Category: New Business Development

I got approached to do a business plan
(back before I got sucked into the black hole of publishing)
and  
I stated my darn close to volunteer work fee. 

The entrepreneur went silent. 
“But, but, but,” she said,
“I already paid for a business plan. 
It shouldn’t cost that much. 
Most of the work has been done.” 

“Then why are you coming to me?”  I ask. 
“Because the plan was unusable.” 
“Then most of the work hasn’t been done,” was my reply. 

Basically she wanted me to pay for her mistake.  

This happens ALL the time.
A product flops or a mistake is made
and
the company tries to recoup the costs
with higher margins on the next launch.

When the prospect has choice, however,
she simply walks away.

Tomorrow, a hundred target consumers
will knock on my door and ask for a favor. 

I’m talking, of course,
about the Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating. 

We, marketers, have an opportunity to ask
only one question while giving out the candy. 

If you’re a beverage manufacturer,
that could be “what is your favorite drink?” 
or if a toy retailer,
“what is your favorite toy?”
(perfect for the upcoming holiday season). 
After getting the answer,
I reply “well, I don’t have a sticker of xyz 
but what about this one?” 

Happy kids and one happy marketer.

I predict the hot toy for adults
this holiday season to be
the digital photo frame. 
I’ve already picked one up for
my baby boomer Mom’s November birthday. 

Why? 
Because she, like most boomers, 
is moving into her nostalgic period. 
She tried scrapbooking. 
Too much work. 
Only wrote a page or two of her memoirs.  

The digital photo frame, however,
will capture her life in one filled card and
display it on the wall for all to see.   
The perfect solution and
the perfect present.

Last year I ran an event
for a not-for-profit organization. 
I came up with the idea for the event. 
I managed it. 
I promoted it. 

It was a roaring success,
the most successful event the organization held. 

This year the organization decided that
it was too important an event
not to be run by the executive. 
I am not on the executive and so
am excluded from the event management. 

This happens in companies every day. 
And the results are the same. 
The founders get ticked and
take their abilities elsewhere. 

Let your people run with their successes. 
Give them extra resources,
extra training but keep them involved.

When looking for project staff,
there’s one personality trait I insist upon. 

They need to have project thinking,
not linear thinking. 

Linear thinking is…
do Step 1 first, Step 2 second, Step 3 third. 

Project thinking is…
do all three Steps as soon as possible
if they’re not dependent on each other. 
If Step 3 is dependent on Step 2,
do Step 2 either first or at the same time as Step 1
and THEN Step 3. 

Linear thinkers add days,
even months,
to project timelines.

On one of my projects,
customers, in the past,
contacted a business partner first. 
These contacts were filtered for junk and
then forwarded to me. 

A couple years in,
the partner left the company. 
It was only then that I discovered there was a problem
with our system. 

What was the problem? 
Simple. 
The partner’s definition of junk was
VERY different from my definition of junk. 
She was filtering out possible media opportunities. 
These opportunities could have
built the business quicker. 

So if you’re using filters,
and I do recommend using them,
check them every once in a while. 

I was reading this post on writers and
how they have to be selfish. 

That rings true for entrepreneurs also. 

I’m continuing to build a venture
while working a contract gig. 
I got offered an after hours week long contract gig.
It pays more than a month of regular billings. 

I took it. 

Now my own venture, my own future,
is on hold while I help build someone else’s. 
Not smart. 
I have to be “selfish” and
put my own business first.

Sandra Wilson, founder of the
indoor baby shoe company Robeez said
that one of their biggest decisions was
“are we a shoe company or
are we a baby accessory company?” 

How did she solve that? 
She asked herself “what are we really good at?”
and at that time,
“we knew we weren’t shoe manufacturers.” 
You have to “know what you’re good at.” 

Will that decision hold? 
In 2006, the $30 million in annual sales Robeez
was acquired by Stride Rite. 
Their expertise IS in the shoe business.

About a decade ago,
I pushed the beverage company
I was working for
to get into prune juice
(they resisted). 

My thoughts were that
with the baby boomers aging and
the digestive issues that come with that,
prune juice sales would soar. 

Classic, classic mistake. 
Instead of focussing on the problem,
I focussed on the solution. 

Prune juice isn’t booming
but sales of products
with probiotic cultures are.

Over the weekend,
I was looking for an answer
to a very specific question. 

I posted on several on-line groups,
emailed the world,
made phone calls. 
Difficult to find the answer. 
Took me about 14 hours of asking. 
Then when I found it and
successfully applied it to my situation,
I posted the answer everywhere
I posted the question. 

Why? 

Sharing this knowledge
was a thank you for being able
to ask the question.