Category: entrepreneurship

Retail Madness

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I took this photo in a local mall in Melbourne on August 9th – The coldest part of winter.

Anyone who lives in or has been to Melbourne knows it’s still very cold until November. Yet the clothing retail chain above already has summer clothes only in the display window. And they’ve already started their winter clothes clearance – in the middle of winter!

The top temperature on said day was 11ºc / 55ºf with snow falls down to 400m.

Here’s the weather forecast for Melbourne for the coming week:

This is retail gone mad – for a few reasons:

They are selling their ‘winter’ stock ‘during winter’ at a 70% discount?

Consumers don’t care about their buying seasons, just what the weather’s like – right now.

Melbourne people don’t care what the weather’s like in Queensland.

People’s lives are too busy to buy clothing 4 months in advance.

They are letting their supply chain get in front of what consumers actually need and want.

No prizes for guessing the store was empty.

If we buy hot soup on cold days, and ice cream on hot days, why should clothing be any different? It’s not. And is less so, as time becomes the finite resource.

If you’re a start up in the retail arena.

Startup blog says: make your range, match the ‘real’ world. You’ll be far ahead of any retail chain.

Music Max – Pusing it up hill

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Music Max, the usually good music channel on cable / pay TV has lost it. While blogging with Tv on in background, I’ve looked up to see the “Non stop top 5000 – Gold Medal Marathon”.

Now this is a stretch – really pushing it uphill. Most people don’t even know 5000 songs, let alone like more than 1000. Don’t believe me? Look at your most played itunes list, or even better those songs on it you’ve never played at all.

They are currently up to song 4300 and still I haven’t heard a song I know in an hour. If Music Max is trying some ‘one upsmanship’, Startup blog suggests they give it a miss. This is a classic example of more being less, much much less.

Startups – focus on one downsmanship. Be specific.

It’s not me, it’s you

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

This brillaint piece of communication by bringtheloveback summerzies the biggest opportunity for startups in the last 100 years. Small startups and entrpreneurs can have the conversations most large companies refuse to have. Or do in an overly  moderated environment – which just doesn’t work.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZDXfB0Rd4Q]

In truth most large dominant companies from the old production based economy are probably too scared to have a warts and all conversation with their people.  The truth might get out. Truths like, companies reducing the quality of ingredients to keep prices low.

In fact they never did. They investigated, researched and even spied. Maybe they should have just listened and conversed.

Thanks to Ross Hill for the link!

Free advice – from the world greatest thinkers

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

It’s never been easier to be mentored on a specific subject, from experts, for free. There are even live feedback mechanisms from other interested experts. And most of the amazingly cool and informative stuff comes from blogs – just like this one.

But are you really taking advantage of this mentoring revolution?

Do you have a digital mentor?

Have you emailed the writer of your favourite blog?

Asked for advice / help, given them advice or help?

Are you passing on your skills by blogging for others?

My favourite blog has 25,000 readers a day. The publisher has his email address listed on it. When I email him a question he gets back to me within a day or two with an answer, a link, a blog entry or if I’m really lucky a free PDF copy of his latest book. The real value comes from the interactions, not the reading.

Smart entrepreneurs get involved in the conversation, they don’t just listen to the lecture.

The best brand you can own

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

The best brand you can own is ‘you’.

You can’t be cloned, can’t be counterfeit, can’t be me too-ed.Other people can do what you do, copy your methodology, but they never can be you.

This was never clearer to me than when Zach de la Rocha left the band Rage Against the Machine. (RATM)

Some of the remaining members then formed another band called Audioslave. Sure it was a different band, but in real terms the guitar riffs and music style was exactly the same. Just a different singer with different lyrics. In my view the magic was lost. It just didn’t have the same sound, feel and energy. As a massive fan of RATM who owns all of their music, I could never get into Audioslave. With only one ingredient changed, it didn’t work for me.That ingredient was one person (Zach) with a massive personal brand. A brand that doesn’t just stand for something, but delivers everything he does with a certain edge.

Have no doubt that successful entrepreneurs also develop a personal brand. A brand which will represent their persona, style and techniques. Those who do it well develop something which is transferable wherever they go. It is often of incredible value, a value which will live on, even after they sell their killer startup.

What about your people?

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

All our startups, businesses and brands have their people. It’s members, it’s customers. The humans that matter in whatever we do. So how do we connect with them? Not talk to them or worse, at them, but how do we really connect with them?

Here’s what we are doing at rentoid. We are having an coffee session in the CBD of melbourne (our home city) where members can come and grab an espresso and simply chat. If only 1 person turns up, that’s fine by us. Because that one person matters as much as the 250,000 others. In fact to them, they are the only person that matters.

The discussion will be whatever the people want it to be about. Not a contrived focus group. What matters is making a connection with them, being a group of people trying to help each other, breaking down the traditional corporate facade. Not having any gatekeepers.  And quite frankly we can’t wait.

If you’re in Melbourne came and meet the rentoid team for a chat and an espresso on us before work. We can chat about startups, marketing, life and maybe even rentoid. We’ll be at Journal in Flinders lane. All the details are here.

When’s the last time you took time out to hang with your people?