The Value Proposition Entrepreneur

Posted on August 1, 2021 by anentrepreneurswords

Several days ago, I was talking with an entrepreneur about his company. For many years, he had achieved a reasonable level of success with the manufacture and sale of a particular product. But more recently his sales had trailed off and he was becoming worried. He made very telling statement, “the product is the same as it has been for the past 15 years – I don’t understand why people aren’t buying it in the quantities they once did.” Framed in this manner, the problem is obvious. But how often do we march on oblivious to the changes that are occurring around us?

I asked the entrepreneur to explain his value proposition, a question that was followed by silence. He admitted that he really had not thought about it for quite some time (actually it had been several years). The bottom line was that his customers no longer saw the value in his product the same way as they had in the past. Tastes change. Competition is fierce. Customers can sometimes feel like they are being taken for granted. Unless we make an effort to continually understand why our customers buy our products or services, we aren’t in a position to make the tiny tweaks or major overhauls that are necessary to maintain our winning streak.

Conventional wisdom says that a value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered. Obviously, there is a lot more to it. A restaurant where we eat sometimes seems to be having a bit of a struggle with its value proposition. I suppose that the proprietor could say to me the customer, “You pay me money and I’ll cook your dinner.” Technically that is a value proposition – but a pretty bad one. The website for this restaurant references “a special dining experience.” There are some other superlatives in the “About” section of the website, but nothing that would really grab you. There are a lot of little things about this place that demonstrate a lack of focus on a strong value proposition. The prime rib is fatty and gristly; the wait staff is not trained to make sure that a diner’s glass of tea or water is always full – even if it is not their assigned table; likewise, empty plates are not cleared by the bus staff while guests are at the table (only by the primary server), and finally, service can be a bit slow at times.

A value proposition needs to reflect the culture of the organization. In the case of the restaurant previously mentioned, there does not seem to be a culture of attention to detail. This restaurant probably gets 95% of the dining experience right but does not seem to care enough to nail that last 5%. If I owned the restaurant, I would re-tool the culture and become fastidious about the little things. My ultimate value proposition would be something like this: “Most restaurants can cook you a meal. We focus on that last 5% to make your dining experience 100% perfect.” Then I would follow that with a further explanation – “your drink glass will never be empty; we select only the highest quality beef, pork, poultry and fish; our wait staff will always be looking for ways to serve you – regardless of whether or not it’s their assigned table.” Not only does this clearly state what value we will be delivering, but it also defines the points of differentiation with competing venues.

A good value proposition is clear, inspiring, and differentiating. To avoid becoming irrelevant, entrepreneurs must continually review and refine their value propositions.

This blog is being written in tandem with my book, “An Entrepreneur’s Words to Live By,” available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle (My Book), as well as being available in all of the other major eBook formats.

The Moat-Building Entrepreneur

Posted on June 27, 2021 by anentrepreneurswords

We know from our history lessons that in medieval days, members of noble families often lived in castles. These fortresses were imposing in appearance and have stood for centuries – a testament to their design and construction. Castles were built over a 900-year timeframe which is truly amazing. These structures were protected by a wide range of defenses including various forms of artillery, arrows, boiling oil, tar and sewage, and there are even reports of diseased dead bodies being catapulted at assailants. Finally, deep wide ditches were dug around many castles and filled with water, requiring access via drawbridges. In fairy tales we heard about moats being home to alligators, crocodiles, and other horrible monsters though it is doubtful that in real life moats were populated in this fashion.

So, what is your moat? Strange question you ask? I have written several times in the past about how important it is that entrepreneurs differentiate themselves from their competitors. In 2007, Warren Buffet was speaking to a group of University of Florida MBA students and had this to say about differentiation.

“I don’t want a business that’s easy for competitors. I want a business with a moat around it. I want a very valuable castle in the middle. And then I want…the Duke who is in charge of that castle to be honest and hard-working and able. And then I want a big moat around the castle, and that moat can be various things.”

“The moat in a business like our auto insurance business at GEICO is low cost. I mean people have to buy auto insurance, so everybody’s going to have one auto insurance policy per car basically, or per driver. And…I can’t sell them twenty…but they have to buy one. What are they going to buy it on? They’re going to buy it based on service and cost. Most people will assume the service is fairly identical among companies, or close enough, so they’re going to do it on cost, so I gotta be the low cost producer. That’s my moat. To the extent my costs get further lower than the other guy, I’ve thrown a couple of sharks into the moat.”

Thinking about differentiation in terms of a moat is a slightly different perspective than I have had in the past. I have viewed differentiation proactively and as an opportunity to exploit. Buffet seems to be seeing it from a defensive standpoint – thus his moat analogy. Either way, we get to the same place. There must be a reason that people want to do business with us beyond our charm and good looks.

I am advocating for a combination of defense and offense with respect to differentiation. On the one hand, I am looking for products and services that have high barriers to entry. Perhaps this is due to substantial capital requirements; extremely complex aspects to the product or service; maybe it is a patent; or perhaps there is a vertically integrated process that is extremely difficult to replicate. All those factors become the moat. They make it hard for competitors to easily jump into our space and make inroads.

Now let’s play offense. Simply keeping our competition at bay does not ensure success or profitability. It is what we do inside the castle that really counts. We can sit on a throne, eat rich foods, and get fat (dumb and happy), or we can exploit the opportunity we have to function in an arena where competition may not be as intense. This might take the form of developing a premium product, or a marketing strategy that creates FOMO – the Fear of Missing Out. Maybe exploiting the opportunity looks like the streamlining of an internal process that produces even greater profits. The point is that with a moat in place we can take our endeavor to an even higher level than ever before.

Differentiating ourselves as entrepreneurs is essential to our success. Doing so with a dual strategy of building a moat and exploiting the opportunity allows us to play defense and offense at the same time.

The Prom Night Entrepreneur

Posted on December 20, 2020 by anentrepreneurswords

The Holy Grail for business start-ups and mature organizations alike is customer procurement. Winning customers at a sufficient pace is critical to the survival of every company and especially for those at the fledgling stage. And yet I cannot tell you how many times I have seen entrepreneurs focus more on other aspects of their businesses rather than making sure they have enough customers to keep the doors open.

There is no doubt that we must have a minimally viable product that our customers want to buy. And implementing a wide variety of systems and processes is also an important factor. But without the customers, everything else is moot. To find the customers and convince them to spend their money with us requires pulling out all the stops. Top notch interactive websites, regular informational blogs, referral programs, social media, drip marketing, multi-media advertising and positive publicity are building blocks toward customer procurement. Yet, even with full implementation, the customers may not come in numbers or as quickly as are needed. What to do? Go back to the basics and fundamentals.

Think back to prom night – what was happening? Girls had their hair done. Guys were renting tuxedos. Corsages and boutonnieres were purchased; makeup was applied, and shoes were shined to a fine gloss. In other words, we were all trying to look our very best. Think about this with respect to our products or services. Have we done everything possible to look fantastic to those outside our company?

Do prospective customers clearly understand our value proposition? How strongly are we able to demonstrate that our product or service solves a problem and preferably one with which a lot of pain is associated? This is a major failure for a vast number of companies. Their product/service might be nice to have, but the customer cannot find a compelling reason to purchase it. Think Colgate Kitchen Entrees. Never heard of this? You are not alone. The folks that make Colgate toothpaste thought it might be a good idea to launch a line of frozen dinners. Customers could eat a Colgate meal and then use Colgate toothpaste to brush their teeth. What kind of a value proposition is that?! If we can’t nail our value proposition, then neither can our customers.

Customers have many choices when purchasing a product or service. Entrepreneurs sometimes become so enamored with their own ideas that they fail to objectively assess the competition. I have certainly been guilty of this myself in the past. I would pooh-pooh a competitor and rationalize that our approach was far more sophisticated and desirable. And yet, I did not ask the bottom-line question of what customers liked better about the competition. We may have a product or service that truly is twice as good as anything else on the market, but unless we can make a clear and concise case for differentiation, we’ll be stuck with the rest of the pack. Effectively communicating product or service differentiation means life or death in the business world.

A strong uptrend for customer procurement will happen if we practice the basics and fundamentals. This can be accomplished by presenting our product or service in as attractive a manner as possible; when we have a killer value proposition, and when we effectively communicate how we are different. Doing all of this will ensure that we will be the hit of the party.

The Competitive Entrepreneur

Posted on October 18, 2020 by anentrepreneurswords

Evil, dirty, underhanded, devious, conniving, despicable, dishonest, cutthroat, backstabbing, snobbish, arrogant, lying and cheating. These are terms I have heard applied to competitors over the last 45 years. Without a doubt I have missed some. What emotions are evoked when you think about your competitors? Some entrepreneurs I know have pure hatred for the competition and others display a great deal of fear. Why do we associate such negativity to our competition?

The amateur psychologist in me believes it has something to do with our childhood (don’t all our issues?). On the playground we engaged in competitive duels involving kickball, dodge ball, four-square and other gladiator-like activities. Losers were vanquished with taunts and teasing. When we were older, competition for relationships with the opposite sex was intense. When a sought-after girl or boy chose someone else, we were crushed and dejected. Fast forward to today and it is no wonder that we often see our competition as the enemy.

But do we really benefit from viewing our competitors in this manner? Competition is actually a wonderful thing. Let’s look at several of the reasons why.

Competition stimulates creativity and innovation. Every day we know that our competitors are working overtime to develop new products or services. To keep from being left behind we do the same. New discoveries are made from this process that may generate greater profits and capture a larger market share.
Best practices emanate from a competitive environment. Let’s face it; we don’t have all the answers. So, observing how others do things and testing our approach accordingly can lead us to implement better systems and processes. Without competition what would be the incentive to improve?
An inefficient market is the byproduct of competition. Some competitors are stronger, and some are weaker. If every competitor is equally strong how would anyone win? The concept of winners and losers is critical to a healthy yet inefficient market.
Hand-in-hand with the inefficient market theory is the opportunity for differentiation. This is good for the consumer and it is outstanding for the entrepreneur. Why? Because we can create a level of variety that may appeal to more customers. It is not just about “better;” it’s also about “different.” If every boutique sold the same black dress, doesn’t it stand to reason that a boutique selling a purple skirt might win a few more customers than the black dress sellers?
Competition helps to broaden the talent pool. It provides career paths for the workforce into which we as entrepreneurs can tap. We can create cultures where people want to work, giving them the chance to grow and advance their careers. And in the process, we get to attract the best and the brightest.

For years we have enjoyed good relationships with our competitors. We view them with respect and in some cases, admiration. Other terms come to mind as well: friendship, collaboration, empathy, and gratitude. Collaboration you ask? Yes, we have often referred customers to our competitors when we could not meet their needs and they have done the same for us. In 2008 a Maine portable restroom business owned by Jeff Bellino burned to the ground. Who came to the rescue? Bellino’s competitors! They provided portable restrooms, toilet tissue and chemicals so that he could keep going while he rebuilt his operation. Competition is at its healthiest when competitors have each other’s backs in a time of need.

When we embrace the notion of strong and healthy competition, we enhance our chances for success. There is no doubt that competition makes us better entrepreneurs in every respect.

This blog is being written in tandem with my book, “An Entrepreneur’s Words to Live By,” available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle (My Book), as well as being available in all of the other major eBook formats.

The Cold Calling Entrepreneur

Posted on March 8, 2020 by anentrepreneurswords

My cell phone rang the other day. The person on the other end started by introducing himself but did not speak clearly so I couldn’t catch his name. He immediately launched with a hearty, “Mr. Harris, how are you doing today?” This sort of greeting is always a warning signal for me that someone is going to try and sell something. Being a polite person, I responded by saying that I was fine. Before I could say anything else, he began reading from his script. He was peddling the most amazing product since the invention of the light bulb and it was going to save me millions of dollars . . . or something like that. This guy literally filibustered for more than 30 seconds without taking a breath. He obviously had a lot of practice doing this.

Does this sort of old school cold calling really work? Perhaps it does to a point, but I question whether it is the most effective approach. Let’s examine all the ways I found this conversation to be off-putting. #1 – Failure to speak clearly – the fact that he spoke so fast that I couldn’t understand his name was certainly not the right way to get started. #2 – Cliché greeting – asking how I was doing is incredibly trite and inauthentic. #3 – No need-determination – this was at the heart of his ineffective approach. He arrogantly assumed that I needed his product or service and made no attempt to validate this assumption. #4 – Reading from a script – I had no confidence that he understood what he was supposed to be selling. After listening to him tout his product for a while I finally interrupted him and said, “I’m not interested, thank you.” And then I hung up. I wonder how many times this happens to him every day.

This type of cold calling utilizes a classic high-pressure technique and I’m surprised that in today’s business world there are still companies (and salespeople) who use it. Cold calling can be a thankless task yielding poor results except for a high degree of discouragement. Cold calling should be less about the product or service we are selling and more about building and collecting relationships that we can serve. The problem is that many companies still expect salespeople to meet quotas and apply extreme pressure to sell, sell and sell. The alternative (and much more effective) approach is to call without making any attempt whatsoever to sell anything. Instead the call is to introduce one’s self and build a rapport with the customer. This process includes attempting to understand how the customer does business and to identify his points of pain.

I would begin a call like this by indicating that I’m not calling to sell anything. This statement is usually somewhat disarming and increases the chance for a customer to stay on the phone. Instead, I’m doing some research to learn more about how customers are dealing with a certain issue. If my product is inventory management software, I’m going to ask open-ended questions that get the customer to talk about what problems he might be experiencing with his current inventory management system. And I’m going to carefully listen to his responses and ask pertinent follow-up questions based upon what he has told me. I will not read from a script. Once I have a greater understanding about my prospective customer and his needs, I’m going to thank him for his time and hang up.

I’ll follow-up with a handwritten note expressing appreciation to the customer for his time. Very few people write notes anymore. I won’t send it by e-mail because I won’t stand out as much. I may wait several days and send him something relating to the conversation we had – perhaps it’s an article that is applicable to his situation. But I’m still not selling him anything. Instead, I’m working to build a relationship. By the time I call him again, he knows who I am. And there’s a reasonable chance that I’ve differentiated myself from the high-pressure cold callers he hears from every day. When I finally call him days or even weeks later to help him buy my product, it’s now a warm call.

Effective selling isn’t about the product we’re pushing. It’s all about the customer and his or her needs. And while this premise seems so basic, it’s not practiced extensively. Thus, when we take the personal approach rather than the product approach, we have a real opportunity to stand out from our competition.

Success Without Sacrifice?

Posted on March 24, 2019 by anentrepreneurswords

Much has been made about “work/life balance” over the past several years. This discussion is a somewhat backhanded slap at past generations where high achievers sometimes (maybe often) spent a great deal of time and effort clawing their way to the top. Today’s meme is that there is a better and smarter way to reach the pinnacle of success. And it involves much less of something we old-timers know as “sacrifice.” I submit that there is a fundamental misunderstanding about both these notions – work/life balance and sacrifice.

Entrepreneurship is more competitive than ever. Competition pushes us to innovate and find better ways of doing things that results in winning. Believe me when I say that the entrepreneurial environment doesn’t care about work/life balance. This is a full-throttle pull-out-all-the-stops world in which we compete. Then, does this mean that we can’t achieve work/life balance AND achieve high levels of success? The answer is . . . yes and no.

The yes and no answer is actually a sliding scale. On one end of the scale we have a healthy work/life balance and some level of success. On the other end of the scale we are making considerable sacrifices and achieving some other level of success. The wild card is the level of success we really want to attain. Some entrepreneurs can operate a business that is successful enough to provide for a very comfortable lifestyle. And they can do so without giving up much to do so. There are other entrepreneurs that are driven to the point that they become single-minded in their focus to the exclusion of all else – and achieve unimaginable success. The key to understanding what we must sacrifice is to understand exactly what level of success we want and what it will take to achieve it.

Many of us who entered business in the 1970s and 1980s know what it was like to “pay our dues.” We started at the bottom of the corporate ladder, learned our business and perfected our craft. While we were always chomping at the bit to get ahead, we also knew that we were going to have to prove that we were worthy. Sometimes that meant 100-hour weeks and toiling in the salt mines for what seemed like an eternity. There was much frustration, anguish and a healthy dose of fear. We ultimately prevailed through a formula that was one-part smart enough, one-part hard work, and a secret ingredient called pure passion.

While passion drove me when I was young and still drives me today, I was able to prioritize in such a way as to never miss an event involving my daughters; never miss taking a vacation with my wife, and never endangering my health. My work and my personal life became intertwined to the point of being inseparable. I’m not sure how a big vision can be reached without this sort of work/life relationship.

There are many young entrepreneurs brimming with confidence and vowing to do things differently than their parents and grandparents. That’s fine and I wish them well. What they will need to eventually determine is what level of success they want to achieve and what will be required to achieve it. It’s an extremely rare individual who can dream a big idea, implement it and create a moonshot while coasting on a cloud and exerting minimal effort. Most of the time, moonshots require incredible amounts of blood, sweat and tears. Entrepreneurs who are too impatient or are unwilling to make certain sacrifices are going to see their dream fizzle and fall into the sea. There’s no question that young entrepreneurs can and should learn from the mistakes made by previous generations. This will help smooth the path to success. But what can’t be ignored are the benefits of business experience, life experience and the notion of eating, sleeping and breathing the entrepreneurial vision. And there’s no way around it . . . there will be sacrifices.

We’ve all heard about some of the legends of enterprise. Steve Jobs worked non-stop, calling close associates late into the evening to bounce around ideas. Mark Cuban didn’t take a vacation for seven years during the time he was launching his initial business venture. Marissa Mayer worked 130-hour weeks when she was at Google and sometimes slept under her desk. Elon Musk said in an interview with Vator News, “You just have to put in 80-to-100 hour weeks every week. If other people are putting in 40-hour work weeks and you’re putting in 100-hour work weeks, then, even if you’re doing the same thing, you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.”

Achieving extraordinary levels of success still requires sacrifice. Entrepreneurs need to decide for themselves what level of success they desire and understand what it will take to achieve it.

This blog is being written in tandem with my book, “An Entrepreneur’s Words to Live By,” available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle (My Book), as well as being available in all of the other major eBook formats.

Five Reasons Exponential Growth Can Be Elusive

Posted on April 22, 2018 by anentrepreneurswords

Toby founded a small construction company that does quality commercial work. While his company’s growth has been extraordinary, he is concerned that it doesn’t feel like he’s “broken out” yet. And his biggest worry is that he doesn’t see how he’s going to achieve the scale that he desires. In fact, there are signs that his growth is starting to flatten out. Toby is struggling to understand what is lacking in his approach to building his business. This is a very common problem for many small businesses where the founder has lofty aspirations . . . and even loftier expectations. Let’s look at some of the more common reasons that growing to scale is such a challenge.

Lack of Differentiation – We win when we are able to offer a product or service that is materially different than our competition. Toby thinks his services are differentiated, but in reality they aren’t in a substantive way. He insists that he offers the best customer service of anyone in the market – but that’s a claim that all of his competitors make as well. What should Toby do to tweak his products and services so that they are in much greater demand? He should start by gaining a better understanding of his customers and prospective customers. Exactly what are the problems they are encountering with their construction projects? What are the most important things they want from their contractor? Toby needs to spend time interviewing as many people as he can to identify what the customer wants in the most granular fashion possible. Then he needs to refine his product/service suite to deliver what he has been told. Too often, we think we know what the customer wants – or what we think is best for the customer – rather than actually asking them over and over.
Deficient Strategy – A Strategy Cascade starts with Winning Aspirations that leads to Where to Play, then How to Win, then Capabilities Needed and ends with Management Systems. Many small businesses have a poor to no strategy at all. Many entrepreneurs think tactically rather than strategically. Toby has this affliction. When asked, he says his strategy is to regularly attend various networking functions and try to identify business people who may be undertaking a construction project. Then he intends to do his best to convince them to use his firm. Unfortunately he has no real plan to get from Point A to Point B.
Small Thinking – Toby says within seven years he wants to build a business with $10 million in annual sales. He’s already at $3.5 million. My question is – why only $10 million? Why not $100 million? I’ve met very few entrepreneurs that have BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Look, there’s nothing wrong with growing a business to a respectable level. But if one of the objectives is to scale-up in a major way, thinking really big is requisite. Toby should start by dreaming as big as he possibly can, then work backward to see what will be needed in the way of resources to realize his massive dream.
Working “In” Instead of “On” the Business – In addition to small thinking, entrepreneurs often spend too much time working “in” their business instead of “on” it. Toby is involved with every cost estimate. He spends a lot of time on job sites and performs the final interview of every employee that is hired. There’s no question that he’s a “hands-on” business person – and he’s very proud of this fact. In this case, Toby is his own worst enemy. He hasn’t yet learned that it’s imperative to delegate if he wants to scale his company. When a company is very small, the founder must spend a great deal of time as a jack-of-all-trades out of necessity. But this isn’t sustainable if real growth is to be achieved. The entrepreneur who can scale his or her company in a serious way has figured out how to stay focused on the big picture and leave the smaller details to others.
A Lack of Patience – I’ve said many times that it’s difficult for fast-moving, hard-charging entrepreneurs to be patient people. I have had this problem my entire career. Nothing ever happens as quickly as I want. Toby gets antsy when his business isn’t performing to his expectations. Part of the problem is the lack of a Big Vision and a coherent Strategy Cascade. When a comprehensive business plan is created, it includes a timeline that can be monitored allowing for refinement of the plan to stay on track. Toby will become much more patient when he’s working his plan and can see how his performance is matched with his timeline.

There are other reasons that a business fails to grow and scale. But meaningful differentiation of products/services; a well-designed strategy; thinking big; spending enough time working “on” the business, and maintaining patience, are critical elements to the scaling equation.

You can also listen to a weekly audio podcast of my blog. What you hear will be different than what you read in this blog. Subscribe on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also click on this link – Click here to listen to Audio Episode 93 – Chicken Feed.

A Boomer’s Advice to Millennials

Posted on October 29, 2017 by anentrepreneurswords

Baby Boomers and Millennials. Two massive generations – 74.9 million Boomers and 75.4 million Millennials, and as different as night and day. But then, most generations are quite different. And I’m sure that every older generation shakes its collective head about the younger generation. The music, the attire, the idioms and the social mores are all puzzling to both. There’s no doubt from a work perspective that Boomers and Millennials aren’t always on the same page. For the sake of generational harmony I want to offer some ideas that hopefully will be helpful in bridging the gap.

Use the phone. As a Boomer I’m a telephone guy. I use e-mail extensively but have learned that it’s not always the right communications tool for every situation. Why? Because it’s one-dimensional. E-mail – and I include text messages, Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn messaging and Snapchat in this category – is dangerous for complex subjects that requires interpretation, and for situations where there is the potential for conflict. I’ve seen too many instances of hurt feelings stemming from what someone read (and misinterpreted) in an e-mail. Many of my Millennial friends and colleagues aren’t as inclined to use the telephone. I urge them to do so when the subject needs more than just a factual recitation.
See people in person. No, this advice does not contradict what I previously said about using the phone. The personal touch is all about building relationships and culture. It’s much harder to do sitting behind a desk or a computer screen. I really enjoy getting out of my office multiple times during the day and going to see someone else in person – inside and outside our office. This gives me a chance to “read” the feelings of another person with whom I’m interacting. And I can clarify anything about my communications when I notice puzzlement or discomfort emanating from the other party. By the way – if I can’t meet someone in person, I’d much rather connect via a videoconference than just an audio phone call for all of the same reasons.
Build relationships. Meeting people in the flesh is all part of the relationship building process. And relationships are the lifeblood of success in entrepreneurship. I subscribe to the philosophy that I want to avoid trying to “sell” anything to someone else. Instead, I want to be in a position to help them “buy.” I strongly believe that this is much easier to accomplish through relationships. Ultimately the foundation for my relationships is service. I want to serve other people in whatever way I can without the thought of quid pro quo. I’ve seen firsthand how the world embraces this. When I do good for others without any expectation from them in return – great and wonderful things happen to me. It’s that simple.
Develop resilience. Millennials, guess what? We Boomers may have been too protective of our offspring when they were young. Life isn’t fair and the same goes for business. When we avoid all thoughts of victimization and concentrate on perseverance we eventually succeed. Quitting is not an option but being smarter than the problem is. Get up off the ground, dust yourself off and figure out a different way to get the result you are seeking.
Differentiate. Speaking of a different way, the world keeps becoming more competitive. It’s more important than ever to find a way to differentiate our products, services and even ourselves. This means becoming more creative, more innovative and more customer-centric. Believe me when I say that understanding true differentiation requires a lot of heavy lifting. Those who think this is a relatively easy task are missing the fact that there’s a great deal of nuance in differentiation. This means that the customer must really perceive the value of differentiation – it doesn’t matter that’s how we see it.
Be prepared to sacrifice. We all want work/life balance. But I’m sorry to say that it’s not always possible. As Boomers, it was ingrained in us that hard work was necessary to get ahead. That meant “paying our dues” and making many sacrifices early in our career. As Millennials, you may not have to be as obsessed as were we. However you will have to make sacrifices at some level to achieve great things. We worked hard and a lot. You will need to work hard, but you can also work smart. The key today is to replace working a lot with working smart.

Baby Boomers and Millennials have much to learn from each other. I believe that the advice I’m offering as a Boomer transcends generations. Hopefully you will find it helpful in your life.

Moats

Posted on January 29, 2017 by anentrepreneurswords

We know from our history lessons that in medieval days, members of noble families often lived in castles. These fortresses were imposing in appearance and have stood for centuries – a testament to their design and construction. Castles were actually built over a 900-year timeframe which in itself is truly amazing. These structures were protected by a wide range of defenses including various forms of artillery, arrows, boiling oil, tar and sewage, and there are even reports of diseased dead bodies being catapulted at assailants. Finally, deep wide ditches were dug around many castles and filled with water, requiring access via drawbridges. In fairy tales we heard about moats being home to alligators, crocodiles and other horrible monsters though it’s doubtful that in real life moats were populated in this fashion.

So what’s your moat? Strange question you ask? I’ve written several times in the past about how important it is that entrepreneurs differentiate themselves from their competitors. In 2007, Warren Buffet was speaking to a group of University of Florida MBA students and had this to say about differentiation.

“I don’t want a business that’s easy for competitors. I want a business with a moat around it. I want a very valuable castle in the middle. And then I want…the Duke who’s in charge of that castle to be honest and hard-working and able. And then I want a big moat around the castle, and that moat can be various things.”

Thinking about differentiation in terms of a moat is a slightly different perspective than I’ve had in the past. I’ve viewed differentiation proactively and as an opportunity to exploit. Buffet seems to be seeing it from a defensive standpoint – thus his moat analogy. Either way, we get to the same place. There has to be a reason that people want to do business with us beyond our charm and good looks.

I am advocating for a combination of defense and offense with respect to differentiation. On the one hand, I’m looking for products and services that have high barriers to entry. Perhaps this is due to substantial capital requirements; extremely complex aspects to the product or service; maybe it’s a patent; or perhaps there’s a vertically integrated process that is extremely difficult to replicate. All of those factors become the moat. They make it hard for competitors to easily jump into our space and make inroads.

Now let’s play offense. Simply keeping our competition at bay doesn’t ensure success or profitability. It’s what we do inside the castle that really counts. We can sit on a throne, eat rich foods and get fat (dumb and happy), or we can exploit the opportunity we have to function in an arena where competition may not be as intense. This might take the form of developing a premium product, or a marketing strategy that creates FOLO – the Fear of Losing Out. Maybe exploiting the opportunity looks like the streamlining of an internal process that produces even greater profits. The point is that with a moat in place we are able to take our endeavor to an even higher level than ever before.

The Three-Legged Stool

Posted on January 10, 2016 by anentrepreneurswords

We entrepreneurs have no shortage of books and other resource materials at our disposal to understand how to win in today’s environment. We’re barraged with a multitude of tips, tactics, strategies and a host of other concepts. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone insists theirs is the right way. Ask any coach or consultant and undoubtedly each will have their own secret sauce. I have no issue with any of this and believe that this diversity of ideas is healthy for entrepreneurship as a whole. Fortunately no one individual has it all figured out . . . so we continue to seek. As one of the “seekers” I might as well add my thoughts to the mix.

My approach involves a three-legged stool, and it’s a very simple calculus. The first leg is that of Culture. For most of my career I wasn’t very focused on Culture and we certainly didn’t do much to promote it. Our Culture just kind of happened in a laissez-faire manner. Oh sure, we had a company picnic every now and then as well as a Christmas party; and from time-to-time we would undertake a community service project. But for the most part it was nose-to-the-grindstone – chew ‘em up and spit ‘em out. However, I’ve learned a lot over the past few years and I’m now drinking the Culture Kool-Aid – lots of it. Why? Because I’ve found that Core Values matter. Not just to the company but to each member of our team. And we really live our Core Values every single day. As a result, we now have a team of people who have a common alignment and purpose. We are able to connect with millennials and Boomers alike and productivity has markedly increased. While Culture is more than just Core Values, they serve as the foundation for a Culture.

The second leg of the stool is Product. With the strengthening of our Culture we’ve become more creative and innovative with respect to the products and services we provide. The positive environment that has emerged in our companies has enabled us to shine a spotlight on our Product set. We’re constantly making tweaks every chance we get to differentiate from our competition that which we offer. “How is it different?” has become our mantra. We’ve become much more targeted with our marketing and sales effort in a manner that complements our Product refinement. A clear focus on Product has been the impetus for a much more strategic approach to decisions that we make as opposed to the small-ball tactics that we used to deploy.

Finally, the third leg of the stool is Customer. Many companies pay lip service to their customers. Everyone recognizes that without customers we don’t stay in business very long. But to succeed entrepreneurs must go far beyond basic customer service. We must do the deep dive into understanding what makes the Customer tick. It’s more than just needs and wants . . . it’s also a more comprehensive understanding of buying patterns and lifestyles. It’s about anticipating what the Customer will value. Thus, the value proposition becomes the Holy Grail. How does the customer experience attain complete and total satisfaction?

Maybe I’ve oversimplified this, but everything else seems incidental beyond Culture, Product and Customer. Without a strong Culture how can we possibly create a great Product and take care of the Customer? Without a great Product, our Culture begins to crack as team members become demoralized and the Customer eventually suffers. And yes, without the Customer, there’s no point in a Culture or a Product.

Culture, Product and Customer. A three-legged stool that looks simple, but is strong enough to support a long winning streak for us as entrepreneurs.

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