Location

Location Location Location, can make your business or break your business. The location depends on what type of business/industry you are looking to pursue. When looking into a major manufacturing facility you want to be as close to a major interstate as possible. While I was driving to the beach I noticed this town that looked nice, but it looked like every building was closed down. That's when I noticed that the area was too far from a major interstate. The cost from the location inconvenience could have shut the companies down, I am not really sure but it made sense. If you are on vacation you don't want to drive an hour away for activities. Sometimes people see a cheaper price without see the added expense of the location or inconvenience.     

New Business Pricing

When HESS in Good Hope opened the doors they had the best deal in town when it came to fountain drinks. They advertised any size soft drink or slushy for $.69. This price lasted approximately two months and when it was over the customers found out as they paid at the register. I do not know how much local business was lost due to this, but I personally know locals that stopped shopping there. It was the way HESS employees went about the price change, they did not put the regular price at the drink stations to catch your eye so you would be aware of the change. When the cashiers were asked about the bill total they replied "Do you see a sale price on the front door?"  I have talked to other people in the community and they also had a similar experience with the sale price change. I believe if HESS employees would have made the change visible customers would not of minded the price increase.   

Spokesperson

I would definitely use a spokes person to sell my new product if I had the opportunity. I feel its the quickest way to get your product noticed. With that said I also do not buy products that the spokesperson has shown a negative influence on society.  I believe that you need to pay close attention to the public feedback, and drop that spokesperson as soon as it looks like there is no way for that spokesperson to redeem themselves. The last company I remember to drop a name was Serta and Donald Trump. Serta didn't want to be associated with his racial slurs. But did Serta jump the gun? Did Serta react too soon?  Serta was one company that did not drop Paula Deen when other companies did. In my opinion Trump has overcame his negative reputation where Paul  Deen is still struggling.   

Tackling Problems

When forming a department to tackle problem its best to use people from the department that developed product, people from different areas of the product and even people that do not know anything about the product.  The goal is to create a team with group discussion about what they see and to create a fix for the problem.  There are no dumb comments or questions everyone sees the product/problem in a different way. Be careful not to get too many people that know nothing about the product, this could result in false results that could create unattainable expectations.