Why Dick Smith Electronics is a dead brand walking

Posted on by Billy Tucker
Dead Brand Walking

Less than a year after Woolworths (WOW) sold DSE to Anchorage Capital (after 20 years of ownership), and the basics of retailing seem to be all but gone at the struggling Electronics retailer.

It was always hard to imagine that the specialist Private Equity firm could do a better job than WOW at shaking up DSE’s retailing fortunes, suggesting that their focus may be on the DSE Website. But try as they might, they will not build an online profit pot big enough to counter the millstone effect of a failing retail chain.

Get face to face with one of the DSE crew in any of the 325 stores (that’s Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi put together) and you will more than likely abandon any idea you once had of purchasing some battery powered thingamy.

My third trip to DSE George Street Sydney in so many weeks has left me agape at the ineptitude of the floor walkers, scarce as they may be.

Here’s an example. “hey” I said, “can you tell me about this Kensington GPRS device”, “no”, he said, “I don’t know anything about it”. “ok, well, what about this Jawbone UP?”, “no, sorry”.

Where is “Let me find someone who does”, or, “let’s look it up on one of the 200 effing PC’s we have in the store”, or “give me your email and I’ll send you something”, or ANYTHING FOR THAT MATTER – SHOW ME YOU CARE, SHOW ME YOU GIVE A SHIT! This is about care for your customer, which is an attitude. JB Hi-Fi seem to solve it with hiring and incentives, but failing that getting the culture right is a good place to start.

I may have been unlucky. Three visits and three checked-out check-out workers. But that’s all it takes to kill your brand once and for all – and after 45 years on the high street, that would be a tragedy.

Starting a business is True Grit, not The X Factor!

Posted on by Billy Tucker

Successful businesses evolve from the same place as unsuccessful businesses, but something happens along the way that makes them pop. On rare occasions, a phenomenal idea will emerge that’s backed by a suitably phenomenal management team then the magic happens, but that’s the stuff of legend. For the rest of us, separating wheat from chaff is a grind.

But the grind is the last thing on the mind of many an entrepreneur. Overnight success stories litter our TV screens, conditioning those who know no better to think that being discovered is more important than working hard. And like pitchy hopefuls on unreality TV, many entrepreneurs mistakenly assume the slippery slope to success is greased by exposure alone. It isn’t. Time spent looking for limelight could be better spent knocking on the doors of potential customers, hunting for feedback and trying to secure distribution for their shiny idea.

Walking the streets and talking to potential customers is busking for entrepreneurs, it probably won’t lead to overnight success, but you get to perfect your pitch and make some money along the way, increasing staying power and the likelihood you will nail an audition if the time is right. Better still, generate enough income to avoid external funding and you negate the allure of instant fame altogether.

A high price to pay…

Posted on by Billy Tucker

After following a link suggested by a LinkedIn contact I visited Open Forum hoping to read about a recent interview with Sir Richard Branson.

When I got there I was given the option to sign in with LinkedIn, easy I thought…Open Forum

Luckily, I paused at the sign in page long enough to read the terms and realised that signing in with LinkedIn meant I would have to pimp out my beloved LinkedIn contacts… WHAT?

In exchange for access to this interview I have to provide Open Forum access to my LinkedIn contacts, worse still, let Open Forum communicate with my contacts as me! AS ME!(Just like my contact obviously had!)

This doesn’t seem like a fair exchange to me, not by any stretch. Unbridled access to over 1,600 contacts that I know personally and getting to masquerade to those contacts as me to spruik your company message, that would surely be worth many thousands of dollars, way more than the value of the content I suspect.

Time to look for another source of inspiration!