Saturday 20 March 2010
I-AM is fundamentally a business focused on knowledge and understanding.
In its simplest form, let’s look at how we use it to align supply and demand for a shopping centre. We need to begin with the shopping centre product. To bring it to market (which centres have to do, day-in day-out) you need to know something about supply – about tenants, suppliers, marketing, finance, HR and so on.
You also need to know about demand: who your customers are, what they want, how to reach them, and all of that.
Value happens when these two forms of knowledge – about supply and demand – are brought together in alignment, so that the one informs and feeds the other. The respected author and founder of Ctrl-Shift and Mydex Alan Mitchell says: “Looking at things from this perspective, you could say that every product and every service is just a piece of crystallised knowledge”.
The speed with which retail and consumer trends change means that the process of crystallising knowledge needs to happen in real time, and not long after the event.
We understand this sort of stuff; it’s what makes us different. Helping owners see round corners is what we do for a living.
Feel free to comment.
Mike.
Wednesday 17 March 2010
Luke Johnson (ex-Channel 4 boss) tells us that the most important word this decade will be reinvention.
He is right. Wholesale renewal is required. The causes of this upheaval (which have been charted in previous posts) include the economic downturn, an ageing population, the digital revolution and environmental issues among others. We are told that this is the age of austerity. It wasn’t that long ago that I sipped champagne on a boat overlooking the harbour in Cannes. Farewell the age of excess then? In fact “good riddance” describes my feelings so much better.
As an industry we must be more ingenious and industrious. Productivity must be increased, resources preserved and borrowings repaid. When organising a turnaround, almost the only golden rule is to remove the management who were in charge when the ship went down. The old guard can never admit that their policies were misguided – this is why they must be cleared out quickly.
According to the worldly-wise Mr Johnson (who runs Risk Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and is also chairman of the Royal Society of Arts) “bureaucracy should be eliminated and technology embraced to accelerate development of everything from better transport to new energy sources”.
This is encouraging since I have spent the last three years building a best in industry technology supply chain that can manage business performance in real-time, carry out detailed retail analysis and manage a home town smartcard scheme all at the same time. VERY CHEAPLY. We love technology as it’s good value and improves user-experience.
So this is a decade of opportunity for those willing to embrace the change that is happening in the retail property industry. Ten years from now we will see a completely different relationship between landlords and tenants, and a completely different experience from the customer’s perspective will be the net result. That’s a win-win and something akin to the reinvention that Mr Johnson seems to be seeking. The industry is just getting itself modernised – and about time too.
What do you think?
Feel free to comment.
Mike.
Wednesday 10 March 2010
We are proud to be different from the market – sometimes being different, but it makes us who we are. If you know us as individuals, then you’ll realise that fairness and equality are our passions. As business people we take our responsibilities very seriously because we know it’s the only way to compete.
We take time to understand:
• The real needs of our customers. We aim to provide them with value for money destinations, which combine safe, quality environments with exciting, often educational experiences.
• How to develop our products in line with broad environmental needs. That is reflected in our decision to choose town centres over out of town locations, and efforts to respect local social and environmental issues. (We are developing a social business sister company that rewards businesses and individuals for behaving responsibly).
• The need to work in partnership with the communities in which we operate. We seek to develop town and shopping centres into destinations which reflect the culture and environment in which they are situated, not to impose our view on them
• To provide our workforce with equal opportunities in all areas – recruitment, promotion, development and benefits – working as one team supporting and trusting one another, and recognising and respecting individual contributions. Our aim is to ensure all our colleagues enjoy work, celebrate success and learn from experience.
• To extend that respect and team approach to all our business dealings with our business partners and advisors
Creating a sustainable business is our number one priority – in our opinion it makes good business sense.
Feel free to comment.
Mike.