Official website of Dave Berkus
- “The Every Three-Million Dollar Crisis” 08/07/2025Here is a phenomenon I discovered over time when dealing with many small start-ups in their early revenue period. A very predictable series of rotating crises seemed to befall almost every one of these young companies. These became so predictable that I could accurately label them as occurring about every $3 million in gross profit […]
- Defend you pricing against the competition! 07/31/2025This week, we continue our series on marketing and positioning. There can be nothing more important in your business planning that selecting the proper pricing niche, making your story clear using that niche, and the defending your position against the competition. So, here comes the lesson and your challenge. The five major niches There […]
- “Where there’s mystery, there’s margin.” 07/24/2025Here’s a phrase I created in the early 1980’s to describe what I clearly saw as the last chance to make high margins on the sale of computer hardware to businesses. In the day of the mainframe and then the minicomputer, margins for manufacturers exceeded 35% and dealers were granted a 35% margin as well. […]
- Three magic questions to increase your sales: 07/17/2025Why buy IT? Why buy MINE? Why buy NOW? What a powerful set of three questions. These are so succinct, so well defined, so precise that everyone in sales and everyone involved in marketing must be able to answer these three questions without pause, and convincingly. Turning these into statements instead of questions provides […]
- Faster is sometimes more valuable than better. 07/10/2025And doing both well usually wins the day. This is one of those arguable insights, where both sides win. Dell is a great example of emphasis upon fast, creating a customized computer in 48 hours or less, bringing in assemblies and components just-in-time to make the assembly line. However, if Dell quality were poor and […]
- Are YOU the bottleneck in your business? 07/03/2025Every business has bottlenecks At many board meetings, I can be counted upon to ask, “Where’s the bottleneck this month?” Senior management is usually prepared with an answer, and a good discussion of resource availability and application follows. Sometimes, the bottleneck is not so visible to the CEO. In those instances, I follow with: “Do […]
- What’s your business “end game?” 06/26/2025Ever think about growing your business with the plan to sell it someday, cashing in on your hard-earned work over the years? Or if you’re an employee with stock options, are you aware of the increases in value you can make with your efforts? Then again, you may be an architect or doctor or other […]
- Are you ready to scrap the system and restart? 06/19/2025There is more money lost in businesses today from inefficient processes than any other single area. Yet this is not a place where most managers feel comfortable deconstructing and rebuilding. Somewhere out there is a consultant or future employee (or even suggestions from present employees) that will provide the roadmap toward making your processes run […]
- Bet the farm only when the crops are on fire! 06/12/2025How much risk you and your company are willing and able to tolerate over time? Most people believe that early stage companies should take risks aggressively because there is less to lose and much more to gain with each risky bet or decision. Common thinking goes on to address large, public corporations by expressing that […]
- You are watched, mostly when decisions are tough! 06/05/2025If you have been in management or an entrepreneur long enough, you will have experienced the gray area of decision-making where ethics, the law, your needs and expediency all collide. This is the time when you are paid the big bucks, and when others aware of your plight will be watching most carefully. It is […]
