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2176 : STEP FOUR – PLANNING FOR IMPLEMENTATION

perceived standard office hours as a potential limitation, one which he
overcame by designing 24-hour/7-days-per-week operation into the
business model.

enduring loyalty to the old In contrast, senior managers behind the
unsuccessful launch in 1985 of New Coke failed to identify correctly
customers’ loyalty to the old brand and their reluctance to embrace the
new. The decision by Coca-Cola simultaneously to withdraw the old
brand was apparently based on the encouraging results from market
research which had inadvertently suggested to participants that the new
brand might be in addition to, rather than a replacement for, the tried
and tested formula.

Three months after the launch of New Coke, the old brand was restored
under the title ‘Coca-Cola Classic’. The corporate climb-down over what
was portrayed as a national symbol achieved the type of saturation
news coverage normally reserved for disasters or diplomatic crises.165

finance It is almost inevitable that finance will represent one of the

major blocks to implementation. While the ‘big-money model’ of
business start-up has a certain glamour, the reality of starting your own
business is often more to do with supplementing savings by borrowing
money from friends, family, banks and credit cards than it is to do with
seeking funds from angel investors or venture capitalists.

As we will see in the case study at the end of this chapter, for example,
the £310-million-turnover Jollibee Foods Corporation had its origins in
just two ice-cream parlours, established by Tony Tan Caktiong with a
loan from his father.

It is equally a question of reducing or eliminating expenditure wherever
possible, like Internet Securities, Inc. opting for off-the-shelf software,
Jeff Bezos making desktops out of cheap doors or Michael Dell using
standard componentry for his customised Dell computers to minimise
the level of inventory and overall cost.

human resources Recruiting and retaining appropriate staff can

be a major block for a business start-up because money may be tight or
non-existent, you want to avoid as much financial commitment as
possible, and staff may not wish to work for you, perceiving the venture
as too risky, perhaps.