Consumption Chain

Rapid change spells opportunity for the entrepreneur, if the entrepreneur has the passion and openness to see it.

McGrath and MacMillan have a handy flow chart of a consumption chain. This is a layout of all the steps a customer goes through in buying a product. Basically, these steps are: (1) awareness of need; 2) search; (3) selection; (4) order and purchase; (5) delivery; (6) payment; (7) financing; (8) receipt; (9) installation and assembly; (10) storage and transport; (11) use; (12) service; (13) repairs and returns; and (14) final disposal. (Rita McGrath and Ian MacMillan, The Entrepreneurial Mindset. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2000, p. 57.)

These will vary by industry. For example, buying a refrigerator is different from buying real estate. But in step, there is embedded a great opportunity waiting to be exploited. What's been happening is that traditional busines models have been "blown to bits" and whole industries created from each step in the consumption chain.

All my activities are entrepreneurial. For my thoughts on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com; for real estate 2.0, click on www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.