Entrepreneurial thought for the day:
How many Yes or No positions did you put yourself in?
This is what determines our success. Without doing this simple task each day, we cannot progress. There will be no result. There will be no feedback.
Startups ought think in Yes / No terms.
It’s often said that a fish rots at the head first. I’m glad this is true because I’m getting pretty sick of Andrew Demetriou proclaiming these words…
‘The game has never been in better shape’
‘We have record attendances’
‘Our media deal is the most lucrative in Australian sport’
Yep, you’ve heard them all before. What Andrew doesn’t have the wisdom to understand is that the business graveyard is full of businesses who got it wrong well before there was any evidence in the numbers. It might not hurt to listen to the supporters once in a while.
A few things Andrew Demetriou ought remember:
The main issue is this. You are not listening, and your time will run out.
Startup blog says: If you want to run a successful business, don’t be like the AFL, listen instead.
I saw this little 1 minute video from Seth Godin (Who I used to worship, and now just ‘like’) and had to post it here. Be sure to read my comments below the video.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0h0LlCu8Ks]
Why the numbers are irrelevant to me….
In summary I’d say this. If it doesn’t make sense in the real world (physical life) then there’s a good chance it doesn’t make sense on line. In ‘real life’, that is our off line life we think of our friendships and even business contacts in terms of quality. We don’t go around trying to make 1000 friends and wear a t-shirt that says ‘I have 1000 friends’. Rather, we prefer to have strong meaningful relationships which are one on one. Where both parties benefit. We don’t have a list in spread sheet with the people we’ve met. Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it?
Startups should be using social media to build relationships – not gathering numbers.
From now on I’ve changed my twitter link below on my blog posts. Can you see the change?
I recently got an email from a domain name provider called hostess.com.au. It was about selling domains names with some recent examples. The title of the email was ‘Your domain name could be worth big dolllars’.
Here’s a screen grab.
It’s easy to think that this type of behaviour is ‘unethical’. But the reality is we live in a capitalist society. Speed and noticing opportunities is a key business skill. So my view is if you’ve savvy enough to find and speculate on domain names and make some cash – good luck to you. There is no shortage of examples of people who’ve made a bundle doing it.
So how to do it? Well, here’s a couple tips on some people have done it:
I’m sure you can think of some other ideas, or methods used in such speculating…. be sure to add them in the comments.
Industrial Tourism is big business. It’s a little know fact the Boeing factory in Seattle has over 180,000 visitors a year. At $15 a ticket that is approx $2.7 million in high margin revenue.
Local Australia firm fosters brewing has a popular brewery tour at their Melbourne plant (you get a free beer at the end of it) as does Media conglomerate NBC in the Rockerfella Centre in New York. None of this is free, and they are all fully booked pretty much every day. The thing that is almost as powerful as the cash such Industrial Tourism generates, is the relationship it builds with the brand.
It is pretty cool to be taken into the ‘secret back room’, even though we can all be pretty sure that Boeing or any large conglomerate are not about to give away any secrets on said tours. But this is where startups and SME’s can do it even better. We can let our early adopters into our Factory, Alpha testing, Retail back room, Warehouse, New Product Development session. We can let them expose our secret goodness to the market for us. Especially if we do something awesome like make great software, use recycled materials or anything creative.
So the question for startups is this: How can we let our early adopters and brand evangalists into our secret world to spread our world?
Today I dropped off my my Toyota Prius ‘Smug’ as my friends call it for a service. I decided to have a look at the new model Prius before I left.
The floor sales guy approached and asked if I was interested to which I said yes. I told him I already have a Prius and like it…. Big hint.
The abridged version of conversation then went something like this:
“Gee, they look nice…. How much are they?”
“I don’t know… I’ll find out”
he comes back with a quote sheet…..
“Does the non itech model have Satellite Navigation?”
No – it doesn’t”
“How much would it cost to get it as an added extra?”
“$4000”
“Are you serious… Gee that is quite expensive compared to purchasing a stand alone version… it’s 10 times the price in fact”
his response in a down talking tone…..
“It’s not some crappy thing from an electrical store….”
“hmm…. what would the price be on the car if I wanted to buy it today?
“Same price, it’s a new car, I can’t give you a better price than this.” (using that tone again)
“oh, full price?”
“Yes. Have you ever bought a new car?”
my response….
“Yes, and today – you wont be selling one.”
I then leave the show room.
Today I was out making sales calls in my local industrial area where there are a lot of different rental companies. Idea being to get these rental / hire companies using rentoid.com to generate extra business. The timing is good, because we have a zero cost entry platform and times are tough in the B to B arena.
But the thing that really matters is how I’ve been making the sales calls. Firstly, these guys are B to B, trades focused guys. renting mainly industrial equipment. The last thing they want to some tech / web geek give them bullshit about how the internet is going to save them…. So here’s what I’ve done instead:
I’m learning heaps and I’m loving it.
Start up blog says – get out there and start selling.