Author: Lindsey McQueen

2021 Inflation and the Cost of Doing Business

2021 Inflation, You, and 2022

If you pay attention to business news—and even some national news—you’ve likely heard that 2021 inflation is coming. Or maybe that we’ll be spared until 2022.

But that’s wrong. 2021 inflation is already here.

Wait, what?

Is Inflation Coming Soon?

Economic predictions are, of course, never guaranteed. But per the New York Times, “there’s enough evidence to believe that a further upturn in inflation is coming.” But inflation isn’t all bad. Once the stock market calms down, an inflationary period is often the best time to buy stocks.

Per Inflation Calculator, the trouble started in March of this year. In January and February, inflation was at 1.4 and 1.7%, respectively. Then in March, it crept up to 2.6%.  In April, it was already 4.2%.

Then in May, it hit 5.0%. And now, through August, it hasn’t gone below 5.0%.

That’s more than a little troubling.

But What Exactly is 2021 Inflation?

Or, inflation in any year?

Per Investopedia, inflation is “the decline of purchasing power of a given currency over time. A quantitative estimate of the rate at which the decline in purchasing power occurs can be reflected in the increase of an average price level of a basket of selected goods and services in an economy over some period of time. The rise in the general level of prices, often expressed as a percentage, means that a unit of currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.”

In plain language, inflation is best understood through an example. In 1970, the standard cost of a new car was a little over $3,500. Yet in 1980, the average cost was $7,000. And in 2010, it was a little over $29,000. While the Covid-19 pandemic reduced prices, it didn’t reduce them even to 2010 levels. In 50 years, the average price of a new car went up close to ten times!

What Does the Federal Reserve Do?

If and when inflation strikes, the Federal Reserve will most likely raise short-term interest rates. The reason is to make it more attractive for banks to lend money. During an inflationary period, lenders will demand higher interest rates as compensation for the decrease in purchasing power of the money they are paid in the future. The Federal government will also sell off US securities. This takes money out of banks. And since the banks have less to lend, it forces the banks to raise interest rates.

Why Are We Experiencing 2021 Inflation Right Now?

What we’ve got right now is a near-perfect storm of circumstances, and it’s incubating the 2021 inflation we’re seeing.

Discover our business credit and finance guide, jam-packed with new ways to finance your business without emptying your wallet.

Reason #1: Supply Chain Disruptions

Remember the Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020? Remember that container ship that was stuck in the Suez Canal? The former was due to hoarding. And the latter caused some disruptions, but those were supposed to be done.

Not so fast. If you’ve had to have any work done on your home in the past year, you’ve experienced how slow and difficult it is to get lumber. This basic, vital commodity can still be obtained—but it takes longer. And delays cost money. Because those costs are passed on to the consumer, prices rise. Hence, 2021 inflation.

Reason #2: COVID-19

Well, of course. The pandemic doesn’t cause inflation by itself. But our country (as of the day writing this blog post) is missing over 600,000 people from the workforce.

When labor is scarce, it helps to raise salaries. This is because workers have gotten into a better bargaining position.

When there aren’t a lot of jobs and too few and too many workers to fill them, then the employer is in the catbird seat. They can set wages, and often those wages can be low. But the opposite is true right now. With businesses awash in jobs, but not enough people to fill them, potential employees are starting to dictate terms.

And their terms include higher salaries.

Health Care Workers, a Special Case

In addition to people trying to dictate better terms, we also have an issue with healthcare workers. Every day in the news, you see stories of health care workers who are just plain fed up. It could be that they’ve seen far too many COVID patients die, or they are angry at people who aren’t vaccinated, or they refuse to be vaccinated themselves. In any of these circumstances, this means that they just plain don’t want to work. They are ready to throw in the towel and leave.

And what is especially interesting about this is that nursing in particular was only until recently considered to be a recession-proof profession. Hospitals, nursing homes and more could barely fill job openings.

But now they really can’t fill job openings.

Retail and Hospitality Workers: Another Special Case

For people who normally make either minimum wage, or make some of their money in tips, the pandemic and its resultant pauses in our lives has led a lot of them to reconsider their career choices. People are also considering that if they need to enforce a mask requirement, then they may have few to no tools with which to do that. These people are tired of being abused, particularly for a very low salary.

So they want more money. And they’re tired of working three jobs to be able to feed their families and make rent. They’re just plain tired.

Reason #3: People Restarting Their Lives

In addition to hospitality and health care workers, there are a number of other people who don’t necessarily fit into those buckets. But during shutdowns in particular, they reassessed their lives. And some of them realized that they didn’t want to do what they had been doing. There’s nothing wrong with this. People change their careers all the time. But what we’re seeing right now is a wholesale change in hundreds of thousands if not millions of people.

Because, at times, those people are used to higher salaries, they are trying to demand them even if they need to start over at the bottom.

Social media and the regular mainstream media don’t help. If they tell people that they can get more money to do any kind of work, then job seekers will start demanding higher salaries, and continue to do so. No one will want to demand a lower salary, of course.

Discover our business credit and finance guide, jam-packed with new ways to finance your business without emptying your wallet.

Reason #4: Side Hustles

As a corollary to people changing their lives, there are also people who may have thought that they wanted to perhaps change things. But they weren’t ready to jump in headfirst. As a result, they’ve created side hustles of various kinds. With eBay, Etsy, Upwork, and various other sites where you can sell or offer your services online, people are spreading their wings and trying to do something different.

A businessperson might decide that because they make incredible muffins, that they should go into the bakery business. But chances are the bakery business is not very easy to succeed in. So instead of quitting their day job, they bake muffins on the side, and ship them. They can do so without an office, and can quit pretty much whenever they need to.

Higher Starting Wages and Decreased Supply Equals 2021 Inflation

Prices are going up. Whether it’s because of shortages, or potential workers demanding higher salaries, either way, prices are rising. Hence, 2021 inflation.

How Does 2021 Inflation Change How You Run Your Business?

The first obvious reason is that the cost of supplies is increasing. There are parts of this country where gasoline costs over $5 per gallon. And shortages of other supplies, such as lumber (mentioned above), means that everything takes longer to do. If you would normally complete, say, ten jobs in a week, but you can only complete eight now, then you will have to pass your added costs onto the consumer. And since you still need to pay rent, feed your family, and perhaps make payroll, you’ll raise prices.

If you raise prices, then other people will as well. And around and around we go.

The Inflationary Cycle

2021 Inflation Credit SuiteInflation will cut into your profit margin unless you raise your prices.

If your business customers raise their prices, that perpetuates a cycle of price increases. Government clients may start to rack up municipal debt. Individual customers might buy less, and they may even take their business elsewhere. But since inflation hits everyone, chances are they won’t find a safe haven with lower prices at your competitors’.

How Can Your Business Ride Out Inflation?

You will need business capital. This is the money or wealth needed to produce goods and services. All businesses have to buy assets and maintain their operations. Business capital comes in two main forms: debt and equity. Getting capital for business financing should be your concern.

Business financing is the act of leveraging debt, retained earnings, and/or equity. Its purpose is to get funds for business activities, making purchases, or investing. With lower retained earnings and perhaps less equity, it’s a good time to leverage debt. One way you can do so is to request a credit line increase, particularly if you’ve been a good credit customer and have paid your business’s bills on time.

Building and improving your business credit is a great way to help your business ride out inflation. Buying on credit means you can wait a bit (although not forever) to pay for goods and services. If prices go down, particularly during a grace period where you don’t have to pay, you’ll do better. But better terms will only come to your business if your business credit is good.

Discover our business credit and finance guide, jam-packed with new ways to finance your business without emptying your wallet.

How Can Your Business Prepare for Inflation?

It’s already here, but it may get worse. And, no matter what, it’ll come back when it’s finally gone. So here are some ways to get your business ready.

Your money won’t go as far. So before inflation hits harder, it should be a good idea to invest in new equipment if you need it. This may mean leveraging accounts receivable or using merchant cash advances to get capital now so you can act before inflation skyrockets.

It may also mean equipment financing and/or equipment sale and leaseback. So you can spread payments out over time.

And build business credit. Because if prices are going to rise, you want to buy from starter and other reporting vendors before that happens.

Getting Through 2021 Inflation Now, and Coming Out Better on the Other Side: Takeaways

As prices continue to rise, and demands for goods, services, and workers goes unfulfilled, inflation has the potential to worsen before it gets better. Act now. Secure larger ticket items your business needs before they become more expensive. If you need to hire, see if you can offer non-salary incentives to help break the cycle, such as offering more vacation time to new employees. And work to build your business credit before you need it, to better weather 2021 inflation and beyond. Good business credit is an asset that won’t lose its value, no matter what the economy does.

The post 2021 Inflation and the Cost of Doing Business appeared first on Credit Suite.

Business Revenue Financing

If You Have Unpredictable Business Income, Business Revenue Financing Could be the Solution You’ve Been Searching For

It is very easy to have a business with unpredictable income – especially when you have a startup venture. But business revenue financing can help you to smooth out the gaps in your cash flow.

Is Your Business Income Unpredictable?

This is the case for most businesses – you’re not alone. Unless you sell on a subscription basis, sales will go up and down. But in the meantime, you still have to pay for rent and equipment. And you absolutely must make payroll.

What is Business Revenue Financing?

It’s also called royalty-based financing. This is a way to raise capital from investors who get a percentage of the enterprise’s ongoing gross revenues, in exchange for money invested. In a revenue-based financing investment, investors get a regular share of business income until a predetermined amount is paid. Often, this predetermined amount is a multiple of the principal investment. It is usually between three to five times the original amount invested.

The business must make regular payments to pay down an investor’s principal. But this method of financing is different from debt financing. For one thing, interest is not paid on an outstanding balance. And there are no fixed payments. Payments to investors directly relate to how well a particular business is doing. If sales dry up, the investor gets a lower royalty payment.

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

What About Equity Financing?

It’s also different from equity financing. The investor does not have direct ownership in the business. Hence revenue-based financing is often felt to be a hybrid, between debt financing and equity financing.

In some ways, business revenue financing is like account receivable financing. With AR financing, a company uses receivables (outstanding invoices or money owed by customers) to get financing. The company gets an amount equal to a reduced value of the receivables pledged. The age of the receivables affects the amount of financing the company gets. See investopedia.com/terms/r/revenuebased-financing.asp.

Because repayment of the loan is based on revenues, the time it takes to repay the loan will fluctuate. The faster revenue grows, the quicker you’ll repay the loan, and vice versa.

The percentage of monthly revenues committed to repayment can be as high as 10%. Monthly payments will fluctuate with revenue highs and lows and will continue until you’ve paid back the loan in full.

The duration of the loan ultimately depends on the success of the business. The faster the business grows, the faster the loan is repaid. The RBF provider sees better returns the faster you pay the loan in full. This is one reason the underwriting process focuses not only on your current revenues, but also on your business’ potential to quickly increase revenues.

Providers will expect you to have a plan to increase your existing business revenue tenfold, as part of the application process.  Since the loan is based on your current revenue stream, lenders will want to see potential growth opportunity for your business.

Investors’ expectation is that the funds that they lend you will be used to start and support planned growth. This is like what venture capitalists would ask for through a fundraising process. See fitsmallbusiness.com/revenue-based-financing.

Which Companies is Business Revenue Financing Best For?

Business revenue financing is perfect for entrepreneurs looking for fast, easy money with little headaches. You can easily get approval for financing as much as $500,000, within 72 hours, based on a simple review of business bank statements.

This program works to help clients get funding, based strictly on cash flow as verifiable per business banks statements. Lenders will not ask for financials, business plans, resumes, or any of the other burdensome document requests that most conventional lenders demand. You can get approval even with bad credit.

One class of businesses which find RBF appealing are those too small to attract venture capital. This also includes businesses which would not normally attract VCs, like mom and pop businesses. VCs are more interested in industry-disrupting businesses.

Businesses can still have solid revenue streams, even if VCs don’t take an interest. Such solid revenue streams can grow and be sustainable for a long time. BRF can be a good fit for companies that fit this mold, because revenue-based lenders make loans based on growth potential. They are not looking for the huge returns that venture capitalists demand.

BRF is great for companies where the ownership wants to retain control. Some businesses will be growing quickly enough to attract the attention of venture capitalists. But the ownership might not like the idea of diluting their equity or giving some degree of control to a venture capitalist. With RBF, you get a loan to repay to the lender. It does not require release of an equity stake in your business, as you would have with funding from a VC.

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

Did You Know that Credit Suite Offers Business Revenue Financing?

Credit Suite works directly with lenders. We work with hundreds of investors and lenders, through several different funding programs. These lenders all offer their own different and unique lending requirements. It can be tough to navigate these alone and know all your options. This is where we help. For more information, go to creditsuite.com/business-loans.

How Do You Qualify for Business Revenue Financing?

This program is one of the easiest, most hassle-free ways you can get business funding. To determine approval, lender will often review 4 – 6 months of bank statements. All the lenders are looking for is consistent deposits. They want to see deposits showing your revenue is $120,000 or more, with $150,000 required for unsecured.

Lenders will also verify that you have been in business one year or more. Lenders are also looking to see that you don’t have a lot of Non-Sufficient Funds (NSFs) showing on your bank statements. They also want to see more than 8 deposits in a month going into your bank account. In essence, all they are looking for is that you manage your bank account responsibly and have a decent number of consistent deposits. If you meet these simple criteria, you can get approval!

Can You Qualify for Business Revenue Financing If You Have Credit Issues Now?

Our revenue financing program is perfect for business owners with credit issues. Lenders are not looking for, nor do they require, good credit to qualify.

You can even get approval with severely challenged personal credit and poor credit scores. You can get approval regardless of personal credit quality, even if you have severe recent derogatory items and collections on your credit report. This is one of the best and easiest business financing programs that you can qualify for, even if you have personal credit problems.

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

Get Fast Funding with Business Revenue Financing

You can get pre-approval for our revenue financing program, within 24 hours. Also, you can get a formal approval, within 72 hours from submitting your application.

Get your money in your bank account, within 7 days or less from applying. Our clients love this program partly due to how easy it is to apply and get approval, and how FAST you get your funds!

You can get money consistently from our Business Revenue Financing Program. Over 80% of our clients come back for even more financing after their initial approvals. Typically within 3 – 6 months of approval, you will get an opportunity to get even more money than you got before. And all you will need for approval for additional funding is a quick review of your last 2 months bank statements.

You can get your money in your bank account within 24 hours or less. Our revenue financing program helps you rapidly grow and scale your business. You will have ongoing access to receive more and more funding easily, and very quickly, just when you need it!

What are the Benefits of Business Revenue Financing Through Credit Suite?

Get 24-hour pre-approval. Loan amounts to $500,000; $150,000 for unsecured. Application to funding in 7 days or less. Get approval for additional future funding. Easy bank statement review for approval.

Pay no application fees. Also, get approval with bad credit. There are no collateral requirements. 3 to 36 month financing terms. Get approval for up to 12% of annual revenue.

Business Revenue Financing: Takeaways

Business revenue financing is a means of getting a loan. Investors lend based on your business’s potential to grow and earn. Your business pays the loan back with royalty payments. Royalty payments go up and down based on business revenue. If your business makes less, then you pay back less. BRF investors often get three to five times what they put in.

Business revenue financing works well for businesses too small or conventional to attract VC interest. It’s also good for businesses where there is VC interest, but the ownership wants to retain control. It’s also good for entrepreneurs with poor personal credit. All they need to do is show revenues. Credit Suite offers a business revenue financing program. We help you navigate the complexities of several lenders with varying requirements. Let’s take the next step together.

The post Business Revenue Financing appeared first on Credit Suite.

Product Life Cycle: What It Is, the 5 Stages, & Examples

If you work with sales, knowing about the Product Life Cycle model is almost mandatory.

The model describes the stages a product goes through in its journey from creation to discontinuation.

Why do you need to know this?

Because products in different stages demand different strategies, be that for physical products or for services.

Do you think you can attract customers to a new product using the same actions used for products that have been on the market for years?

Best case scenario, it will be a wasted opportunity. At worst, a total failure.

To get to know the stages of the Product Life Cycle, examples, and how to employ this concept, don’t forget to read this article until the end!

What Is the Product Life Cycle?

The Product Life Cycle is a management tool that makes it possible to analyze how a product behaves from its development to its withdrawal from the market, also considering its launch, growth, and sales maturity.

It is like a product journey, or to refer to a more well-known example in marketing, the customer journey.

The mind behind this concept is Theodore Levitt, a German economist who lived in the United States and worked in the celebrated Harvard Business School.

Levitt proposed a five-stage model that he named the Product Life Cycle.

The stages are development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.

Before I explain each of them, it’s interesting to understand why Levitt thought defining this model would be useful.

During his research, he discovered something that seems obvious but hadn’t been mapped until then: the characteristics of a product change a lot during its life cycle.

All the strategies around it need to consider the specific issues and characteristics of each of these stages.

This applies to sales and marketing, but also to product development and decision-making in the management sphere.

For example, when is the right moment to invest so a product explodes in the market?

When is time to step on the brakes and maybe even replace an item that was very successful on another occasion?

These are the questions you can answer with a Product Life Cycle analysis.

The 5 Stages of the Product Life Cycle

The 5 Stages of the Product Life Cycle

It’s time to explore more deeply the Product Life Cycle model.

Now that we know the stages, we will see what are the characteristics of each of them, and also the best practices to achieve your marketing goals.

1. Development Phase of the Product Life Cycle

Product development is always a very sensitive stage.

The project is still able to be iterated. You can have great expectations for it, but before the product starts generating revenue, you still need to improve your proposal, carry out tests, validate the hypotheses, and make necessary changes.

This stage is naturally integrated into the process of startup companies but is not restricted to them.

For example, an automobile manufacturer does not launch a new car without first having a consistent project and studying its insertion and acceptance in the market.

To present a real example, you might have seen the collection of leggings for dogs the Walkee Paws brand released at the end of 2018.

Development phase of the product life cycle example - legging for dogs

We can imagine that this launch was preceded by careful planning, which resulted in the shape of the pieces, the material used, and the patterns selected.

When a product is in development, it doesn’t require sales efforts, but promotion should already have begun.

Imagine the success potential of a marketing campaign from Walkee Paws announcing this novelty to dedicated dog lovers.

It could involve fun posts on social networks, generating curiosity and encouraging engagement.

There may also be press releases, billboards, or even interactive actions on the streets, among other types of marketing.

The fact is that the company must consider all this even during the development stage.

2. Introduction Phase of the Product Life Cycle

The Walkee Paws example is about the introduction.

That’s when the product goes through all development stages and is considered ready to be launched in the market.

Every day we are introduced to new items in this stage of the cycle.

For big brands, TV is a choice for promotion.

Proof: you only need to turn on the TV for a few minutes to see ads for a new flavor of soda, a different motorcycle model, a smartphone that promises new and superior features, etc.

It is no accident that this stage of the Product Life Cycle is the one that demands the most marketing investment from the company.

In fact, it is not uncommon to get negative financial results at this stage, even if sales have already started.

This is also a result of the production costs related to product distribution.

To reduce the damage, it is imperative to define the target audience and persona that represents the ideal customer profile for your products.

This exercise makes it possible to optimize your marketing investments, using the right platforms to convey the best message and reach the exact audience you want.

A good practice is to bet on inbound marketing and, by means of relevant content, ensure the user discovers the company and what it offers

This strategy is also how potential consumers are persuaded to confirm sales.

3. Growth Phase of the Product Life Cycle

If the Product Life Cycle works as it should, the next step is the growth stage.

The main characteristics of this stage are scalable sales and the maintenance of the amounts invested in marketing.

It is not possible to predict precisely when it happens, because that depends a lot on the details of the product and the market it’s in.

But it is worth repeating: if you follow the plan correctly, you are likely to reach your goals even if it takes a while.

So don’t get discouraged before you get to the growth stage.

Your investments must continue, either because of expanding your participation in the market or keeping production/output up with your sales rates.

This applies to sales of anything from marketing services, to salespeople training, to physical products.

Many companies fail at this stage and their products’ sales decline without having ever experienced maturity.

You might remember a beer brand that made fun tv ads with a short and chubby actor with a mustache as the protagonist.

For a long time, it was one of the leading brands, and the advertisements generated comments in the only social network in existence back then: word-of-mouth.

The product is still in the market, and there is no news of changes to its formula, but it was swallowed by the strong competition that is peculiar to the industry.

Lower investment in marketing would certainly be high in a list of possible reasons for this change.

So the lesson is clear: if a product is in the growth stage, it is important to have a strategy to keep it there even as new competitors start fighting for its audience.

4. Maturity Phase of the Product Life Cycle

Maturity is the peak, the highest point of the Product Life Cycle.

It’s when the product reaches its maximum potential and sales stabilize.

Once the summit is reached, it is no longer possible to grow, but the company can act to avoid significant setbacks.

The challenge at this stage is to maintain good results over time.

There isn’t a simple way to make this happen.

All the famous brands that come to mind now are where they are today because they invested in this stage.

For example, Coca-Cola doesn’t leave the media even though it “doesn’t depend on marketing.” The company understands that brands are not forever, being subject to market instabilities and behavioral changes in the audience.

Imagine if a competitor developed a new soft drink and people discover that that flavor is essential for their weekend family lunches.

With no visibility, Coca-Cola would lose space in the market, and in that situation, possibly even its place as the leading brand.

5. Decline Phase of the Product Life Cycle

It’s interesting to even imagine the end of Coca-Cola, a company with over 100 years of existence and so much financial success.

But even Coca-Cola will end one day. Maybe not the company, but its main product.

This might take 100, 200, or even 1000 years. It’s impossible to predict.

But every product reaches the end and concludes its life cycle.

When that happens, the company must recognize the painful truth shown in its performance indicators and prepare a replacement product.

If everything contributes to the idea of discontinuing the product, investing heavily in marketing to try to revert the situation tends to be too dangerous.

It might work, of course. But what if it doesn’t?

The company as a whole, and not just the product, may be endangered.

Why It’s Important to Understand the Product Life Cycle

If you’ve made it this far, you hopefully understand the concept of Product Life Cycle and the characteristics of each of its stages.

You should also understand why it’s important to apply this model to your business.

To eliminate any questions, here are the main advantages and benefits of what adherence to the Product Life Cycle model can do:

  • allow decision making with better support
  • optimize marketing investments
  • qualify sales efforts
  • offer more control over results
  • give better long term strategic planning
  • offer better organization and process management
  • provide more longevity for products
  • give more appropriate preparation to face competition
  • leading the market becomes a feasible goal

Does the Product Life Cycle Only Apply to Products?

This is an interesting question about this tool.

If it were restricted to products, the audience who would be able to make use of it would be much smaller.

On one hand, the idea that the Product Life Cycle works better for physical products is correct considering its characteristics.

On the other hand, it’s possible to be creative and think about adaptations of the model.

Let’s take a large company with subsidiaries in different towns as an example.

Each one of these units may be considered a product when applying this Product Life Cycle model; all you have to do is analyze each one’s performance individually.

Another example is a company with many brands, each with their own products.

To understand this better, take a look at the Procter & Gamble website, where you will see that the company has several active brands in the USA market.

product life cycle on products - Procter & Gamble example

In which stage of the cycle is each of these brands?

Are they planning new brands that are currently in the development stage?

To conclude, let’s look at another example.

Could services replace products in the model proposed by Theodore Levitt?

Depending on the activity the company performs, this is perfectly possible.

Let’s think about a home renovation company, for example.

It may offer a great variety of construction services, such as installing floors and tiles, painting, plastering, providing electric and hydraulic works, masonry, and more.

When using the Product Life Cycle method, you can observe the life cycle of each of these services to assess the type of investment each of them requires and the possibilities for returns in each case.

Practical Examples of the Product Life Cycle

How does the Product Life Cycle work in practice, in real cases?

We are going to take a look at two cool examples: Havaianas and Coca-Cola.

The Product Life Cycle of Havaianas

Examples of the Product Life Cycle -havaianas
  • Development: the traditional flip flops were inspired by Japanese sandals made of wood or straw; in Brazil, rubber was selected as the material because it was believed to have the most acceptance with the audience
  • Introduction: deliberately or not, its introduction in the market was a great success with classes C, D, and E
  • Growth: Havaianas flip flops were in the growth stage for most of their existence, eventually dominating over 90% of the market for flip flops
  • Maturity: maturity only came in the ’90s, with new product design, aimed at a different audience, and great marketing investment, especially with the now-classic TV ads that were fun and always starred famous actors
  • Decline: up to this moment, there are no signs that Havaianas flip-flops may go through this stage in the short term

The Product Life Cycle of Coca Cola

Examples of the Product Life Cycle -Coca Cola
  • Development: very little is known about the development of Coca-Cola and how they created the mysterious formula
  • Introduction: by 1886, the year of its foundation, the brand already seemed to have the right project
  • Growth: less than ten years after its launch, Coca-Cola was already consumed in all the U.S. states
  • Maturity: it’s impossible to say exactly when the brand reached maturity, but it’s safe to say that it has spent most of its history until now in this stage
  • Decline: since 2012, the net operating revenue of Coca-Cola has fluctuated towards decreasing; while a small decrease is within what’s expected for the maturity stage, investments in marketing and new products must continue

Product Life Cycle Vs. BCG Matrix

A product is born, grows, declines, and dies.

Isn’t this model the same as that of the BCG Matrix?

If you thought of that, you were very astute.

The BCG Matrix is another amazing management tool, created by the Boston Consulting Group (the model is named after their initials).

The BCG Matrix is very similar to the Product Life Cycle, though there are some differences.

First, there are four instead of five stages: Question Mark, Star, Cash Cow, and Dog.

Second: these curious names relate to specific characteristics of the stage in which the product is, not necessarily analyzing the entire life cycle.

Are you confused? I’ll explain.

Take a look at the table below:

Product Life Cycle vs BCG Matrix

Question marks are new products that don’t have a market yet but have great potential for growth.

Stars, as the name indicates, are at the top: they generate good revenue.

Cash cows are the future of stars: their performance has peaked, but their decline is expected.

And dogs are a problem: products at the end of the line, that no longer sell well and are unlikely to recover their space.

In general, question marks and stars demand marketing investment, cash cows no longer need investment and dogs will not recover even with investment.

Product Life Cycle Conclusion

By now you should understand the Product Life Cycle and the characteristics of each of its five stages. You also learned tips for creating an appropriate strategy for each of them, even if you’re a digital marketer and you aren’t selling physical goods.

If you need digital marketing help throughout any of the stages of Product Life Cycle model, let our agency know.

Now it’s time to dedicate yourself to reach maturity and extend it for as long as possible.

Speaking of which, in what stage is your main product? Leave a comment and share the article!

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New comment by calicoenergy in "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2020)"

Calico Energy | SR Backend/Fullstack AND SR Frontend Engineers | US Remote | Full Time with Equity | http://calicoenergy.com

Calico Energy serves utility companies nationwide and offers an enterprise software product designed to enable the next generation of energy efficiency programs (and more) for existing buildings. 40% of the energy consumed in the US is used by building stock, and our solution provides a critical first step in reducing that number.

Calico’s utility-implemented data platform helps building managers make the most of their energy footprint. We need senior engineers who work with a small team while quickly iterating toward a product used by building owners and utility admins alike. Our engineers regularly dive into all parts of the stack to ship new features, from wireframe to functional product. Attention to detail, customer-focus, and communication are key, as you’ll be collaborating daily with both technical and non-technical folks in the complex realm of utility data.

To apply: https://calicoenergy.bamboohr.com/jobs/

Welcome to Content Marketing Unlocked: Your Free Blogging Course

Blogging is so effective that there are over a billion blogs on the web. Just think about that… that’s roughly 1 blog for every 7 people. Sure, we don’t really need any more blogs, but people still create them because they can be such effective marketing channels. And best of all, unlike social sites, the …

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Individual Loans Increase But At What Cost?

Individual Loans Increase But At What Cost?

At once, obtaining cash from the financial institution would certainly have included venturing out the most effective fit and also begging for mercy to the supervisor.

Nowadays, financial institutions call clients in the house and also inquire if they wish to get a car loan. They practically provide you difficult time if you’re not obtaining.

Equally as it’s never ever been simpler it’s additionally never ever been quicker. You can get the phone as well as organize to obtain cash as promptly as you might schedule a table at a dining establishment.

Regarding two-thirds of the method up, someplace in between a bank card as well as a home mortgage, is the individual finance.

A bank card nowadays indicates having the ability to purchase that need to have outfit or CD prior to pay day, yet extra costly solitary expenditures, such as acquiring an auto, spending for a wedding celebration or reconstructing a home, it’s the individual car loan that has actually taken control of.

While charge card loaning dropped by ₤ 300 million in mid 2006, web financing on individual car loans and also overdraft accounts climbed by practically 3 times the quantity seen in June, the current stats from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) program.

New charge card loaning got to a four-year reduced getting to ₤ 7 billion, while individual fundings and also over-limits expanded in appeal, approximately an internet borrowing of ₤ 655 million.

Supervisor of data at BBA, claimed that regardless of the decrease in home loan loaning, various other methods of loaning of ending up being a lot more hassle-free and also prominent.

“Unsecured financing is presenting fairly a various fad, with the development price remaining to decrease, mostly mirroring the continuous tightening in charge card loaning,” the supervisor claimed.

In April, Moneyfacts claimed that while bank card transfers can supply less costly prices than individual fundings, individuals doing not have self-control with their settlements can take advantage of the framework an individual financing gives.

Brand-new study from uSwitch appears to suggest that the much less you obtain on an individual car loan in the UK, the extra most likely you are to be paying rate of interest prices that are greater than the loan provider’s marketed Annual Percentage Rate (APR).

When debtors look to pay off early, the significant loan providers all use charges. Paying the finance early will instantly activate a fee of ₤ 175.

The fees do not finish there. Difficult fine print discusses that customers are connected right into the finance for 8 years.

Car loans can compete as lengthy as 25 years provided the quantities entailed. If you desire to settle your funding within 3 years you will certainly have to pay 6 months’ well worth of rate of interest on the impressive quantity.

Considered that some clients are paying as long as 3 to 4 times the going market price for fundings of greater quantities it is approximated that majority a million Brits that got small business loans of much less than ₤ 5,000 in the in 2015 are paying excessive.

There might currently be a warranted and also extremely legitimate plaintiff that they’re being unjustly struck by this plan of using various rates of interest relying on just how much is being obtained.

UK car loans do still stay one of the most inexpensive feasible methods for Brits to obtain huge amounts of cash (over ₤ 5,000) and also so the prices of financing for little finances (under ₤ 5,000) by UK financial institutions must be checked out with care.

Look around for the least expensive individual lending feasible is likewise the suggestions of the head of individual money at uSwitch, that keeps in mind that rates of interest do stay very uncompetitive on tiny car loan quantities in the UK.

This would certainly seem the situation despite whether the individual lending is protected or unprotected as UK lending institutions still use a rate based system to the rates of interest they bill.

Alternate loaning, such as a 0 percent charge card, need to additionally currently be consisted of in any kind of choices you are taking a look at if you are thinking about getting a little funding in the UK with a really minimal settlement duration.

It might simply be the times for Brits to begin believing of obtaining bigger amounts of cash simply to aid minimize the price of the loaning.

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