Category: New Business Development

I’ve been a published romance writer
for six years.

For three years,
I wrote under one pen name
in one subgenre.
I was trying something new and different
and it simply didn’t work.

I then tried a different spin
on this idea
in different subgenre
under a different pen name.
This second version
was much more successful.

I switched or pivoted to this version
and this is the version
I’m concentrating on now.

Logan Green,
Co-Founder of Lyft
shares

“I would tell them [entrepreneurs]
that it is important
to develop an internal culture
that encourages experimentation.
We did that and
that’s how we came up with Lyft.

I’d also tell them
to be open to pivoting.
Remember that the company
you start off with
isn’t always the company
you end up with.
And know that is okay.”

Ideas morph or grow
into different ideas.
Be open to pivoting.

In new business development
at the large beverage company,
we would look at flavor trends in other industries.
These flavor trends indicated a consumer need
that a new beverage could satisfy.

We didn’t start with a product
and figure out how to sell this product.
We started with a need
and figured out how to satisfy this need.

Dan Martell,
founder of Clarity,
shares

“I didn’t realize what I was building.
I was just using Clarity
as a tool to route calls
to people who wanted advice.
We eventually transitioned
into a marketplace for advice,
which meant that we needed
to divide our users
into members versus experts.
It was hard
because we had about 7,000 users
at the time.
After careful evaluation of experts,
only 30 percent made the cut.
It was hard to explain that to everyone.”

Start with a need.

After 25 seasons,
the Oprah Winfrey Show
has had thousands of guests.
These guests have become an asset,
a differentiating asset
only Oprah can have.

How is she capitalizing on this asset?

She has a show called
Where Are They Now?
She follows up with these past guests,
showing the old footage
and comparing it to
their new lives.

I have over 60 stories released
under one of my pen names
(these 60 stories have been released
in only 4 years
so this isn’t a forever build
type of promo).
Every week, I focus on
an older story,
giving readers updates
on what the characters are doing.

This differentiates me.
Not many writers have 60 stories
to choose from.

If you have history,
look at this history
and think of ways to utilize it,
to develop new products
from older products.

One of my buddies is a surgeon.
I’ve heard people say,
within his hearing,
that he became a surgeon
because he doesn’t have the bedside manner
to become a GP.

I write romance novels.
I receive a comment,
at least one a day,
that if I had more talent,
I’d be writing literary novels.

The management team at Coca-Cola
is often asked why they haven’t expanded
into restaurants and snacks.

EVERYONE receives these comments.
If you’re successful in one field,
someone will challenge you
to become successful in another field.

Someone challenging you,
someone who doesn’t care about you
or your company or your brand,
is a dumb a$$ reason to do anything.

Ignore these comments
and stick to your game plan.

Recently,
I was offered the opportunity
to participate in a high profile anthology.
Another participating writer
had gotten ill
and a slot opened up.
The editor needed to know immediately
whether or not
I’d participate.

Writing this story
would bump other stories back.
This anthology,
while a great promo opp,
wouldn’t earn much money.
I had to make this decision quickly.

As
Rohit Bhargava
shares
(about Peyton Manning)

“Quick decisions pay off.
Manning rarely gets sacked
and keeps the ball
for only a few seconds
before throwing it.
As a result,
it’s almost impossible for a defense
to react fast enough
to stop his quick throws.
Making decisions quickly
is one of the most valuable things
that any business owner can do,
because it puts you in a situation
to move more quickly
than competitors.
For Manning,
quick decisions pay off
in keeping a defense off balance
and unable to react to his attack.”

The ability to make decisions quickly
is a skill set
all entrepreneurs should develop.

One of the dangers
of working from home
is people assume
you’re not truly working
and they interrupt you
throughout the day.

I’ve decreased interruptions
by posting my core hours
(9 to 5)
and announcing that
I’m ‘at work’ during that time.
I tell people to think of that time
as me being ‘off-site’,
at a client’s office.
I don’t answer my personal phone.
I rarely answer emails.
I don’t run errands
or do anything personal
during this time.

Jason Brick
shares

“Interrupted too frequently?
This one’s most common among
executives, managers
and people who work from home.
Every time you’re about to get started,
somebody knocks on your door
/calls with an emergency
/asks for help with the kids.
The solution is to schedule work time
where your productivity is sacrosanct.
Fix it by:

Announcing “do not disturb” hours
to people in your environment

Closing your door,
or sliding a chair
into your cubicle entrance

Leaving a voice mail greeting
announcing your unavailability,
then turning off your phone

Committing to avoiding
email or social media
until you’ve made real progress
on your critical tasks”

Consider posting core hours
during which
you can’t be disturbed.

I grew up dirt poor.
We didn’t eat every day
and we didn’t live in a house
with running water
(yes, this is in North America).

Whenever I get lazy
or feel dissatisfied with life,
I remember that time in my life.
I remember how tough it was,
how challenging it was
to start from nothing,
and how I never wish
to return to that state.
It inspires me to work.

Mally Roncal,
Founder of
Mally Beauty,
shares
(this entire interview is great)

“You want to stay humble
and you want to stay
very, very focused.
You always have to remember
when you were struggling,
just starting,
and you had this hunger
and you were just going for it;
you always want to keep that
as a part of who you are.

But in the same breath,
you want to smell the roses,
you want to say,
“Wow, I’ve come this far.”
You want to stand
on top of that mountain sometimes
and look down and say,
“Wow, look at what we did!”
I have found, in this world,
it’s hard to do that.
Because we, as women,
tend to be overachievers
and we’re always pushing
and we’re never satisfied
and we always want more, more, more.”

Remember what it was like
to struggle
and use this to push yourself forward.

If a second person from my company,
group, team, department,
attends the same mission critical meeting,
I touch base with that person
after the meeting
and discuss what we thought we heard.

If we both hear the same message,
then there is no need
for clarification
with the meeting host.

If we hear different messages
(and this happens surprisingly often),
then I’ll contact the meeting host
for clarification.
I might send out a recap
via email
and ask “Is this what was communicated?”

This one simple step
has saved me work and time.
Verify what has been said.

Bruna Martinuzzi
shares

“How often have we attended
meetings, or strategic retreats,
where the gathering ends
with a lot of excitement
and decisions to pursue new directions,
only to see it all fizzle
a few weeks later?
This is because the meeting ended
with no clear accountability
on who will do what.
Apple has a system
it calls the Directly Responsible Individual (DRI).
This is assigning one individual,
not a team,
to be responsible for an action item.”

When I attend a meeting
and I’m not assigned responsibility
for an action item,
I question
if I truly needed to attend
that meeting.

Assign tasks to one person.
Keep that person accountable.