THE LAST WORD


JOHN COULTER, BUSINESS ADVISER, TARGET COMPONENTS


“Don’t assume you can only learn from the IT channel. Don’t assume it has to be from business. Any success from anywhere holds valuable lessons.”


WE’VE ALL heard that you learn from your mistakes. But it’s better – and far less painful –


to learn from others’ successes. In fact, the whole progress of mankind is based entirely this principle. Independent retailers are perfectly placed to do the same. As business owners you can make changes when you see fit. But do you ever find yourself making excuses about why you won’t be as successful? You control your destiny. There’s


nothing that should stop you learning from others. There’s nothing to stop you applying that to achieve your own success. You should always say: “If they


Issue 120 September 2013 Editor


Dominic Sacco @Dom_Sacco dominic.sacco@intentmedia.co.uk


Staff Writer Laura Barnes @roradrum laura.barnes@intentmedia.co.uk


Managing Editor Andrew Woodden andrew.wooden@intentmedia.co.uk


Publisher Lisa Carter @lisafosteruk lisa.carter@intentmedia.co.uk


Incorporating


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can do it, so can I.” But where to draw inspiration from? And how to understand why it was successful? Don’t assume you can only learn


from the IT channel. Don’t assume it has to be from business. Any success from anywhere holds valuable lessons. The answers are all around you. Take sport, for instance. The last decade has seen British cycling transformed. From virtual ‘laughing stock’ to world dominance in track and road racing. If you don’t already know about this, look it up – it’s a truly remarkable story. Now imagine applying even a fraction of that success to your own business.


Impossible? Not at all. The key is in understanding how they went about it. The British cycling success story


started with an absolutely clear goal – winning the Tour de France – and a plan for how to do it. But what really made the difference was an utterly relentless, single-minded determination. The realisation that nothing would be achieved by chasing a single ‘silver- bullet’. And the resolve that the answer lay in making lots of small – in some cases almost insignificant – gains across every part of the team. Sir Dave Brailsford, Performance Director of British cycling, uses the


Sales Manager Rob Baker @Roppo_ Rob.Baker@intentmedia.co.uk


Associate Sales Manager Carole Eagles Carole.Eagles@intentmedia.co.uk


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phrase ‘the aggregation of marginal gains’ to describe this. But look closely and it’s possible to see why this approach is so very powerful. Because it works by more than just aggregated gains, many times the small improvements multiply up. So the result is exponentially large. It’s entirely possible to apply ‘marginal gains’ to a small IT retail business. The issue is: how? We’ll be exploring this at the Target 2013 Open Day on September 13th. Why not come along and start your journey to world domination? For more details, visit the Target Components website.


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