New Business Development – Page 67

We’re Ready

There seems to be reports
of impending new pandemics
everyday
– New Variants of COVID,
Monkeypox, TB, Ebola,
Polio.

It can be frightening,
especially for business builders
who want to keep
our customers and employees safe.

The good news,
however,
is we’re ready for this.

Most of the precautions
we have installed
for COVID
– wearing masks, hand washing/disinfecting,
social distancing
– prevent or slow
the spread of these new threats.

Keep disinfectant bottles filled.
Have masks available.
Encourage our employees/partners
to wear them.

And we should
survive all this.

Rain Barrels And Revenue

In my corner of the universe,
there are hard rains
followed
by little rain.

We install rain barrels
to capture the water
from the hard rains
and
we use that water
during the dry stretches.

As a result,
we have available water
all year round.

When we first start our businesses,
revenue/sales are often
like that.

We have bumps of revenue
when our businesses get
some media coverage
or one of our posts
go viral.
That is often followed
by dry sales spells.

It would be wise
to ‘capture’ some of that revenue
and save it
to use later.

Revenue can be erratic.
Plan for that.

Planning For Drought

There is a drought
in Alaska.
Alaska.
Land of ice and snow.

Droughts are happening
all over the world
and
this will increase
with climate change.

Buildings will have
to be retrofit
to conserve and reuse
water.
That’s a pain in the a$$
to do.

It is much easier
to install water conserving systems
when a building is being constructed.

As business builders,
we might be constructing
warehouses and stores
and other structures
now and in the near future.

Ensure these buildings
conserve as much water
as possible.

Plan For The Worst, Hope For The Best

When I craft projections
for a new business,
I craft three of them
– a best case, a worst case
and
a most likely case.

I’ve NEVER seen
the best case
happen.

I rarely see
the most likely case
happen.

The actuals usually
fall between
the most likely case
and
the worst case.

For example,
worst case climate change predictions
for 2050
made a mere decade ago
are coming true
right now.

When you start a business
or launch a product,
ensure you are content
with the worst case scenario.
It will likely become reality.

The Emotionally Difficult Tasks

I pruned a rose bush yesterday.
It had to be done
to keep the rose bush healthy
but it was d@mn difficult.

I put on a brave face
while pruning.
Then I had to spend
some recovery time alone
after completing that task.

There are some
emotionally difficult tasks
– killing a beloved
yet money-losing project,
firing an employee,
wearing a f*ckin’ mask
so others won’t get sick.

These tasks are SUPPOSED to be
emotionally difficult.
If they’re easy for us,
it is time to step away
and
get some help.

But these tasks still
have to be done.

Schedule recovery time
for yourself
or whoever is doing
these tasks.

And assume they are difficult
for everyone.

Being Ethical And Success

Many experts add
being ethical or nice or kind
to their list
of guidelines
a successful business builder
should follow.

But we all know
MANY business builders
who aren’t ethical at all.
And they are very successful.

Financially successful.

Because being ethical
is a limitation.

It means we can’t do
certain things
like
not pay our workers
or
upcharge customers
based on the pigment
in their skin
or
take out a safety feature
on our products
because it costs
a couple cents more.

If your definition
of success
is purely financial,
of course,
it pays to be unethical.

But
if your definition
of success
is to leave a legacy
or make a difference
in the world,
being ethical
is essential.

Your Established Customers Don’t Want Innovation

When I had very few established readers,
I wrote whatever the heck
I wanted to write.

There were no expectations
and not many people who would protest
if I wrote something completely new.

Today, I have a healthy readership
and those readers
don’t want completely new stories.
They want stories
that are similar to my past stories.

When I write something completely new,
they punish me with 1 star reviews
and they are less likely
to read my next story.

As Seth Godin
shares

“As you cross the chasm,
the bulk of your new customers
don’t want innovation at all.
They want promises kept,
a lack of surprises
and reasonable prices
and efficiency.”

Once your business
finds its customer base,
it is unlikely
that this customer base
wants extreme innovation.

If you haven’t yet
found that customer base,
enjoy the freedom
to innovate
now.

The Cost Of Starting A Business

I read a thread
where people were arguing
whether or not
poor people
could start businesses.

It depends
on your definition of poor.

If it is,
what I call,
middle class poor
i.e. there’s money for a phone/device
and a source of reliable internet,
then yes, that type of poor
likely has the resources
to start a business.

But there’s a level of poor
where having a phone/device
and access to reliable internet
is a dream.
People at that level of poor
are focused on sourcing the next meal
and putting a roof over their heads.

Starting a business
means forgoing meals
and/or quitting that much-needed
third or fourth job
or relying on a generous gift/loan
from a stranger.

(Kiva.org supplies loans
to many people
at this level.)

Starting a business
is out of reach
for some people.

If it is within your reach,
celebrate that!

The Beauty In Imperfection

Many of us have been taught
that perfect is best.

100% on a test
is better than
80% on a test.

But that’s not often true,
especially if
we’re offering
one of a kind items.

A limited run
imperfect stamp,
for example,
is worth much more
than thousands of perfect stamps.

And unique imperfections now
are often pointed out
with pride.
They are indications
the product is hand-made.

Machines are designed
for mass ‘perfect’ production.
If errors are made,
they’re made in great quantities.

A unique one-of-a-kind error
makes the product…
well… one of a kind.

As Seth Godin
shares
“As we get better
at industrialism,
the variability of imperfection
becomes even more fascinating.”

Position your errors
as selling points.

That product
is one of a kind.

Your customer will never
find another like it.

When Systems Don’t Work…

Humans are creative.
And they are extremely keen
on self-protection.

When a system no longer
works for us
and especially when that system
puts us in danger,
we rebel.

We work outside the current system.
We disregard the current system.
We create new systems.

And these new systems
rarely benefit
the people gaining power
from the old dysfunctional system.

Remember that
when evaluating your own systems.

(And yes,
this is a statement
on the current legal situation
in the U.S.)