There are arm chair quarterbacks and back seat drivers in all organization with opinions on who should drive business strategy, the sales department or the marketing department.

This month’s Gorilla Meetup, we will host two business experts will duke it out in a debate on “Sales versus Marketing: Who should drive strategy?.

According to a recent study, only 17% of marketers and 14% of salespeople say that the two functional teams are fully aligned. This statistic is probably of no surprise for most sales and marketing teams; however it seems to blind side many managers who are clueless to the internal rift between functional teams. This month, we invite two Austin business experts to debate the topic of which functional team should lead business activities – sales or marketing.

Dr. Jan Triplett, co-founder of the Business Resource Center, will champion the position that “Sales” should drive business strategy.  She draws on her long career helping emerging companies and small businesses develop sales and marketing plans to prove her position that “sales should drive”. Jan is co-owner of the Business Success Center. Jan and her team of experts help young and  emerging companies develop the processes and infrastructure required for a success business. The Business Success Center has help hundreds of Central Texas business owners with sales, operations and marketing plans to take their businesses to new heights.

Opposing Jan’s position, will be Francoise Luca, co-owner of Business Finance Solutions who will argue that marketing should drive business strategy.  She draws on her experience in marketing and sales for AT&T and NBC and Univision to explain that a well developed marketing strategy should drive business operations. Francoise has worked with small businesses, professional practices and non-profits to create sustainable marketing programs to achieve desired  business growth,  She has also help turn around companies struggling with lack of customers, sales or branding. Her clients will attest to her calm demeanor and methodical approach to building a brand, its unique selling proposition and taking the message to the marketplace as a winning solution.

To facilitate this debate, we have invited Eve Richter.  As a veteran marketer, business consultant, and business development professional, Eve straddles the fence between sales and marketing, and looks forward to moderating this epic and ongoing battle. She is currently a Marketing and Operations Associate for Drop Zone Strategies, a Business Development Representative for Sales Engine International, a fitness coach with Fitness Within You, a producer with Go Blind Go, and a pet sitter with Paw Pause Pets. An entrepreneur and stand up comic, Eve will keep this debate entertaining.

Some of the topics we will discuss:

• Who owns the customer?

• Who determines price?

• Who determines “the pitch”?

• Who “drives” in your organization and how is that working out?

Join us for this enlightening and entertaining presentation and bring your questions.

Please RSVP at:  http://www.meetup.com/Austin-Small-Business-Gorilla-Operations-and-Finance-Jungle/events/220214363/

February 26, 2015
11:30a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Sherlock’s Bakery & Pub
9012 Research Blvd, Austin, TX

• Are you asking for the price you deserve?

• Are you leaving money on the table – by not charging enough?

• Are you sure your pricing schedule is as competitive as it could be?

Join us for the October session of the Austin Small Business Gorilla Operations and Finance MeetUp group to discuss Pricing.

Debunking Pricing Myths

October 25, 2012
11:30a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Sherlock’s Bakery & Pub
9012 Research Blvd, Austin, TX

Price matters. According to a 2011 survey of 3,900 companies nationwide, 65% of survey respondents do not charge the price they deserve for their products and services. The survey also revealed that product and service pricing revenues were lower than they should be. So, how do you determine your products or services ideal pricing?

Join us for a fun and educational as we review pricing myths. The goal of October’s interactive presentation will be to give you insight on how to accurately price your products and services and to debunk commonly held myths about pricing.

Pricing is by far the most important profit lever, but most companies hugely underestimate its impact. Don’t be one of them. Come to our October presentation and learn what you need to know to set a fair yet market acceptable price!

This month’s topic is presented by Karen Millican, Owner, Karen Millican and Associates.

Karen Millican is an independent pricing architect with a unique blend of expertise in finance, administration and marketing.

She creates and implements practical pricing plans and uses her administration background to ensure that clients also have processes to keep the momentum going.

Ms. Millican has more than 20 years expertise in financial analysis, project management and marketing.

Pricing your products and services is an important business decision.  We invite you to attend this workshop and share your experience, results and question with your peers.

The Austin Small Business Gorilla Operations and Finance MeetUp hosts an educational  meeting each month.  Our goal is to provide valuable business education to business owners, start-ups and entrepreneurs in a casual non-sales oriented environment. We hope you will join us for one of our meetings or suggest a business finance, operation or marketing topic for the group.

To suggest a speaker or topic, please contact:

Sam Thacker
President
Business Finance Solutions
1-855-220-8585

Business with Mexico is big business!

Join us on September 27th at the

Austin Small Biz Operations & Gorilla Finance Group  to learn how you can get involved.

Mexico is the USA third largest trading partner after Canada and China. In 2011, the USA exported over $198,000 million dollars of goods to Mexico and imports more much each year.   American businesses have been doing business with Mexico successfully for decades.  Texas based businesses have a sideline seat to much of this opportunity, so join us for a panel discussion on how Austin companies can begin doing business in Mexico now.

This month the Austin Gorilla Meetup group will host a lively panel discussion on how Austin businesses can engage with a growing Mexican economy. Come to this free meeting and find out how to start doing business in Mexico. Learn about the business culture, the Mexican industries that are seeking American partners and goods, and how Austin businesses can participate on both sides of the border to grow markets and revenues.

This meeting will host a distinguished panel of speakers.

Join An International Panel of Business Professionals

Estuardo Robles – Vice President, Americas, Toopher

Mr. Robles is a native of Guatemala. He specializes in marketing and international expansion of technology companies. In his current role Mr. Robles supports Toopher’s growth and go to market strategy in the mobile security category for North and Latin America. He’s also a frequent speaker on a variety of economic development topics.

  Juan Pablo Mondragon, Owner, Liquid Capital Resources

Mr. Mondragon is a native Mexican with formal education in both Mexico and the US. He was a Trader of agricultural commodities with global leader Louis Dreyfus Commodities for 14 years based in Wilton, Connecticut and Puebla, Mexico. He now owns and operates Liquid Capital Resources, a financial services company based in Austin, TX that specializes in factoring. He and his wife chose Austin for its quality of life and opportunities to raise their two children. Juan Pablo has an active lifestyle, practices running and mountain biking and enjoys the outdoors.

  Adam Bates
International Business Development Manager for IC2 the University of Texas Global Commercialization and Incubator program.

Adam Bates manages the commercialization of products and services from South Korea. Adam brings to the table 13 years of management experience and 5 years experience commercializing technologies across international borders. His background spans multiple industries including tourism, real estate, software development, industrial equipment, energy, and advanced materials. He uses this background to assess the market potential of emerging technologies and take new products to the market.

Before joining the Gyeonggi program, Adam managed business development for over 35 companies in the TechBA program and authored dozens of market analyses. During his tenure in the TechBA program, he managed a market research team in addition to providing business development services to companies in the program. Over the course of three years, he helped his clients achieved over $3M in international sales by developing and executing market entry strategies. Adam holds a B.A. in History from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas and a Master of Science in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas at Austin.

  Dr. Luis Medina, CEO of TechBA

TechBA is an initiative of the Government of Mexico in partnership with the IC2 Institute of The University of Texas, to help Mexican technology companies enter the US market. Dr. Medina has an extensive career in the business world as well as in academia both in Mexico and the US. Dr. Medina founded two successful technology companies in Mexico. For five years he has been the CEO of TechBA Austin, and he has interviewed almost 500 companies from which TechBA selected and trained over 100, of which 60 have successfully implemented their business plans entering the US market in a variety of segments. Dr. Medina graduated from the National University in Mexico as a mechanical-electrical engineer and earned a PhD in Information Sciences from the California Institute of Technology (CalTech).

Reserve a seat today.

This panel of world class businessmen will discuss doing business in Mexico and offer their firsthand experiences on the opportunities and challenges that face American businesses doing business in Mexico – and Mexican companies doing business in the United States.

Austin Small Biz Operations & Gorilla Finance Group

September 27th – 11:30a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Sherlock’s Baker St. Pub

9012 Research Blvd, Austin, TX

 Invite a colleague and reserve your seats now.

RSVP

Easy Branding Tips –

Growing your business requires staying relevant to your customers. Yet, business owners struggle everyday with keeping up with all the operational issues of running a business and often neglect their enterprises’ brand. Like “spring cleaning” updating your brand can invigorate employee morale, brand awareness and sales.

We all need a little trim or a new hair cut periodically. Your brand also needs a regular grooming.

Lunch & Learn Seminars

“How to update your brand without spending a fortune” will be the topic at September 5th Kingsland Chamber of Commerce lunch and learn seminar series.

Westview Marketing will present an overview of easy branding and marketing tactics that can give new life to your business image, employee morale and most importantly – sales.

Topics to be covered include:

• Where to be seen

• Traditional Branding: what still works

• Learning from your customers brand choices

• Creating a social media plan for your brand

• Where to spend on advertising and where to cut

• Affordable and easy marketing tactics

Join us we discuss affordable branding tactics and how to get the most out of your marketing dollars.

Download a seminar flyer here.

To reserve a seat, please call the Kingsland/LBJ Chamber of Commerce at:  325-388-6211

Please register by September 4th.

About the presenter:

Francoise Luca is the founder of Westview Marketing, a boutique marketing consulting firm in Austin.  She draws on twenty years of experience in marketing, advertising and public relations, to develop affordable marketing strategies that fit her clients’ core competences, business goals and budget.  Francoise has held management positions with public relations and advertising agencies, as well as with media outlets like CBS, NBC, Univision, and national companies like Cellular One, SBC, AT&T Wireless and AT&T.  Francoise is a proud University of Texas graduate and speaks fluent Spanish.

Westview Marketing – Creative Solutions for Business
The Westview Marketing team brings a fresh set of eyes on your branding, marketing and management operations.  We specialize in seeing your vision and packaging it for your customers’ best experience.  Our team of seasoned professionals help businesses ramp up, redefine their business models, and rejuvenate revenues and customer loyalty.

Meetup – Austin Small Business & Gorilla Finance Group

Thursday, January 26, 2012 – Sherlock Baker St. Pub, 9012 Research Blvd., Austin, TX 78758

It has been estimated that American businesses lose 7% of their gross revenues to fraud and employee theft resulting in annual losses of ONE TRILLION DOLLARS. While this sounds bad enough, businesses with less than 100 employees are more than twice as likely to suffer fraud losses than larger businesses. This month the Austin Small Business & Gorilla Finance Group will explore the issue of fraud and fraud prevention.

Our speaker this month is Robert Roe, an Austin-based Certified Public Accountant and Certified Forensic Accountant. Bob will discuss the general patterns of employee theft, including specific examples from his own experience, and explain processes and procedures that small businesses can implement to reduce their exposure.

Westview Marketing is proud to sponsor The Austin Small Business & Gorilla Finance Group, and invites you to come to this free and educational discussion and take away new information that will help you run your business.  Join our dynamic group and meet other the owners of other small businesses in the Central Texas area and share your challenges in finance, operations and sales.

About the Austin Small Business & Gorilla Finance Meetup Group

The goal of this Meetup’s lunch series is to provide business owners valuable information they can use immediately in their own business in a casual, interactive and non-sales oriented environment. The Austin Small Business & Gorilla Finance group meets on the 4th Thursday of each month at 11:30 a.m. for lunch prior to the one hour business presentation starting at 12 noon.  This interactive group is still accepting business members, however seating for each presentation is limited, and early registration is suggested.  To join this MeetUp, visit: The Austin Small Business & Gorilla Finance Group and reserve a seat.

Google will present

“Texas Get Your Business Online“

Austin, Texas – July 19 and 20

Hey Austin – check out this special event presented by Google right here in Austin.

The program will provide tools and resources for Texas businesses to get online and succeed online.

According to the Google event page, attendee can “walk in offline and walk out online“.   The event is focused on those businesses and individuals who do not yet have a web presence. Web professionals will be on-hand to help create websites from start to finish.

You should attend one of these special sessions to:

• Get a free, easy-to-build website (on a Google platform)
• Learn how to market your business on the web
• Learn how to use Google products to get more customers and run your online business more effectively
• Learn how to claim our Google Place business listing

Google will provide these free 90 minute workshops on building your website, lots of free advice from on-line professional and even have computers available to learn on. Other free 60-minute seminars will be presented on Google products and tools.

Space is limited, so click here to sign up now and guarantee your spot.  Click here to register.

Creating a Marketing Plan

After the excitement of launching your new website wears off, what then?  Hopefully, you have your business plan and a marketing strategy to maximize your new website.  If not, call in the experts at Westview Marketing.  Our team can help you develop your long term business plan, find funding to grow your business, and create affordable marketing campaigns to bring in new customers.

Remember the old saying “build it and they will come“.  Not neccessarily!  First, “they” have to find you, then you have to professionally communicate why “they” should buy from your business – – and the sale process begins.
Welcome to the world wide web of business.