Category: New Business Development

When I was young,
I told everyone who would listen
my goal was to become a millionaire.

My family was poor.
Many of the people I knew
were poor.

I’d tell other people my goal
and they’d either tell me
it wasn’t doable
(laughing at me)
or they’d humor me with a “sure, sure.”

Then I told the couple I dogsat for.
They didn’t laugh.
They didn’t give me a flippant response.
They sat me down
and asked me what my plan was.

(I didn’t have one
because I didn’t truly believe
the goal could happen.)

They wrote my thoughts down.
They asked questions.
They made suggestions.
They helped me formulate a plan.

They made my goal real.

A goal without a plan is a dream.
It isn’t real.
You won’t take action on it.

If you truly believe in your goal,
make a plan to achieve it.

One of my favorite mentors,
a former V-P I worked with,
would book a meeting with me
at least once a month.

During that half hour meeting,
this very, very busy man
would put aside his phone
and his computer
and hold all calls and interruptions
and focus on me and my career.

Some of the meetings weren’t pleasant.
I fucked up
and he had to set me straight
on how business is played.

But that he thought enough of me
to dedicate that time
meant SO much.
It still does.
I look back and think
“He believed in me.
I have to believe in myself.”

Today may or may not
be a special day for you.
It doesn’t matter.
You can still give this same gift,
the gift of uninterrupted, dedicated time,
to someone you feel is important.

That time could be spent
hearing about a five year old’s dreams
of being a ninja princess.
It could be spent
coaching your store manager
on how to relay your gift return policy.
It could be spent simply being there,
completely there,
for someone.

Give someone you care about
the gift of your uninterrupted time.

A budding entrepreneur
asked me a couple of days ago
how she’d know if she was doing what she loved.

This is a VERY good question.
I love new business development
but I certainly don’t love all aspects of it.
(the paperwork drives me crazy)

However, as I plan to attend
the Consumer Electronics Show in January,
I get giddy with excitement.
I’d attend this new business development mecca
even if I never planned to make
another dollar from new business development.

Not everyone feels this way.
I’ll talk to people at the CES
who can’t wait for it to be over.
They’re doing a job.
They’re not doing what they love.

If you’re a social person,
the conventions are a great barometer
of whether or not you’re in the industry you love.

Would you attend the conventions
on your own time and with your own money?

If the answer is yes,
you’re in an industry/field you love.

This is the time of year
folks start thinking about making goals
for the new year.
We evaluate our success
at meeting our 2011 goals
(there is STILL time
to achieve some of these goals),
and we set new goals.

When we have partners,
there are additional steps.

The most important step
is reconnecting with these partners
and ensuring that
we all have similar goals
for the future.

Yesterday, I sat down with
one of my business partners.
I asked him how he thought
the year went.
I asked him about his concerns.
I asked him how he envisioned success
in 2012.

It turns out
my partner is concerned
about short term profitability.

This was a surprise to me.
When we started the endeavor,
the goal was for long term profitability.
I talk to this partner every day
and he never mentioned his concerns.

But that’s okay.
Goals change.
Plans are fluid.
We brainstormed ideas
to build in short term profitability sooner
(sacrificing some growth).

At least once a year,
sit down with business partners
and REALLY talk.
Talk about what they want from your venture.

No one likes problems, right?
But here’s the thing…
without problems,
ANYONE can fill your role.

It is really easy to be
an author/entrepreneur/leader/friend/expert
when everything is going well,
when a story drips off your fingertips,
an idea is immediately embraced by customers,
or
everything agrees with your stance.

What makes your place in the world
perfect for you
is…
You overcome the challenges.
You fix the mistakes.
You calm the frightened.
You inspire the lethargic.

I spent two weeks
writing and rewriting and rewriting
5,000 words.
I eventually fixed that part of the story
and when it was fixed,
I grinned
because I knew
many writers would have quit
but I didn’t
and THAT is why I’ll be a successful writer.

Yes, don’t look for problems
but when problems arise
(and they WILL arise),
knew THEY are
why you’re the success you are
(or will be).

I have stories with different publishers
and all of these publishers price differently.

I assumed that the lower priced stories
would sell more copies.
Hmmm… no.
I sell the same number of stories
regardless of the price.

I assumed that the lower priced stories
would garner better reviews
because they’re better value.
Hmmm… no.
The opposite is true.
I get harsher reviews on my less expensive stories
even though I believe they’re the same quality.

Indie author Elle Lothlorien
has these thoughts about low prices…

“I thought I was conveying the message
“Give this book a shot!
At $2.99 what do you have to lose?”
Instead, I think I had inadvertently
turned my Amazon page
into the equivalent of a dubious used-car lot,
with blinking neon lights screaming
“SALE, SALE SALE!
EVERYTHING MUST GO!””

If your profits
or sales are suffering,
try raising your prices.
Lower isn’t always better.

Adrian Slywotzky in Demand
talks about the Average Customer Myth.

“Demand creators know that
the “average customer”
is a myth.
They allow for variation.
They de-average by
finding efficient, cost-effective ways
to create product variations
that more perfectly match
the varying needs of
very different types of customers,
getting rid of overages
(things we don’t want)
and underages
(gaps we want filled).”

In 2000,
the average family in the U.S.
had 0.90 children under 18 years old.
Do you know of a family
with 0.90 children?
I hope not.

Averages don’t exist.
Don’t use an average
as your target customer.

Many of the most innovative companies
separate out innovation hubs
from their core business.

Why?

Scott Anthony explains why
and suggests the solution
in one of his most popular posts
31 Innovation Questions.

“What is “the sucking sound of the core?”
The pull of the core business
and business model
that subtly influences new ideas
so they resemble
what the organization has done before.

What is an innovation “safe space”?
An organizational mechanism
that protects innovators
from the sucking sounds of the core.”

Some organizations I know
host their innovation teams
on different floors or even different buildings.
They have separate budgets.
Sometimes they’re in a completely separate company.

Consider keeping your innovation teams
and your core business teams
separate.

One of my buddies,
when he started up his business,
was told he needed a fancy office space
so he could meet his fancy clients.
He couldn’t afford the space.
Instead, he rented a hotel meeting room.

Today, he still rents hotel meeting rooms
because he likes the focus
it gives him.
There are no interruptions.
All of his attention is on his client.

If you’re bootstrapping,
you likely won’t have the latest, greatest equipment,
the best office space,
or the most experienced staff.

That’s okay.

As hip-hop entrepreneur Daddy-O says,
use what you have.

“You ask any guitarist,
and they don’t want a crappy guitar.
But I guarantee you,
Flea plays just as well
on a sucky bass as a good bass,
because he learned to play
on a sucky bass.
Use what you’ve got,
and it will get you to the next level.”

Stephen Shapiro has a great post
explaining Dan Ariely’s research
on rewards.

As he states…
“In a nutshell,
when a dollar value is assigned to a task,
people weigh the effort
against the financial return.
But if no dollar amount is specified,
we evaluate it differently.”

This is the country fair phenomena.
A man will spend $500
trying to win a big stuffed bear worth $20.
That same man would never spend $500
trying to win $20.

Ariely points out that gift cards
or incentives with a clearly stated cash value
are treated like cash
and compared to the effort needed.

Unless the cash reward is large
related to the amount of work required
to earn that reward,
non cash rewards are better incentives.