Can we talk candidly for a few minutes? This could alter/redefine your
business future. But it may be painful to hear.
The New Year that's upon us could...possibly...be THE toughest, most
challenging, stress-inducing, mentally buffeting year you've ever lived
in your business.
Why? The reasons are many. But the point I want to make is NOT how
competitive the marketplace is becoming. It's NOT how different consumer
buying patterns are changing. It's NOT even a lecture about anything I
teach, like the Strategy of Preeminence or the Nine Drivers of Geometric
Growth.
No - there's only one vital/critical/pivotal realization I want you to
make as we start the clock ticking loudly away on this year of dramatic
volatility we're calling 2012.
As a business owner - you're either a proprietor or an entrepreneur.
Tragically, shockingly, but truthfully - something like 95% of all small
business owners function as proprietors - not entrepreneurs.
Why is this fact so bad? Because your days as a proprietor - operating a
"me too," commodity-type enterprise are all but numbered. Stated less
tactfully - unless you dramatically change who and what you are - your
business could become "The Walking Dead" - possibly sooner than later.
An example is appropriate. A proprietor (as described by Peter Drucker) is a business owner who
pretty much adds nothing meaningful to the business category they
address.
A Mcdonald restaurant or a deli that does pretty much the same thing much
the same way every other one does it---adds little (if any) real value
to the marketplace - other than (maybe) convenience of location.
Certainly the owner is banking on the market expanding to embrace his or
her offerings, but they don't make the experience any better. They don't
redefine the concept. They don't innovate the model or the
product/service offering. It's just another deli or Mexican restaurant.
On the other hand, a true entrepreneur is a business owner committed to
continuously innovating - innovating how they conduct business, and what
they offer, innovating the experience people encounter, innovating the
way the product/service gets delivered/presented, innovating the
product/service itself.
Drucker didn't say it - but I see a proprietor as someone who sets up a
generic business that's non-distinctive, one that takes oxygen out of
the air and cash out of commerce, but frankly, contributes back very
little exceptional value to the market beyond the "mere" self-serving
commodity aspect of their product/service offer.
Drucker - squarely sized up the difference between a proprietor and an
entrepreneur. The proprietor (he says) merely does what has been done by
thousands before them. They don't try to create a new satisfaction,
experience or consumer demand. All the proprietor does is hope they can
tap into existing demand.
An entrepreneur creates something new, creates new experiences, new
satisfaction, new definition of what they do. Entrepreneurs create
something different - more exciting, more satisfying, more desirable or
valuable to the market.
They change, transform or transmute values. Entrepreneurs focus on
changing reference models. They find ways to improve, redefine
products/service experience, the process. Perhaps, MOST importantly,
entrepreneurs make truly positive impacts on their market.
They are committed to being "game changers" - true innovators who renew,
shift, alter, redefine their marketplace position and product. They
multiply the benefits, magnify the experience, maximize the
advantage--FOR the consumer. It's ALL about benefitting the consumer!
When you look at the year ahead, ask yourself a sobering question. It's
this: Am I merely siphoning cash out of my market's momentum - or am I
truly adding innovative value? Am I a multiplier---or a diminisher?
Am I making a huge positive impact--or no worthwhile/significant effect,
whatsoever? Can't answer? If that's the case, you probably AREN'T
innovating and/or adding anything meaningful, purposeful to your
marketplace or their experience. You probably AREN'T making any true,
positive impact!
True entrepreneurs require no certainty, instead they "feed on"
opportunity. Problems are their fuel of achievement. Challenges are
their competitive advantages.
Probably the biggest differentiation between being a value creator or a
"commerce siphon" - is whether or not your business is based on
purposeful/impactful innovation vs. pure profit motivation. Profit
today, more than any time in the past is a by-product of contribution
and the amount of value that your business adds to the consumer.
Obstacles in an industry are motivators for the entrepreneur to figure
how to surmount inventively/advantageously.
Why? Because businesses are not static. Yours either grows or it dies.
But growth can be illusory. A business can increase sales and even
improve profits (short-term) while actually losing market meaning. The
entrepreneur that does NOT innovate inevitably ages, declines,
struggles, stagnates, suffocates or dies.
But don't think that entrepreneurship is natural, automatic and just
naturally flows to some lucky people. It does not! It's hard, continuous
work - but what isn't?
If you're a proprietor - you need to convert and become a "Born Again"
entrepreneur. How? Try this:
* Become supremely receptive to seeing change in marketing, change in
consumer buying habits, change in competitive offering as an opportunity
rather than a threat.
* Continuously evaluate your business and its performance as an
innovator/value creator in as many critical categories as possible, i.e.
product development, value added, buyer experience, performance dynamic
of product, service people.
* Become obsessed (almost) for discovery, development, perfecting new
things - new ways of marketing, new ways of delivering your
products/service, new ways of improving the transactional experience.
See your world differently than your competition.
* Learn to overcome resistance to innovate, by wanting/craving
continuous breakthroughs in marketing, strategy, innovation, your
business model, your competitive positioning..
Any business owner who tries to hold on to the "status quo" will lose
ground, rapidly. Recognize the importance of innovation and the fact
that it takes time and resource allocation/investment to bloom.
You can't merely wish for your business to become a true value creator
to the marketplace. You need to plan and execute, nurture (and nourish)
specific, progressive steps.
Nothing good or great comes without effort and hard work. But if you
crave new ways to reach your market, new product/service offerings or
impact, new markets to serve, new methods for doing business, new
technologies to produce a better outcome, new ways to successfully
compete - your business CAN thrive!
Final lesson in your reality check: Everything has a limited...oftentimes
shorter life and profit expectancy--than we think. So, if you aren't
committed to making your current approaches (and current thinking)
obsolete and continuously replacing them with innovative new ways - rest
assured, your competition will do it to you and for you.
business future. But it may be painful to hear.
The New Year that's upon us could...possibly...be THE toughest, most
challenging, stress-inducing, mentally buffeting year you've ever lived
in your business.
Why? The reasons are many. But the point I want to make is NOT how
competitive the marketplace is becoming. It's NOT how different consumer
buying patterns are changing. It's NOT even a lecture about anything I
teach, like the Strategy of Preeminence or the Nine Drivers of Geometric
Growth.
No - there's only one vital/critical/pivotal realization I want you to
make as we start the clock ticking loudly away on this year of dramatic
volatility we're calling 2012.
As a business owner - you're either a proprietor or an entrepreneur.
Tragically, shockingly, but truthfully - something like 95% of all small
business owners function as proprietors - not entrepreneurs.
Why is this fact so bad? Because your days as a proprietor - operating a
"me too," commodity-type enterprise are all but numbered. Stated less
tactfully - unless you dramatically change who and what you are - your
business could become "The Walking Dead" - possibly sooner than later.
An example is appropriate. A proprietor (as described by Peter Drucker) is a business owner who
pretty much adds nothing meaningful to the business category they
address.
A Mcdonald restaurant or a deli that does pretty much the same thing much
the same way every other one does it---adds little (if any) real value
to the marketplace - other than (maybe) convenience of location.
Certainly the owner is banking on the market expanding to embrace his or
her offerings, but they don't make the experience any better. They don't
redefine the concept. They don't innovate the model or the
product/service offering. It's just another deli or Mexican restaurant.
On the other hand, a true entrepreneur is a business owner committed to
continuously innovating - innovating how they conduct business, and what
they offer, innovating the experience people encounter, innovating the
way the product/service gets delivered/presented, innovating the
product/service itself.
Drucker didn't say it - but I see a proprietor as someone who sets up a
generic business that's non-distinctive, one that takes oxygen out of
the air and cash out of commerce, but frankly, contributes back very
little exceptional value to the market beyond the "mere" self-serving
commodity aspect of their product/service offer.
Drucker - squarely sized up the difference between a proprietor and an
entrepreneur. The proprietor (he says) merely does what has been done by
thousands before them. They don't try to create a new satisfaction,
experience or consumer demand. All the proprietor does is hope they can
tap into existing demand.
An entrepreneur creates something new, creates new experiences, new
satisfaction, new definition of what they do. Entrepreneurs create
something different - more exciting, more satisfying, more desirable or
valuable to the market.
They change, transform or transmute values. Entrepreneurs focus on
changing reference models. They find ways to improve, redefine
products/service experience, the process. Perhaps, MOST importantly,
entrepreneurs make truly positive impacts on their market.
They are committed to being "game changers" - true innovators who renew,
shift, alter, redefine their marketplace position and product. They
multiply the benefits, magnify the experience, maximize the
advantage--FOR the consumer. It's ALL about benefitting the consumer!
When you look at the year ahead, ask yourself a sobering question. It's
this: Am I merely siphoning cash out of my market's momentum - or am I
truly adding innovative value? Am I a multiplier---or a diminisher?
Am I making a huge positive impact--or no worthwhile/significant effect,
whatsoever? Can't answer? If that's the case, you probably AREN'T
innovating and/or adding anything meaningful, purposeful to your
marketplace or their experience. You probably AREN'T making any true,
positive impact!
True entrepreneurs require no certainty, instead they "feed on"
opportunity. Problems are their fuel of achievement. Challenges are
their competitive advantages.
Probably the biggest differentiation between being a value creator or a
"commerce siphon" - is whether or not your business is based on
purposeful/impactful innovation vs. pure profit motivation. Profit
today, more than any time in the past is a by-product of contribution
and the amount of value that your business adds to the consumer.
Obstacles in an industry are motivators for the entrepreneur to figure
how to surmount inventively/advantageously.
Why? Because businesses are not static. Yours either grows or it dies.
But growth can be illusory. A business can increase sales and even
improve profits (short-term) while actually losing market meaning. The
entrepreneur that does NOT innovate inevitably ages, declines,
struggles, stagnates, suffocates or dies.
But don't think that entrepreneurship is natural, automatic and just
naturally flows to some lucky people. It does not! It's hard, continuous
work - but what isn't?
If you're a proprietor - you need to convert and become a "Born Again"
entrepreneur. How? Try this:
* Become supremely receptive to seeing change in marketing, change in
consumer buying habits, change in competitive offering as an opportunity
rather than a threat.
* Continuously evaluate your business and its performance as an
innovator/value creator in as many critical categories as possible, i.e.
product development, value added, buyer experience, performance dynamic
of product, service people.
* Become obsessed (almost) for discovery, development, perfecting new
things - new ways of marketing, new ways of delivering your
products/service, new ways of improving the transactional experience.
See your world differently than your competition.
* Learn to overcome resistance to innovate, by wanting/craving
continuous breakthroughs in marketing, strategy, innovation, your
business model, your competitive positioning..
Any business owner who tries to hold on to the "status quo" will lose
ground, rapidly. Recognize the importance of innovation and the fact
that it takes time and resource allocation/investment to bloom.
You can't merely wish for your business to become a true value creator
to the marketplace. You need to plan and execute, nurture (and nourish)
specific, progressive steps.
Nothing good or great comes without effort and hard work. But if you
crave new ways to reach your market, new product/service offerings or
impact, new markets to serve, new methods for doing business, new
technologies to produce a better outcome, new ways to successfully
compete - your business CAN thrive!
Final lesson in your reality check: Everything has a limited...oftentimes
shorter life and profit expectancy--than we think. So, if you aren't
committed to making your current approaches (and current thinking)
obsolete and continuously replacing them with innovative new ways - rest
assured, your competition will do it to you and for you.
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