Quicksilver Companies : The Battle for the Online Consumer

by Griffiths, Alan

• ISBN13: 9780333960288
• ISBN10: 0333960289
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2001-11-03
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The most difficult but most exciting aspect of online business is that there are no rules. Everyone has a business plan, but the real secret is being able to re-write it and change shape, again and again, as you interact with your customers. The victors in the online battle are those that can provide instant gratification, by anticipating their customers' needs and by being flexible enough to remain one step ahead. These are the QuicksilverCompanies and this book is about them. As the creator of the BBC online site and advisor to businesses such as The Financial Times, SkyDigital, BP, Amoco, and others, Alan Griffiths has been at the frontline of online business for several years. In this book he provides the reader with practical advice on how to make the great ideas in the e-business books work in practice and real-life stories to show how to avoid the pitfalls.

Author Biography

Alan Griffiths is managing partner of e-communications, the online consultancy division of Chime plc.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	vii
Preface	viii
Acknowledgements	xi
Introduction The Knowledge	1	(1)
The online checklist	2	(4)
Quicksilver Companies	6	(1)
Quicksilver	7	(11)
What created the internet boom?	8	(10)
Supply Chain Reactions	18	(12)
Defining the chain	19	(3)
B2B or B2C?	22	(3)
Ambushing a supply chain	25	(1)
Second is best	26	(2)
Attacking the fat	28	(2)
The Technology Test	30	(8)
Keyboards and human intelligence	30	(2)
Using online to drive up costs	32	(4)
Stick to online	36	(2)
Timing	38	(9)
The technology trap	39	(3)
Ahead of the market	42	(5)
Defining the Market	47	(13)
Is there a market?	48	(4)
Define and lead	52	(3)
DomainAudit.com - the e-comm market benefit process in action	55	(5)
Online Branding	60	(16)
Emotional reasoning	61	(6)
Online advances into branding	67	(9)
The Plan and the Pitch	76	(16)
Don't do this	76	(1)
Do this	77	(1)
The two-minute rule	77	(2)
The first step	79	(7)
The next steps	86	(6)
Doing the Numbers	92	(14)
Online financial logic	93	(2)
Methods of finance	95	(3)
Cash flow is king	98	(5)
Online assets: a golden rule for investors	103	(3)
Partnerships	106	(4)
Strategic partnerships	107	(1)
Community partnerships	108	(2)
The Where	110	(7)
Taxing the taxman	110	(2)
What to look for in an online tax haven	112	(5)
The Team	117	(14)
Nasty things to do to an online employee	118	(3)
Structure is not organization	121	(3)
Typecasting	124	(7)
How to Use It All	131	(12)
Use the checkpoints in this book	133	(6)
Now keep your online business trading successfully	139	(2)
Value checking and brand building	141	(2)
Product Checks	143	(18)
Utility - check that your product is delivering the goods	144	(7)
Customers are unaware of your product or its benefits	151	(4)
Supporting the brand	155	(6)
Where is It All Going?	161	(10)
Online markets which will grow	162	(5)
Subtle changes	167	(3)
Subtle, strange and immeasurable	170	(1)
Notes	171	(2)
Index	173