I love long relaxing weekends, as it allows me to detach and really think about things. It is also a great time to read and catch up on RSS Feeds. Lately, I have been reading a lot about Tim Ferris, and his book The Four Hour Work Week.
Tim has an interesting blog post from last week Start-up Strategy: To Change the Game, Change the Economics of How It’s Played which includes an interview he did with Alan M. Webber co-founder of Fast Company magazine and former editorial director of the Harvard Business Review. Apparently Alan developed a very interesting habit more than 20 years ago, when he began to carry a supply of 3 x 5 index cards wherever life took him. He wrote down and collected the lessons and insights he gleaned from his experiences traveling the world and in his interactions with people ranging from CEOs and spiritual leaders to basketball coaches, novelists, and stars from dozens of other worlds…
Alan goes on to say;
“The game today is all about changing the game. Competing head-to-head on products and services is table stakes. Innovators are looking for a new business model that will destabilize their rivals and produce a breakthrough opportunity. In fact, in a recent survey of top-level executives in established companies IBM found that the biggest shared concern is that somewhere in the world—in a garage or a dorm room— someone is coming up with a new business model that will overthrow their established way of doing business.
What would Craigslist founder Craig Newmark do to our beloved Apartment Rental Business?
What would happen if what we typically charge for, say rent, were Free? Free, as the saying goes, is a pretty good price. What if we did what King Gillette did and give away the razor? What would we charge for?
There are a lot of ways to reinvent an economic model. But most established companies are unwilling to do it because it would mean destabilizing their own operation. The Trail Blazers, those who really turned the model inside out changed forever the way business is done on their given fields.
What can we do in the apartment business that creates a model that will Overthrow the Established Way of Doing Business.
Eric’s background is rooted in the rental and real estate industries. He founded metro Detroit’s Urbane Apartments in 2003, after serving as senior vice president for a major Midwest apartment developer. He established a proven track record of effectively repositioning existing rental properties in a way that added value for investors while enhancing the resident experience.
He also established The Urbane Way, a social media marketing and PR laboratory, where innovative marketing ideas are tested. Eric has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine and Business Week Magazine.
You can connect with Eric_Urbane on Twitter.
Eric also writes regular articles for the following publications;
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