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Safest,
smartest, successful
business strategies look under, around, and above it - then deep in it.
Rob
Cummings knows about a lot of things - from training, self-education, and
life experience
The
best way to get down to business is by not leaving your desk.
Working
with you and your team online, we push the
envelope while leaving no stones unturned as we
first comprehensively define, analyze, assess:
-
your
market
-
your
industry
-
your
direct competition
-
others
competing for the same dollar (indirect competition)
-
trademarks and IP liabilities
-
other
potential risks and liabilities
-
faster,
better, smarter processes and procedures
-
your
current business plan, if available
-
all
issues related to your future success
Then
we help discover true competitive advantage, and leverage it:
-
create a marketing, sales, branding, and business development strategy
-
develop
concepts that fully leverage your competitive advantage
-
differentiate
you from the competition in the way you work
-
position you
in the marketplace
-
assess
and/or resolve aspects that may cause risk or problems
All
of the above - and more - is accomplished without the need for face to
face meetings. We are able to do this with a unique and extremely
productive method.
For a quick rundown, see
Business Plan Worksheet
FAQs, then come back here,
We insure success via our methodology. Learn
more >>
The
true value of our work is in the high level of thought and strategy behind
it.
World class approach, world class outcomes, right from the start.
The Cummings Design approach is similar to that of the golden age of the world's leading
advertising agencies, design firms, and PR firms, when winning strategies
and solutions were given far more serious consideration - and legal
departments and other advisors were more closely engaged to reduce risk.
With Cummings Design, you can expect the depth of thought, insight, and comprehensive
strategic solutions
that might come from the golden age of advertising, or from a brilliant and forward-thinking, yet seasoned and experienced
CEO, or an agency superstar. Fully conceived, effectively executed, with
little if anything left to chance.
 
Visit our online
store to see how we work and our approach to
work.
Brilliant
ideas are much better than cute headlines.
An ad agency discovered that taking two Alka-Seltzer®
could be beneficial without harm, and recommended that the packaging
directions and advertising suggested to the consumer to always take two.
This take two concept, along with other applications for the
product (not just for headaches but also hangovers and other uses), nearly
doubled Alka-Seltzer® sales. In other words, ideas that go far
beyond catchy slogans and translate into real opportunity.
We
work with companies of all sizes that have a realistic
budget, an open mind, and a desire to do things right - the first time.
For
example:
!
SpecialtyMatch
Network came to us thinking it wanted to develop a series of upscale
niche matchmaking (online dating) Sites. They ended up with a concept for Sites dedicated to social networking - a much
broader and much more powerful concept. Our social networking concept increased the value of the
dating Sites while it enabled the entire concept to be more appealing to a
much wider audience.
!
N.V.
Perricone MD cosmecuticals came to us wanting to improve its web Site and
online store. The concept we developed and implemented enabled visitors to
create a Personal Prescription online. This helped transform the
N.V. Perricone MD from a $2,500/month e-commerce web Site to a $350,000/month web Site in just four
months.
!
medicinenet.com
came to us wanting to improve its search
engine visibility. Our recommendations led to a revamping of the way the
information was presented, making the Site far more useful, and ultimately
to it becoming a WebMD company.
We
have many other similar client stories.
It costs more - but not much more - to do things right. It costs much more
to do things wrong. Learn
more now about avoiding risks.
We
analyze the direct competition as well as others (indirect) who are
competing for the same dollar.
For example:
-
The
movie theater is an indirect competitor to the video rental store.
-
The
Internet is an indirect competitor to television programming.
-
Fast
food outlets are indirectly competing with fine dining establishments.
-
Wash
and wear fabrics indirectly compete with dry cleaning.
The
fact is that you may have more competition than you thought.
We
help define all the competitors and position your business to succeed in
the marketplace with unique strategies and concepts.
We
leave the kids at home.
Everyone involved with Cummings Design has over 15 years of experience,
and some much more. Rob Cummings has been in the business since 1979.
We're old enough to avoid mistakes, wise enough to judge a fad from a
trend, hip enough to cater to any market, and experienced enough to know
right from wrong.
If you're reading this and don't think we can create for a youth market, see
this.
Our work is appropriate to the target market and therefore we have no
style, other than the 'correct style' and the proper approach.
Don't take us the wrong way, kids can have great ideas, and we love
working with them... but they lack experience.. and increase the risk of
error. We do not believe any company wants to increase risks, and this is
why many companies hire us to help even where we are not actually doing
the work.
Based
on research and analysis combined with years of experience, we are
able to discover opportunities by viewing your business and industry from
the outside, far away from your industry, and away from any preconceptions,
internal office politics, and other factors that may be holding you back.
Visit our online
store to see how we work and our approach to
work.
We
help you win, not just play.
We look at your business and industry from an open-minded and
creative point of view, do the required research, then list and identify
those areas where your business can grow - and how it can grow based on
true competitive advantage.
In the process, we uncover
possible courses of action where there is little or no additional cost of
implementation that we may also take advantage of.
In
addition, along the Murphy's Law line of thought, we constantly assess the
potential for risk and liability in all aspects - including but not
limited to avoiding trademark problems and other issues many 'creative'
firms might overlook.
True
competitive advantage beats catchy headlines, flashy graphics.
Catchy headlines and 'cute' solutions are easy. Our
competitive strategies are thoughtfully conceived, thorough in every detail, and based on your
company's strengths and capabilities.
Often, we discover new opportunities to expand in your marketplace (or to
other related markets you may not have considered), or to add value to an
existing product or service, or to re-purpose an existing product or
service.
Sometimes our recommendations take advantage of weaknesses that
we recognize in your competition. Rarely do our recommendations involve
outrageous ad or other spending - and often no significant spending at
all.
Normally
we provide strategic business development as part of the deal, and
especially where we are called upon for business consulting or advice.
If
we see nothing else your business can do to grow or expand based on its
existing strengths and capabilities, we will let you know before we even get
started.
Other
aspects of winning strategy.
True competitive advantage is the big idea, though we also help in other
ways too. Like developing better and more efficient production methods,
streamlining internal and external processes and procedures, improving
customer service while reducing costs, developing more fool-proof methods
to maintain trade secrets, and helping develop and implement ways to run
business smarter and with reduced risk.
Visit our online
store to see how we work and our approach to
work.
Related
topics:
Company, product and service naming,
and domain
name research
How
to avoid trademark, company, and brand name problems
Choosing the best business structure
Developing best partnership agreements
More resources and other business-related topics
Home
Thank you
for visiting, hope this helps.
/rob
cummings/
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