Category: New Business Development

I recently told
a gloom and doom person that
THIS
is the time to start a new business,
invest in a growing business,
launch a new product line.
THIS
is the time fortunes will be made.

There are a number of reasons why.
Seth Godin explains
about the pull back in competition.
A fearful competition means
they won’t try anything new
(so they won’t respond quickly
to your new launch),
they won’t advertise as much
(causing rates to fall,
perfect for cash strapped start ups),
they’ll order less from suppliers
(suppliers will be more open to working
with smaller businesses)
and the list goes on.

THIS is the time to start.

Only 10% of family businesses
are successfully passed on to the third generation.

Fourth generation business owner,
Thomas Deans shared his technique for
beating the succession blues
in October’s MoneySense Magazine.

When it came time for succession,
his father and grandfather
sold their businesses at market value.

Knowing the family business is always up for sale,
means no assumptions of ownership
or perma-positions held.
Children are free to make their own career decisions.
It also eliminates family tension.

“When all family members
understand there is no family discount on shares,
there’s nothing to be jealous of.”

New product development is sales.
Plain and simple.
Project managers have to sell
co-workers, executives, vendors, customers,
on the new product.
No matter how good
a salesperson you are,
some people
simply won’t understand.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com,
explained in the April 28th issue of BusinessWeek
“If you’re going to do something
that’s never been done before
– which is basically what innovation is –
people are going to misunderstand it
just because it’s new.”

I received an email
after yesterday’s failure post.
The reader thought
if I was an experienced product developer,
I would have met my goals,
especially with something as simple
as a book launch.

I had to smile.
First, there’s nothing simple about a book launch.
The market is satuated,
the customer base shrinking.

Second, if a product developer
claims to have never failed once
with any of her hundreds of launches,
he or she is a liar.
A thousand different things can go wrong with a launch.
Failure is part of the job.

I received my royalty statement
for my first novel, Breach Of Trust,
and sales aren’t where I want
them to be.

First I allowed myself to move
through the grieving process
denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance,
then I picked my strategy apart.

Did I still want this?
Yes, writing gives me pleasure
and my novels add value.
Were my original goals realistic?
Yes, other authors with similar novels achieved them.
Was the product good?
Yes, feedback from my few readers have been terrific.
They are surprised at how good the novel is.
Were my promotions working?
Yes, website traffic growth has been healthy.
So my issue is conversion.
My copy can be better
(removing the surprise about how good Breach Of Trust is)
and I could provide more sampling.

I’m not one to succeed immediately.
I have failures first.
The key is to bounce back.

I walked into a bookstore last week.
There was a beautiful,
eye-catching arrangement of
bestselling novels.

It was beautiful
but not functional.
A very popular romance novel
was placed at the top.
I wanted this novel.
I didn’t buy it.
Why?
Because I couldn’t reach it.
Judging by the number of copies,
I wasn’t the only one.

Romance readers tend to be women
(78% are women).
Women are, on average, shorter than men
(5′ 3.8″ vs 5′ 9.3″).
Put the romance novels lower on the shelf.

Are your female targeted products
lower on the shelf
(but not too low
as women are less likely to bend over)?
Do your bottles
fit in smaller hands?
Can the packaging 
be lifted by shorter arms?
Product design for women
isn’t simply about the color.

As Breach Of Trust is my first novel,
I’ve made a special effort
to care for Breach Of Trust readers
(if you are one,
contact me).

Why?

Because early adopters have
a special place in the innovation universe.
Most people will buy what everyone else is buying.
The rare few go first.

It is human nature.
We’re fundraising for a loved one’s medical procedure.
Our goal was $22,000.
At first, we were struggling.
People saying no.
Until we secured a big donation
(sourced from ourselves).
Then suddenly everyone wanted to contribute.

Take care of your early adopters
and
they’ll take care of you.

Last week,
I visited a Fortune 500 company.
There were signs everywhere.
No cameras,
no videotaping,
no recording devices.
I had to sign a waiver
to get past the lobby.

While I was waiting in the lobby,
I clearly heard a discussion.
It was about selling into
Wal-Mart.
It was strategic,
it was confidential,
it was coming from a closed door boardroom.
I was hearing it
through the floor.

Spend the extra money
and soundproof your boardrooms,
from floor to ceiling.

Guy Kawasaki has a post
on what a great product is.

One of his specifications?

A great product is deep.
“It doesn’t run out of
features and functions
after only a few weeks of use.”

An author once told me
that every novel
should leave the reader
with questions
the author never posed.
It should be deep.
It should live on in the reader’s brain
after the last page is done.
That is why Fan Fiction exists.

Does your product have layers?