for being missing in action is that I find it difficult to come up with just one blog topic. Looking back at my AtoZ Challenge experience, I noticed that I am able to write on topics when I choose a theme. So here goes…{Drum roll please…} For July, my theme for blogging would be “Marketing and Business Insights for Small…

Reflections – AtoZ Challenge

Analysis, Blogging, Marketing, Marketing Research May 5, 2015 Bhavita 10 Comments

During the month of April, I blogged everyday except Sunday. It was part of a challenge called “AtoZ Challenge”. You can read all about the challenge here. It was a daunting task for me since I blog about marketing and picking topics everyday from the marketing field was the most challenging part. It really helped when one day, I sat and wrote down all the alphabets in one column and possible marketing blog topic ideas in the other column. Everyday after that, I just had to…

ZATZ-it! – Can you guess who said it?

Blogging, Books We Love, Brands We Love, Communication, Influencers April 30, 2015 Bhavita 2 Comments

Book lovers and parents can probably tell who he is! Of course, as always, the banner provides the clue – or should I say the answer? Yes, this person is Dr. Seuss! ZATZ is the word he used when he wrote on innovation and it goes like this… And ZATZ is the letter I use to spell ZATZ-it Whose nose is so high that ‘most nobody pats it… So, to get there and do it, I built an invention: The Three-Seater Zatz-it Nose-Patting Extension -On Beyond…

What is Watson Analytics?

Advertising, Analysis, Technology April 27, 2015 Bhavita Leave a comment

Did you see the recent commercial of IBM’s Watson Analytics? Yes, it’s the same Watson Intelligence software that beat Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in Jeopardy in 2011! IBM made available Watson Analytics to the end user around Dec 2014. The two key points about IBM Watson Analytics is that it is: Data Analytics and Reporting software in the cloud Based on the “Freemium” model The key capability of Watson Analytics is that it has an ability to understand language and hence a complex technical query is…