If you investigate the past of any successful entrepreneur,
you’ll find baby businesses.
That was no different for Memo-Pause founder,
Kara Lennox.
“I was born wanting to be an entrepreneur.
When I was about ten,
my dad planted some tomatoes, and
he ended up with so many seedlings
he was going to throw a lot away.
Instead, I put them in my wagon and
dragged them around the neighborhood door-to-door,
selling them for fifty cents apiece.
I cleaned up.”
The story of Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII
has been told numerous times.
So why was The Other Boleyn Girl
a run away bestseller?
Because telling it from the perspective
of her sister Mary
made it fresh and new.
In contrast,
The Other Boleyn Girl, the movie,
is about Anne.
Mary is pushed back into
a secondary character role.
The story is no longer unique.
It is a me-too.
Classic product development,
a twist on a tried and true product
and then
a classic brand extension mistake,
forgetting what the brand stands for.
Everyone is NOT cut out to be an entrepreneur.
Ryan P. Allis,
entrepreneur and author of Zero To One Million
puts it bluntly
“Would you work 70-hour-plus weeks
for months on end,
sleep at the office when you get backed up,
and put your own money on the line
when payroll is dues
and the bank has yet to approve a loan?”
If the answer is yes,
you just might have what it takes
to be successful entrepreneur.
An editor once told me that
no matter how big a piece of sh**
I thought whatever manuscript
I was working on was,
to finish it.
Why?
Because there are lessons in finishing
that quitting early doesn’t teach.
Now, I don’t finish every project.
Many die an early death
for a number of reasons
from lack of a marketable idea
to lack of funding, etc.
But I do finish more tasks than I don’t.
We only truly get credit
for the products we launch,
not the ideas in our heads.
Business evaluator Jeremy Webster
while discussing the Yahoo!/Microsoft proposition,
reviewed points to be considered when pricing a business.
They are;
Expected Future Cash Flow,
Comparable Deals,
Comparable Stock Market Prices,
and
Intrinsics Unique To That Company Or Situation.
Expected future cash flow is the toughest.
Assumptions have to be made on
big inputs such as growth rates,
realized efficiency ratios, and synergies.
These assumptions come easier with experience.
So the closer to your existing business a buy is,
the higher your chances of evaluating it properly.
Duct Tape Marketing has a brilliant post
on synergies.
Properly utilizing synergies is a key to success.
If you have to do something,
make that something stretch
as far as possible.
Some people ask me
why I have a travel blog.
The reason is synergy.
I found myself retyping travel advice
again and again.
I was also emailing my travel photos to buddies.
It made sense to put both online in a blog.
Saves me time,
expands my circle of influence, and
the advertising pays for the domain name.
Look at what you’re currently doing.
Can you stretch it painlessly into more?
The “official” call in the High Def format wars
has been made.
Blu-ray is the winner.
The turning point, I believe,
was the alliance with Disney
(alliances can make or break a product launch).
It is very challenging to justify this “family” purchase
without access to family films.
Me?
I bet on HD DVD.
A reminder that if I make enough decisions,
some will be wrong.
Yes, if you make a stand,
sometimes you’re left standing
on the wrong side of the fence.
One of the basic rules of taste testing
is that testers shouldn’t wear perfumes or any other scent.
Why?
Because people can only detect 5 taste sensations
(sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami)
through their tongues.
All other “tastes” are due to smell.
A bad smell will make a product taste bad.
A floral scented room will give a wine a floral taste.
And since smell is so important,
testers have to be able to smell the product itself
(even in soft drinks,
smell is a factor in the purchase decision).
Around this time of year,
I struggle with motivation and
getting things done.
I look at “normal” people,
the tv watching people,
with envy.
I suffer from burnout.
Every entrepreneur suffers from burnout from time to time.
It is a normal part of the process.
Glenn at LifeDev has a great post
on methods to deal with it.
My favorite ways are sleep
(dreaming powers my creativity),
vacations (a change of place),
and switching tasks.
“What’s the next big thing?”
is a common question in all industries.
It is a powerful answer to know.
No, not to rush out and
develop a solution or a copy of the solution.
That is already being done
(that process started years ago).
Then why?
To help you design
the next, next, next big thing.
Look at the literary world.
What is the next big thing?
eBooks.
They exist but aren’t big yet.
What is the next, next big thing?
eBooks with audio.
I suspect that’s in final stages of development.
What is the next, next, next big thing?
eBooks with video.
That is where the opportunities lie.