Category: New Business Development

Many entrepreneurs trade ownership for expertise. 
No money, simply expertise. 
This sounds like a good deal.

It’s not.

What I have found time and time again is
that unless money changes hands
the commitment level is low. 
That expert you “bought”
suddenly becomes busy
with money making opportunities,
opportunities which do not include
your freebie venture. 

So what’s the solution? 
Charge a nominal amount,
even if it’s a thousand bucks. 
If your expert balks at that,
she didn’t think your venture would work anyway.

You don’t want to partner
with someone who thinks you’ll fail.

Babson College has released
their annual study of woman-run businesses
in Massachusetts. 

One interesting finding? 

Female leaders are also owners. 
80% of the CEO’s held controlling ownership. 

Is that surprising? 
No. 
I was told by a male mentor
during my time in corporate that
if I really wanted to be CEO,
I should start my own company. 
Perceived as easier than
duking it out within the male dominated Fortune 500 companies
(‘course anyone can start a company,
making that company successful is more challenging).

Good product developers are
never truly happy with a product. 
They don’t simply launch a product
and forget about it. 
They think of the next major tweak
to make the product better. 

I love reading romances but
I could see areas for improvement. 
In my first business based romance,
Breach Of Trust (launching in May 2008), 
one such improvement is
the resource list at the end. 
For my next, I’m testing more tweaks. 

Companies use this dissatisfaction.
As stated in Google’s ten things they’ve found to be true,  
“This constant dissatisfaction with
the way things are is ultimately the driving force
behind the world’s best search engine.”

Last weekend I went looking for an ornament
for my Mom to give to her sister. 
The ornaments are two piece,
one to be given to each sister. 
My Mom gives this gift every single year
(regardless of price). 

Except for this year. 

I went into my regular card store,
they didn’t have it. 
Told me to go to Hallmark. 
Hallmark didn’t have it. 

The market, it was explained,
wasn’t big enough… 
For a large corporation. 
It is perfect for small business.  

And I know my local card store would have
directed their loyal customers there,
a solid source of new customers
for an aggressive young company. 

Watch for big company delists.  
It could be an opportunity for small business growth.  

I was told that once
I signed that first publishing contract,
my view of writing would change. 
I didn’t believe it. 

But it did. 

Without a success under my belt,
expectations were lower. 
I was on my own schedule. 
I could write what I wanted when I wanted. 

Now, there’s a benchmark, a schedule.  
Is book #2 as good as #1 (#2 is better)?  
There can’t be a long wait between #1 and #2. 
When will #2 be ready? 

The same is true with projects and products. 
As soon as the iPod was deemed a success,
analysts wanted to know about the next product. 
Once the iPhone launched,
eyes were on the product after that.  

Keep the momentum rolling and
the product development funnel full. 

Clicking on my favorites,
I see that many of the promising new bloggers
I’ve been reading recently have disappeared. 

I understand. 

It is difficult in blogging, business, life
to keep the excitement level high. 
The longer the project,
the bigger the goal,
the more difficult this is. 

That’s why I break down my larger goals
into more achievable short term goals. 
It gives me something to celebrate,
something to tell others about,
something to even send out press releases for. 
Most of all, it keeps me moving forward. 

Readers of ClientK know that
I appreciate the executive summary. 
Bare bones news and facts with no fluff. 

That is one reason I like
ViralBlink’s blog concept
(warning site has nudity
and is very male targeted),
viral commercials and video clips
with no verbage,
no additional explanations.  

Viral videos don’t need it. 
They spread on their own.

BTW… once this site has built a bit of history,
it’ll be interesting to hear
if there are common components to
becoming “viral.”

Went to a live interview
with mega media mogul Ted Rogers
and he had some choice words to say
about entrepreneurship. 

His feeling is that entrepreneurs are born,
not made because from the beginning
he was told by his Mom that
“if you’re going to be an entrepreneur,
you might go bust.” 
He did it anyway.

Every business builder, he argues has
“to be willing to lost it all.” 
He should know,
he almost lost everything
including the family home
3 times in his career. 

That is, he says,
“the price of admission.”

Tom Peters wrote a post on Pier 1’s challenges
and the lack of women on the board. 
He feels that they are out of touch
with their customer base.  

I agree.  

When I’m developing a product,
I do so with the target customer in mind,
so it makes sense that
when I’m building the product development team,
I do the same. 

Does that mean that I kick off talented team members 
because they don’t mirror the target customer? 

No, of course not. 
But I do ensure that I have, at least,
one person representing that group,
even if that is the only role they have. 

Watched a recent interview
with Mike Reno,
Lead Singer of Loverboy
and he addressed the Radiohead phenomenon,
artists giving away their songs for free. 
About their CD’s, 
Reno says that Loverboy
“almost uses these as promotional tools.” 

Why? 

They “have a catalog.” 
The catalog, in music, is where the money is. 

He does say that it is “harder to create a catalog now” 
with all the choices available to listeners.