Numbers and Stories
Apparently a letter to the editor of the National Observer (London) as far back as 1891 complained: “there are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third and most aggravated is statistics.” (Mark Twain famously paraphrased this in his autobiography as “lies, damned lies and statistics”.) Here is my definition of research and its output, and how it can be useful...

10 Books for Start-ups and Small Businesses
There are so many valuable books an entrepreneur can learn from that this list is only a starting point, rather than “the Top-10”. But the thing about lists is that even if you find one item on the list that makes a substantial difference to you, the list has been useful. In this one, I believe you will find more than one book that could create such an impact...

Retreating Retailers, Crumbling BRICs?
On the sourcing-end, large retailers have been comfortably operating beyond international borders for several decades even while the stores-end of their business was entirely domestic. It took the opening up of East European economies in the 1990s to really prime the pump for growth of international retail expansion. Are we seeing the reversal of retail globalization?

The Help-Less Customer
Companies that have not only focussed on themselves in the downturn but have remembered the customer at all times, are the ones which will manage to retain their customer relationships. And will grow faster.