tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post4365529941571886068..comments2024-03-26T09:38:39.888+00:00Comments on Borthlas: How much risk should we take?John Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447224248021209852noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-54029307750118827332016-09-07T12:40:27.658+01:002016-09-07T12:40:27.658+01:00Just catching up and wondering how I do without my...Just catching up and wondering how I do without my dose of Borthlas?<br /><br />As to the question, I can only answer from experience: I worked for a v large company in hospitality (pubs and stuff) and much money was spent trying out new ideas - perhaps a microbrewery here, an 'ale house' (yesI!) there. I was in a large part responsible for the creative decisions behind these ideas and translating them into something people liked enough to spend lots of money in. We did about a dozen such projects a year with spend from low to high hundred of thousands of pounds.<br />One such niche project was lovingly crafted for the Kings Road London - a gold-mine site in most situations. Our project opened with much fanfare and back-slapping: it did so badly in its first week it was closed after ten days.<br />The week of the closure I was due for a regular check-in with the group md - an a consultant my fate hung by such threads as the last job,<br />I remember his reaction vividly:<br />- we run the company's innovation arm and I expect about one project every two years to be a blinder, if we get a couple of exceptional ones a year too that's great and you've already notched those up. So mostly eight out of ten will be average or failures. Just remember that when we create a blinder it will make millions for a number of years and greatly impact on the whole business. <br />He the asked what lessons, if any, we had learnt from the failure.<br /><br />Now that's how to run an investment arm in business, or government.Peter D Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13052053953801949816noreply@blogger.com