“If I could only land this one huge client, I’d make it big!”

I hear it all the time, “forget the minnows… fish for that whale!”

And it did make sense in an industrialized-aged era. In the previous century, the marketing & sales efforts to attract one hundred clients paying $1,000 was usually significantly more than it was to hook one client paying $100,000.

But in the age of the internet – where information flows swiftly, and technology has helped smart businesses create virtual pipelines for promoting & delivering goods and services – this is no longer the case.

We now have the ability to use social media, websites, email, video and a host of other technologies to further our product’s reach and effectiveness.

As entrepreneurs living in the 21st century we have wonderful opportunities available to us. And over time, we will present specific scenarios and case studies in which you can apply technology into your business.

But technology is not the premise of this article… It’s about being happy.

Finding happiness:

Who am I serving? Why did I create this business? How can I improve the lives of as many people as possible? And most importantly: Am I happy?

The questions every entrepreneur should ask themselves.

And after deep introspection, you should begin to see that it’s not the Microsofts, Fords or the governments of the world who you’d like as a customer. It’s the little guys, the mom and pops of society.

Because as the size of the client grows, so does the demands. The more you become trapped in the bureaucracy associated with their specificity. And unfortunately, the more your individuality dies.

No happy entrepreneur wakes up worrying about what their major client is going to demand next. Instead, a happy entrepreneur wakes up wondering how they can improve the lives of others.

Caution: It’s not always peachy, but usually

As you continually improve your offerings to appeal to your customer base some may not enjoy the tweaks, but most will.

With many users, one client parting ways will not break the bank. Respect their choice to leave as you’ll still have thousands of others who love your product.

Without that whale dictating your every move, you won’t be forced to create something the CEO thinks is best, but what you think is best for your users. Which means you can create something that makes you happy.

And this is why we become entrepreneurs in the first place: to be happy.

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Dear Solopreneur,

Are you a one-man-band pretending your business is bigger than it truly is? It’s easy to do, you know, just change “I” to “we” in your sale scripts. Instantly, you have yourself a firm instead of a home office. Magic!

But you may be doing more harm than good.

What if your potential client or customer is looking for someone rolling solo? You may have scared them away. Or what if a company needed a 10-person shop to help them out and you would have never won the business alone? You and the prospect may have unnecessarily wasted valuable time discussing the project.

Ultimately, it’s best to be honest and up front, since it will only be a matter of time until the client realizes the you-not-us scheme. So as a rule of thumb going forward: be honest and set proper expectations. Call a spade a spade. It’s not We… it’s You.

Sincerely,

Brad

ps. As your business grows and you bring on one or more employees, you will experience a tremendous boost in motivation when you’re changing the content on your marketing collateral from I to We.

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It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.
~ Charles Darwin

If you had asked me a couple years ago what I thought I’d be doing professionally in 2011, I can guarantee you I would have been 100% wrong.

Being in business is filled with uncertainty and risk. But for those who change with the times – the visionaries if you will – they are much more likely to skirt the hazards. And continually create what others want.

Too often businesses that fail believe they cannot fail. Look at the Lehman Brothers. They got comfortable. And where are they now?

Or more often, businesses don’t hop on the bandwagon soon enough. Take Sears for instance. Besides their hardware section, what is Sears truly good for anymore? Their famous Wish Book? I’m not sure about you, but I do my clothing, jewelry and toy shopping elsewhere.

This isn’t a sudden trend or something that just started recently. Al Gore and his damn Internets aren’t to blame either. The world is rapidly changing. And has been since before the industrial age. Technology simply fuels this rapid change in people’s needs and desires.

The oil industry refuses to acknowledge this fact. They are doing everything they can to pressure the ongoing dependency of their product. The industry is pretending the growing demand for clean energy is not a problem. All they see is the billions of dollars of untapped oil.

But what does this mean for your brand? (Besides the fact that your full-page ad in the yellow book was a waste of money?) It means you must do everything you can to anticipate upcoming trends in buyer behavior. For example:

Manufacturers: Sales’ drop on product X while M is finally taking off? Why is this?

Real Estate Brokerage: A factory just laid-off two thousand people? What will this mean for the middle-class housing market?

Service Industry: Currently focusing on the affluent executives in the area? How can you attract the growing number of retiring baby boomers?

Newspaper Publisher: Ad sales dropping? Give up already! … just kidding! I know newspapers still have a few good years left in them :)

Anyway, you get the point.

So as you look forward to the year ahead, you must be prepared to change. Business plans nowadays are only business guesses. Selling 100 widgets in Q2 of next year is impossible to predict.

Rather, plan to change. Money is to be made in years to come. Just keep in mind; no one truly knows where that money will be made.

What do you think will be the catalyst of change in your business? And what have you done thus far to stay ahead of the curve?

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Technology is evolving at warp speed. Can you feel it?  I can. It seems like a new technology is invented every second.

Technology can be an anxiety producing phenomenon if you don’t have a clear understanding how and why it’s important to you.

Some of us are unnecessarily afraid of technology. Many of us mistakenly get drunk on it. I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum.

There was a time I didn’t want to be an early adopter. Technology confused me and I was comfortable with my old system or method. There have been other times, more recently, that I’ve used technology just because…with no real intent or purpose. I got lost in the maze of playing with the latest, greatest gadget and completely destroyed any sense of productivity.

For many of us, technology just simply hasn’t been a part of our education system. Well, as 21st century business owners, we can no longer use that as an excuse. We not only must embrace technology, we need to learn to apply it in ways that make our lives more valuable and productive, not wasteful.

Productivity means getting something done faster, easier, or cheaper. You’re taking complexity — whether it’s time, effort, or cost — and reducing it. The good news is technology is being built for us to do just this. Things happen faster, they’re costing less, and they’re getting easier to use.

The question becomes, are you positioning yourself to take advantage of these technologies or are they sabotaging your productivity?

Here are three quick questions to decide if a technology is right for you:

1. Does this technology enhance something I’m already good at? All technology should be used as an extension of your abilities — the things you do best, love doing most, and get the best results from. Many seek out technology to solve their shortcomings. Instead, leverage others to help with your shortcomings. Leverage technology to enhance your strong suits. Find and use the technology that helps you perform better. The ones that make you stand out. The ones that empower your gifts and talents.
2. What is my specific purpose with this technology? You can use a knife to help or harm. Technology is no different. Remember, technology is a means to an end. The end is whatever your purpose would be even if there weren’t a technology around. You must be totally clear about your purpose first, then look for a technology to make it easier, faster, or cheaper.
3. What am I willing to give up? If you are going to spend time on something, you must be willing to give something else up in exchange for it. When you decide to adopt a new technology put another one on hold until you determine which is better for you.

Ultimately, each technology should be helping you get something done faster, easier, or cheaper. If it’s not, it’s not worth it.

What questions do you ask yourself to know if a technology is right for you?

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Day in and day out, business owners, executives and sales teams struggle to compete for new business. Constantly approaching new companies and consumers begging for a sale.

To assist in the search, marketing departments continual craft witty messages to attract buyers. But more times than not, the sales staff will never sell anything to these folks.

Beaten and depressed, most sales people move onto the next target. The entire time thinking that they lost the sale to their competition down the street. Never realizing that more likely, the prospect never bought from the competitor either.

Finding Your True Competition

B2B Example Scenario: I spent some time after college working as an account manager for a technology reseller. And in the beginning, the sales process was a shaky one. I would find myself with a sinking feeling in my gut every time I heard, “we decided to go another route, but thank you.” It was heart breaking, to say the least.

“What did I do wrong?” I’d ask myself. “I came in with faster shipping and better terms, but yet they ‘decided to go another route,’ come on!”

After a few weeks of constant daggers in my heart, I started probing into their reasoning further. “Why did you choose to abort this plan?” I’d say in one-way or another. And slowly I started seeing a pattern. It wasn’t my negotiation skills, shipping details or the price. But rather, the company needed to allocate the money in a different department.

This was mind blowing. As a tech reseller, I wasn’t truly competing with the Dell’s and Newegg’s of the world. In actuality, it was the company’s IT department competing with the HR department’s need for new desks, the janitorial staff’s requirement for a new worker, the security team’s constant requests for updated cameras, the CEO’s self-interests, the marketing department’s media buying… the list went on and on.

Realizing this, my entire sales process changed. I continually crafted my questioning process. Learning from each encounter, asking more precise questions and ultimately getting to the heart of the company’s current situation. For instance, did they need this new server configuration? And if so, how can I make this package more attractive to the COO than their admitted need for an updated CRM.

Once I began to understand this concept, my sales went from mediocre to stellar. And because I was able to get their bosses approval for new stuff, my account contacts loved me… I found if you make an ally with the contact at the company, they would share with you the happenings and gossip of the company. Perfect ammunition going into the sales presentation.

To Summarize

In essence, your biggest competition isn’t in your vertical. But rather, the endless other needs of the company or consumer will ultimately be the deciding factor in whether or not you receive the business.

Do you have any real life examples of this?

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Are you WOWing your customers?

When it comes to customer service all the talk recently has been about Zappos. And for good reason. They’ve done an exceptional job delivering on their brand promise, “Deliver Happiness.”

The reality, however, is there have been countless companies delivering customer service at a loyalty level for decades.

One such company is Nordstrom. Their employee handbook, printed on a small gray card, might be THE clue to delivering WOW.

It contained these 75 words:

Welcome to Nordstrom

We’re glad to have you with our company. Our number one goal is to provide outstanding customer service. Set both your personal and professional goals high. We have great confidence in your ability to achieve them.

Nordstrom Rules – Rule #1: Use best judgment in all situations. There are no additional rules.

Please feel free to ask your department manager, store manager, or division general manager any question at any time.

Is there any coincidence that for decades Nordstrom had the highest sales per square foot in retail? I suggest not.

Want to deliver WOW customer service? Hire WOW people. Then get out of the way and let them WOW your customers.

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Conventional business wisdom states that the more unique your company’s niche, the more potential for success.

And at its core, this makes complete sense. Finding a niche usually results in a lot less competitors, along with a loyal group of customers.

But you must also keep the future in mind.

Where do you see your business in 1 year? In 5 years? In 50?

Envisioning the Future

Example: Let’s say you’re passionate about parakeets. And after some market research you determine that an e-commerce store marketed towards parakeet owners is a smart move. (caveat: I haven’t done this research, parakeets randomly came to mind)

You include parakeet in your brand name. You go out and buy a domain name with parakeet in it. You do every generally accepted strategy to let people know you’re all about parakeets.

And after a couple years of building brand awareness, business is booming. You’re considered the place to go for parakeet supplies.

Your Brand’s Glass Ceiling

But what happens after you become the biggest? How do you grow from here?

Having branded everything as the place for parakeet owners, you may become stuck. Because there are only so many parakeet owners. You’ve hit a glass ceiling that will take some clever tactics to overcome (if it’s at all possible).

Or you could start planning today for the long haul. Thinking logically how you proceed with marketing decisions.

It’s important to think of both the short-term and long-term effects of choices you make when continually branding your company.

The Biggest Fish Prepared for the Biggest Bowl

In the above example, instead of including parakeet in the brand, domain, and what not. A better long-term strategy would be to use more generic wording. Maybe even replace parakeet with bird. And then use a tagline to explain the niche.

In other words, you’d find better success by designing your brand around the most general possible niche. And use your marketing skills to initially narrow down into a tightly unique niche.

So ask yourself, “how am I branding for the future?”

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More does not equal better. More features does not equal a better product. More attention does not equal more customers. More customers does not equal more profit.

And, more often than not, more is not an effective strategy. In fact, it’s often a failed strategy. Especially when it comes to marketing.

Everyone seems to be after more. More attention, more followers, more likes, more ________ (fill in the blank).

Before you decide to go after more, consider this…

More people hate Apple products than love them.

More people buy shoes without a swoosh on the side of them than buy a pair of sneaks from Nike.

There are more Bieber-haters than Beliebers.

When it comes to marketing, consider less.

Less focus on finding more people and more focus on targeting the ones who matter. Yes, you’ll alienate a lot of people in the process. But, that’s the point.

Do you think Beiber cares if you hate his haircut when he has thousands of 13-year-old girls screaming for his attention? No. Because you’re not the one paying for his cool leather jacket. Those 13-year-old girls are.

Do you think Nike stresses when a hippy once again passes up a pair of their sneakers in favor of a pair of birkenstocks?  No. They’re focused on the kid shooting baskets at midnight unwilling to leave the court until he hits that fade-away from 15 feet.

Do you think Apple calls an emergency board meeting when the internet complains about their closed iOS platform? No. The middle-aged mother or father who just bought that iPad, and that iPad, and that iPad, oh and that one, and that one…is far more valuable to them than non-buying technology geeks who complain about their closed platform.

Want more? Alienate more.

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Most entrepreneurs are not finance people. Most are inventors or salespeople.  They believe a need exists for something and want to be the one to fill that void.

Very few entrepreneurs really understand the way business finance works until it is too late — and that often means the end of the business. I’ve seen this countless times in my 12 years as an entrepreneur and consultant. Hell, I’ve even experienced it first-hand.

Here are some things I’ve learned the hard way:

Lesson #1:

No matter how brilliant, creative, and blessed with talent you think you are, all meaningful transactions that occur in the life of your business will be most affected by the decisions you have made regarding how you have financed the business.

Lesson #2:

No matter how much you think you know about business finance, you are woefully uneducated. Do yourself a favor, hire an ethical, smart accountant early. But, don’t put all your trust in any one individual. Learn as much as you can about finance.

Lesson #3:

You will regret at least one major financing decision no matter who you are or what business you are in. Just know it’ll happen.

Lesson #4:

Most of the financial mistakes you will make will happen within the first three years. That’s why it’s critical to be more like a speed boat than a cruise ship. Act.Analyze.Adjust…as fast as possible.

Lesson #5:

You need to know that once someone gives you money, no matter how much they love you, it just became a business transaction. Your grandmother will sue your ass as fast as she’ll whip up a bundt cake once it becomes business.

Lesson #6:

If you are going to take professional money, take professional money. Amateurs may seem “cheaper,” but they aren’t. Don’t be penny-wise and dollar foolish.

Lesson #7:

Take money from as few, and as deep pocketed investors as you can. The fewer investors you have to deal with, the better. You’ll thank me when you aren’t sweating over closing a deal because your wife’s brother-in-law John has just a few more questions he wants answered first since he invested $1,000 three years ago.

There you have it. Seven simple lessons I learned the hard way. Let that not be you.

How about you? What lessons have you learned?

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Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to a new entrepreneur?

I’m often asked this question as I travel around the country speaking to groups on 21st century capitalism and leadership. This is a great question.

I would offer these 10 11 truths:

1. The moment you decide to create something for others you are a leader. Act as such. Be an example. An example to your employees. An example to your vendors. An example to your customers. And, most importantly, be an example to your family.
2. Your job as a business is to solve problems, not create them. For far too long too many businesses have created more problems then they are solving. (e.g. energy industry, food industry, health industry) Let that not be you. Make the commitment to be a business that focuses less on the bottom line and more on  improving the well-being of others.
3. You must have the willingness to do whatever it takes. Ask yourself, “Am I willing to do whatever it takes?”  If your answer is anything less than, “Hell yeah!” close up shop and go do something else.
4. Your business is about service, not personal achievement. Often when I ask entrepreneurs why they started their business they give answers like, “freedom of my schedule,”  ”be my own boss,” or “make money.” I cannot stress enough that if you start a business based solely on your own personal acheivements you will fail. Your purpose has to be bigger than that. Much bigger. One that serves others. You just get to enjoy some of the rewards along the way.
5. Treat your business like your baby. And know that, just like your baby, it matures and you have to let go of perceived control so it will flourish. There will come a time in your business’s life-cycle that YOU are the problem. Be aware enough to recognize it when it arrives and humble enough to bring others on to the team who are more talented than you.
6. Being a founder is about stewardship, not ownership. Being a steward is different than being an owner. We’re all just temporary custodians of whatever we think we own, including our business. Remember, some day you will no longer be the owner, but you will always be the founder. Make business decisions based on the founder’s legacy you want to build.
7. If you think you have competition you really don’t know who you are. While there may be others in your industry there should never be another like you.
8. Some people will say it’s too expensive no matter how low the price. Other people would gladly pay more no matter how high the price. It’s never about price. It’s always about value.
9. Don’t bet your business on the illusive home run. Focus on a steady diet of daily disciplined improvements. You’ll score more runs (make more money) in the end.
10. Without the fun quotient the chances of success are severely diminished. Have fun. Lots of it.

Oh, and one last thing…

Take care of yourself.

Make your spiritual, emotional, and physical health a priority.  When owning and running a business you will experience more stress than you can ever imagine. But if you are unhealthy you will be of no use to anyone including those most important to you. There will never be anything more important than your health. Never. Always remember that.

So let me ask you, knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to a new entrepreneur?

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