Revolutionize Your Business Through Change!

At the 2010 American Gem Society Conclave in April, William Taylor -- a best-selling author and entrepreneur -- presented a keynote speech titled, "Practically Radical: Unleashing the Big Change in Tough Times." He encouraged jewelers to create a revolution of sorts and do things differently in these challenging economic times. Taylor offered clever ideas and posed some thought-provoking questions to the audience.

Taylor is the co-founder of Fast Company, one of the most irreverent and iconic business magazines in history. Never one to be satisfied with “playing it safe,” he feels hard times separate leaders from the pack -- if you can summon the leadership skills to take risks.
 
Taylor was clever, and posed some thought-provoking questions to the audience. Here are just a few of the business savvy ideas he shared:

• What do you deliver that no one else delivers?  Be “the most” at something!
• What makes you more memorable as a business? Try and think beyond basic “customer service,” which should be a given.
• Are you learning as fast as the world is changing? Jumping on every single fad may be time-consuming and not worth the trouble, but you need to recognize that some things (like the internet and yes, even social networking) have moved beyond fad and into the mainstream.
• “Lift and Shift” is a concept that Taylor uses to recommend that one looks at other industries, lifts their good ideas and then shifts them to fit the jewelry business.