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26 News bits, on trend

Connect the dots. Adapt and prosper

The pace of change will never be as slow as it is today. Business has become a race to connect the dots and make sense of a frenetic and fast moving world. Some of us will get lost in the mire. What do you do?

Change happens so quickly we’re lucky if we even notice. Trends are obscure, noise is high and relevance is lost. In spite of these challenges, looking outside your own industry is particularly beneficial when you want to understand what’s going on inside.

According to a new study of small to midsize business owners (1700 with an average revenue of $4.7m), growth begins with control, not revenue. “Getting control of the business … is what leads to real growth.”

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” —Charles Darwin

I hope you find my sample interesting, and motivating. Be industrious.

’08

Last time U.S. factories operated at the current 32 month high (79 percent of capacity)

www.bloomberg.com

21+

Dow Jones Industrial Average 2013—percentage gain for the fifth consecutive session

www.nytimes.com

85%

Consumers who say they are willing to pay above standard price for a product or service to ensure they receive a superior experience

North American Customer Experience Report published by RightNow Technologies

1991

Last time single-family housing starts climbed 20.8 percent in a single month. The 727,000 starts in November 2013 was also the most starts since March 2008

Bloomberg—Lorraine Woellert

15

Number of companies Apple acquired in the fiscal year ending Sept. 2013. “None [of them gives the company] new users or revenue.”

Bloomberg

51

Age of GM’s new CEO, Mary Barra, who on January 15, 2014 becomes the auto industry’s first female chief

Forbes

#1

“The Business of Belief,” the best business book of 2013 according to Inc.

www.inc.com

18%

Marketers who actively collect data insight to create a holistic view of their customer

Teradata—Lisa Arthur

56

Age at which fictional James Bond would have killed himself boozing

British Medical Journal

52%

Scorpio Tankers (STNG) expected 2014 sales growth. The tiny shipper (14 tankers) also expects a 298 percent earnings growth.

Bloomberg

­

$16T+/-

Projected: China’s household wealth. Now growing at its fastest pace in 5 years

Bloomberg/Bank of Japan

80%

Number of business owners who say inconsistent cashflow is a problem

2013 Pulse of Small & Midsize Business Study

5 years

When computers (PCs) are predicted to see, touch, feel, smell and hear

Dr. Bernie Meyerson, head of IBM Innovation

$3,100,000,000

Estimated size of the worldwide additive manufacturing market (3D printing) by 2016 ($5.2 billion by 2020)

www.forbes.com

$250,000

Price of one seat on Virgin Galactic. The wait is 650 long for the 2014 space flight

www.virgingalactic.com

85,000

Number of GE-Boeing fuel nozzles that will manufactured in 2015 using 3D printing

Bloomberg report

143 vs. 70

Cost of a megawatt hour (in dollars) worldwide—solar vs. natural gas

http://theenergycollective.com

44%

Portion of those surveyed who say their supply chain will be [modified] to be primarily customer-centric in the next two years

www.supplychain247.com

Six in ten

Consumers who say they are more likely to tell others about their experiences today than they were five years ago

Dimensional Research Study

330lbs

Approximate weight of BMW’s I3 passenger frame—made entirely at the company’s $100 million carbon-fiber plant

www.businessweek.com

579,814

Number of students enrolled in engineering programs in Mexico in 2011—double the number 5 years earlier

http://www.businessweek.com

4.4%

Manufacturer purchasing managers sales projection for 2014. (2013 projection: 4.8 percent; actual 3.4)

Bloomberg—Michelle Jamrisko

$12.7B

Size of global automakers investment in Mexico, since 2010 (Nissan, Honda, Mazda and Volkswagen’s Audi)

Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich

38%

Number of junior Wall Street employees who told pollsters they would engage in insider trading (to make $10m) if they were certain they wouldn’t get caught

Bloomberg—Kyle Stock

2014

GM’s Cadillac CTS—Motor Trend “Car of the year” (2013 sales quintupled 2012 sales)

Motor Trend

60/60/63

In a survey of the “Inc. 5000,” about the sacrifices owners make to support their businesses. Sixty percent tapped savings and postponed vacations; sixty-three percent cut back their salary

www.inc.com

HIT Solutions believes the more your business keeps up with important trends, the more you will improve your product, and improve your bottom line.

Leave me your comments below; share your thoughts.

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