Do Something Remark-Able

In Seth Godin’s 2003 book called Purple Cow, he challenged businesses to stop playing safe by continuing to do what they have always done, or making small changes to existing product/service lines, and rather try more radical ideas to take a market by storm. The business world is a bit different now than in 2003, but the principal remains very relevant, I believe. The opportunity to gain significant market share by coming out with revolutionary ideas for new products or services are just as good now as they were 10 years ago.

Seth used the analogy of a Purple Cow. Nobody really notices one cow from the next. They are very familiar and pretty boring. A PURPLE cow however. Now that is something that would grab your attention and be something to talk about. Imagine if you could come up with a purple cow in your business. What level of free publicity would that provide and in these days of social media, how fast could that positive talk spread? How “able” is the idea to make people “remark” about it to their friends and become “remarkable”? What sort of additional sales and profit could that lead to?

Seth provided a guideline in his article to help you in the thinking process. I have included it below and I encourage you to talk to your staff about this list and challenge them to think about purple cow ways you can change the company. It doesn’t need to be a totally new and radical product that will cost millions to develop either. It can just be a radical new way to answer the phones or provide customer support, or guarantee customer satisfaction.

Here is Seth’s list to help you in the thinking process:

1. Differentiate your customers. Find the group that’s most profitable. Find the group that’s most likely to influence other customers. Figure out how to develop for, advertise to, or reward either group. Ignore the rest. Cater to the customers you would choose if you would choose your customers.
   
2. If you could pick one undeserved niche to target (and to dominant), what would it be? Why not launch a product to compete with your own that does nothing but appeal to that market?
   
   
3. Create two teams: the investors and the milkers. Put them is separate buildings. Hold a formal ceremony when you move a product from one group to the other. Celebrate them both, and rotate people around.
   
4. Do you have the email addresses of the 20% of your customer base that loves what you do? If not, start getting them. If you do, what could you make for them that would be super-special?
   
   
5. Remarkable isn’t always about changing the biggest machine in your factory. It can be the way you answer the phone, launch a new brand, or price a revision to your software. Getting in the habit of doing the “unsafe” thing every time you have the opportunity is the best way to see what’s working and what’s not.
   
6. Explore the limits. What if you’re the cheapest, the fastest, the slowest, the hottest, the coldest, the easiest, the most efficient, the loudest, the most hated, the copycat, the outsider, the hardest, the oldest, the newest, or just the most! If there’s a limit, you should (must) test it.
   
7. Think small. One vestige of the TV-industrial complex is a need to think mass. If it doesn’t appeal to everyone, the thinking goes, it’s not worth it. No longer. Think of the smallest conceivable market and describe a product that overwhelms it with its remarkability. Go from there.
   
8. Find things that are “just not done” in your industry, and then go ahead and do them. For example, JetBlue Airways almost instituted a dress code– for its passengers! The company is still playing with the gift certificates. A book publisher could put a book on sale for a certain period of time. Stew Leonard’s took the strawberries out of the little green plastic cages and let the customers pick their own. Sales doubled.
   
9. Ask, “Why not?” Almost everything you don't do has no good reason for it. Almost everything you don't do is the result of fear or inertia or a historical lack of someone asking, “Why not?”
   
10. What would happen if you simply told the truth inside your company and to your customers?

I challenge you to come up with a remarkable, purple cow in your business and then milk it for all it’s worth!

For a full copy of Seth’s article, click here.

Andy Burrows

Business Advisor, Coach and Mentor.

Find me at www.iconbusinesssolutions.co.nz

Zen and the Art of Business

In case you hadn't noticed the Chinese know a thing or two about business and have been pretty successful at it for a few thousand years. The communist revolution put the brakes on entrepreneurship for a while, but you can't keep a good thing down and the leaders of China know it. Entrepreneurship is the new religion in China again capitalism is not a dirty word any more.

I thought you might like to look at a few Chinese proverbs and how they are applicable to business. You could do a lot worse that incorporating some of this Chinese Zen philosophy in how you lead your own business, so read on.......

1. “In every crisis, there is opportunity.”

Most entrepreneurial ventures arise from a solving a problem. If you are faced with a problem, craft a solution and sell that solution to others. As an interesting side note, it’s a common misconception that the word crisis and opportunity mean the same thing in the ancient Chinese language. This misconception initially gained momentum when John F. Kennedy incorrectly cited it in a speech in 1959. (source: smallbusiness411.org)

2. “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

Entrepreneurship starts with an idea and ends with a destiny. You craft your destiny with your actions, habits and character. You make your destiny, it doesn’t make you.

3. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

Aside from 20 years ago, there is no better time to start a business than today.

4. “If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people.”

The goal of every entrepreneur should be to start a business and find capable people to run the business so that they don’t have to.

5. “A bad workman blames his tools.”

A bad entrepreneur places blame on someone or something else when things go bad. First and foremost, you should hold yourself accountable for a negative outcome of your business.

6. “A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood.”

As an entrepreneur you always have to be open to new opportunities. If you aren’t actively looking for new ways to make your business more innovative, you won’t be very successful as an entrepreneur.

7. “A fall into a ditch makes you wiser.”

When bad things happen, a good entrepreneur learns from them.

8. “A fly before his own eye is bigger than an elephant in the next field.”

When you focus only on the opportunities that are right in front of you, you might miss the larger ones that take effort to find.

9. “A jade stone is useless before it is processed; a man is good-for-nothing until he is educated.”

A strong education is often the foundation of a strong business. The more you know about entrepreneurship, the more equipped you will be to face its various challenges.

10. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Every entrepreneur in the history of the world started their business with a single action.

11. “A person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the man doing it.”

As an entrepreneur, you will undoubtedly encounter people who will doubt you. Don’t let those people get in your way. Instead, use their doubt as motivation.

12. “A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.”

You can learn a lot from talking to experienced entrepreneurs. They have been through the process and can teach you more than most any book.

13. “All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws.”

All people love to make money but few people pursue entrepreneurship because it’s full of challenges and uncomfortable risks.

14. “Cheap things are not good, good things are not cheap.”

As a small business owner, always focus on providing quality.

15. “Customers are jade; merchandise is grass.”

What good is a business without customers? You should value your customers more than any other aspect of your business.

16. “Defeat isn’t bitter if you don’t swallow it.”

You will encounter setbacks, but don’t let those setbacks defeat you.

17. “Defer not till to-morrow what may be done to-day.”

One of the most challenging things for an entrepreneur is simply getting things done. According to numerous entrepreneurs I have spoken with, procrastination is one of the largest causes of failure in new businesses.

18. “Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.”

Though a good entrepreneur isn’t afraid to take risks, never rely too heavily on projections of profitability, success in a certain market, etc. A good entrepreneur always considers, and has a plan for, the worst-case scenario.

19. “Don’t stand by the water and long for fish; go home and weave a net. “

Instead of complaining about how you aren’t making much money, find new ways to earn it.

20. “Easy to run downhill, much puffing to run up.”

It’s easy to run a business when the going is good, but the true test of an entrepreneur is how he or she behaves when faced with challenges. As the current economic climate makes overwhelmingly clear, every market has its ups and downs.

21. “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

This one is so clear, it requires no explanation.

22. “Falling hurts least those who fly low.”

The less amount of money you spend, the less it will hurt if your business fails. It’s common for entrepreneurs to bootstrap the initial costs of their business. Bootstrapping means doing whatever you can to spend as little as possible.

23. “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.”

If you’re going to put effort into starting a business, then make sure you put 100% effort into every aspect of your business.

24. “If you get up one more time than you fall you will make it through. “

When you get knocked down, get back up. If you don’t get back up, your business will fail.

25. “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.”

When you get to the point of hiring employees; the more you pay, the higher quality effort you will receive.

26. “It’s as difficult to be rich without bragging as it is to be poor without complaining.”

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to remain humble, especially when you’re rich. Humility is difficult to maintain when things are going well.

27. “Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.”

Learn from your business and it’s something you will never lose.

28. “Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come. “

If you make your customers happy, they will talk and those they talk to may become new customers.

29. “Patience is a virtue.”

Having patience with your business is essential to your success. Very few businesses are profitable in their first year.

30. “Rich not gaudy.”

When you become rich, don’t become gaudy, or tastelessly flashy.

31. “Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.”

Being taught something will only get you so far. You must independently apply that learning to become successful.

32. “The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials.”

You will encounter trials and tribulations as a business owner, but these trials and tribulations will mold you into a better entrepreneur.

33. “The emperor is rich, but he cannot buy one extra year.”

Your business and the money it generates are not the most important things in your life.

34. “The loftiest towers rise from the ground. “

Even the most successful businesses in the world started with the conception and implementation of an idea.

35. “The palest ink is better than the best memory.”

When you conceive an idea on how to improve your business, write it down!

36. “There are two perfectly good men, one dead, and the other unborn.”

No one is perfect. Always be open to learning from other people.

37. “To open a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art.”

Starting a business is simple in comparison to keeping it.

38. “We all like lamb; each has a different way of cooking it.”

Entrepreneurship is like an art: there is not always a right and wrong way of pursuing your business goals. Let your personal taste and style as an entrepreneur be your strength.

39. “Who is not satisfied with himself will grow; who is not sure of his own correctness will learn many things.”

Remember you don’t know everything. Actively seek out advice and information, and you will learn.

40. “A smile will gain you ten more years of life.”

What’s the point in owning a business if you’re not having fun with it? If your business doesn’t make you smile, then it’s the wrong business for you.

Ten Things to Think About Before Going Global

Like any sound business plan, the first step is doing your research and taking a breath to think clearly. Here are ten factors to consider before taking the plunge and going international:

Point 1. PLAN at least a two-year lead time for world market penetration. It takes time and patience to build a successful export business, especially in Asia where relationships take longer to develop.

Point 2. DECIDE how much you can afford to invest in your international expansion efforts. Pick a figure based on a share of domestic profits and stay with that consistently.

Point 3. CHOOSE the appropriate model for entering the market. This may be a simple export model of manufacture in NZ and ship to an importer overseas, or maybe something else. Joint venture or a licensing arrangement may be more effective. Offshore manufacture in a third country may be required. Don’t assume it is a 1-size-fits-all strategy decision.

Point 4. FOCUS on a narrow product or service offering. The same principal that is necessary to dominate a market niche in New Zealand is even more essential overseas. Don’t try to be all things to lots of people. Stick to one small segment and do it well. What is your USP?

Point 5. RESEARCH to identify your prime target markets. You want to find out where in the world your product will be in greatest demand. Try to look for an unsatisfied need or even better, a problem that needs fixing.

Point 6. ADAPT your product for export. This may be basic labeling requirements or more significant design changes. What regulatory and legislative requirements are there? Know this before you make an expensive mistake.

Point 7. FIND a good lawyer, a banker with international experience, a good accountant and wily transport specialist. Good advice is expensive, but bad advice is MORE expensive. I can help you put an export plan together that has the benefit of 25 years of export experience behind it. I don't have every answer, but if you make half the mistakes I made and learn from my experience, you can't go too far wrong!

Contact me via my website here: Mentoring and Coaching

Point 8. INSIST on clear terms, conditions and other financing options, in advance. Never sell on open account to a brand new customer, EVER.

Point 9. PROVIDE an awesome customer experience. Ensure this extends to well after the sale is made and keep the lines of communication open all the time, even if that means some very late nights on the phone.

Point 10. MAKE contact with your customer at the heart level as well as the head. Learn to embrace the culture of your customers and aim to incorporate a bit of it into your own life. Learn to enjoy these new experiences.

Icon Business Solutions website is here: Coaching in Business

Andy Burrows

Business Advisor - Email me here

A Problem Shared....

Last month I started the first group “coaching” program for 2010, called the Icon Business MasterClass, at my office in Albany. Participants are well through the first “Your Business Defined” diagnostic phase and already seeing the benefits of coming on-board.

I knew from my experience that participants would receive tremendous value in the 3-way analysis that is conducted on their businesses, but I was pleasantly surprised of a benefit to the program that I did not rank nearly as high as the participants themselves.

That benefit is the power of working in a group of like minded business owners and the opportunity to share their dreams and frustrations with people who they don’t know (yet), but can relate to very easily. This benefit is ranked ahead of the much lower cost that the group format affords and was the key driver to most people joining. The fact that they can save themselves a heap of money in the process is just a bonus!

If you have been thinking in the back of your mind that getting some outside advice on the business would be useful, but the cost and risks of signing up to an intensive 1-on-1 program are too high, I urge you to look at a group training type program. Obviously I would like it to be mine, but it doesn’t have to be. Look around in your area as to what is available, weigh up the benefits and costs of each and then DO IT. You won’t regret it, as long as you implement what you learn, steadily and consistently through the program and beyond.

For further details on how my Business MasterClass works and the commitment required, send me an email to andyburrows@iconbusinesssolutions.com