Category: New Business Development

So how did I handle that new assignment? 
The one where I was unfamiliar with
both the task and the industry? 

I had a weekend to prepare. 
First I sent out an email to buddies,
looking for someone in the industry or
someone experienced in cash controls documentation.  

I stopped at the library where
I loaded up on industry related books. 

By the time I received the response I needed,
I had absorbed enough lingo and key concepts
to not sound like an idiot.  

With the books and the interviews,
I walked into the workplace Monday morning,
confident that I could add value. 

Was I the ideal candidate? 
Hell no. 
But I got the job done.

A huge entertainment venue was opening soon. 
The owners hired a specialist to come in and
set up controls and accounting systems. 
This specialist needed help
so they called me in. 

I told the owners up front that
since I had no industry experience and
hadn’t formally documented controls in a decade,
I was not the right person for the job. 
They insisted on hiring me anyway (only for a week). 

The control they assigned me? 
The all important cash. 

There are two key lessons in this story. 

One is if a specialist is hired to do
a task outside of her core strengths, 
she is no better, yet higher paid than a junior jammer. 

The other is to not delegate
the most important task to a junior jammer.  

In the August edition of Reader’s Digest,
the first American Idol Kelly Clarkson
talks about going to the record label
and fighting for her songs. 

“The song I wrote that they hated
the most was “Because Of You.” 
I fought and fought for it,
it became successful and
they finally got behind it.” 

I have yet to launch a product
that I didn’t have to fight for first. 
Resistance is part of the process.

People buy on emotion and
no where is this more apparent
than in collecting. 

Why do people collect? 

Terry Shoptaugh,
University archirist and instructor
at Minnesota State University Moorhead says
“We use keepsakes to stimulate memory,
especially to trigger fond memories.” 

The top collectibles? 
Coins, stamps and teddy bears.

I worked for a Fortune 500 beverage company.
We were coming out with a new product.
In my plans, I planned for capital investments.

But not in the first year.

In the first year,
we planned to have a co-packer
make the product.
This co-packer would supply the equipment.
This meant leaner margins, less profit.

So why this strategy?
Because we weren’t assured of success.
And until we knew that it was,
we weren’t investing long term.

If a Fortune 500 company bootstraps new products,
so should the untried entrepreneur.

I often get flack from
other new business development gals
for openly saying great ideas are easy to find. 

Shhh… they tell me,
that’s part of the magic. 
Revealing the great idea. 
Watching the wonder on jaded executives’ faces. 

That’s also the fun part of the job. 
Its getting that idea in customer’s hands
that will make you wanna
stick a sharp object in your eye. 

Seth Godin’s awesome suggestion? 
Release the extra ideas freely into the universe
and let others implement them.

Once upon a time,
there was a product called domain backorder. 
This service allowed people to
squat on expiring domains and then
automatically purchase the domain name
once it expired. 

Domain registrars,
realizing that there was competition for these names
and wanting to increase revenues,
got smart. 
Now expiring domains go into an auction process
with the registrars scooping the difference in price. 

The problem? 
They are still offering the now extinct
domain backorder product. 
Sloppy. 
If you replace a product,
take the old product off the market.

I asked a fellow writer if
she was shopping a manuscript around. 
She replied that she was waiting for
a rejection from a certain agent. 

Although I knew what her response would be,
I asked what other agents she had sent it to. 
Her answer? 
The predictable no other.  

Why was this predictable? 
Because pessimists are not often proactive. 
That’s a sign of an optimist. 
As Priscilla Palmer writes
“the Optimist lives proactively. 
He looks for solutions rather than
dwelling on the problem.”    

Yesterday, I was watching the news coverage
of the great tenor Pavarotti’s death.  
One anchorwoman said
“How could he have not been successful? 
Listen to his voice.” 

How could he have not been successful? 
Read his biography. 

Few people realize that Pavarotti’s dad
had a half decent voice also. 
Why don’t they realize that? 
Because the dad didn’t try. 
He was too nervous. 

Pavarotti did, however, try. 
Hard. 
He convinced his first singing coach
to teach him for free. 
He worked part-time jobs. 
He sang for free to gather experience. 

Even with Pavarotti’s perfect pitch,
success was far from assured. 
A gift is not enough.

Studying home design magazines,
there are currently two hot themes,
alternative energy sources and
organic architecture. 

What is organic architecture? 

It is designing a building so
it is in harmony with the natural world. 
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater is an example. 

I expect this harmony theme
to spill over to other industries.