How do you make your business STAND OUT? IT'S SO CROWDED OUT THERE.

 

How do you set your business apart when there are so many others doing the same thing?

CAPTURE YOUR AUDIENCE'S ATTENTION

I pick up the Kia Ora magazine. It’s another day and another plane trip to the capital. Electronic devices have to be turned off so I'm forced to read. I don't have anything with me so I reach for the airline’s magazine. It flips to the story of Nice Blocks detailing two blokes endeavouring to enter a crowded market with a healthier choice of ice blocks and ice cream.

A couple of years back two mates started on a mission to create a better summer treat for their children. Today the natural and organic treats (that also hold the title of the first certified Fair Trade ice block range in the world) can be found in stores throughout New Zealand.

Lately I have also been a happy recipient of the My Food Bag goodies that are dropped at the gate every Sunday evening with instructions and contents for four of the week’s meals. I loving the massive tick that this has put into my week of tasks. And I am also assisting two start-ups determine their point of difference as they commence their entrepreneurial life. And daily I am forced to consider the main product drivers that we offer as we take to the social media platforms to entice more people to buy our frocks rather than those of my many competitors.

So what do we need to do to really make our business models fly from the start? How do we set ourselves apart in crowded markets?

GIVEN THAT THERE IS VERY LITTLE THAT IS NEW OUT THERE, SUCCESS IS OFTEN ABOUT RE-INVENTING TRADITIONAL BUSINESS MODELS

Take My Food Bag… success has been about taking away the pain, the weekly ‘what do we have for dinner’ question that we all dread and the nightly supermarket shop that many of us have fallen into.

So take one celebrity chef, the poster girl for healthy eating, Nadia Lim, one business guru, Ex Telecom CEO, Theresa Gattung and Cecilia Robinson, another smart entrepreneur who has concepted the idea and had the foresight to gather others around her and to all intents and purposes the business model is flying. Simple really. Identify the pain points for your target market and remove them by creating a robust business model. 

Let’s look at Nice Blocks… they are all about a healthier alternative to ice blocks (plenty of us that would and should make that choice if we could). They have jumped on the sugar band wagon and while they don't profess to have removed all sugar, they certainly are providing heather options and interesting flavours so now at least you have another choice. 

Then there are the skateboard ramps that my son has created as his first entrepreneurial venture. Our defining feature is the art work that we have placed on the side of the ramps as yes, there are others in the market that have constructed the same ramps and offer them for sale on Trade Me (the platform we have chosen) at similar prices. So will the original art work affected by our awarded graffiti artist be enough to drive the business model?

What about the doggie day care business that I am passionate about supporting (after all I love dogs) and really do see a need for great dog care in every town that even borders on extreme, in regards to the offerings for those that can afford it and let’s face it, there are plenty of us out there that will indulge if given the right platform.

SO WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO SET THIS SERVICE APART FROM SOME OF THE OTHERS? 

As we do know that it’s not a new idea. For this we have looked at experiences… what can we do with the dogs in the time that they are in our care that makes sure that we are the day care of choice? And let’s not forget also that this choice will also be about the operator.

Yes, the marketplace can be overcrowded but if you have a great product and promote it well the people will come... in order to be irreplaceable one must always be different - Coco Chanel.

Dream big... Is meeting someone like Beyonce really out of your reach?

I'm so often approached by dreamers. Women with great ideas but they're so nervous of taking that next step. They continue to come up with objections and reasons as to why each idea they have will fail and as a result they simply don't believe that anything they start will be a success. 

Here's my simple recipe for success and...

HOW TO MAKE THE ULTIMATE COME TRUE

It’s Sunday morning and I’m casually trawling my Facebook page and there is an optimistic post from Kiri Nathan, a wonderful designer that I am supporting asking anyone that has a contact for Beyonce who is in town performing at the moment to pass on her details, as she'd like to gift her some pounamu as well as invite her to dinner. I ‘LOL’ as I suggest we all did, liked the post and got on with my day. So a week later imagine my surprise when my astounded partner called out… ‘Hon, come and watch this… Kiris' on the 6 o'clock news… something about meeting Beyonce’. Unbelievable! Yep, she did it. A happy set of incidences lead to Kiri being able to present a pounamu and cloak that she had woven to Beyonce at the conclusion of her last concert.

This truly does show the power of simply putting it out there and daring to dream big. Knowing that you can achieve whatever you set out to do as long as you push hard enough. Consider any gold medal winner and their aspirations; thinking from the front foot always. Most of us would never have thought this big.

You and only you …

10 OUTSTANDING gift ideas for the woman who has everything

Believe me these are different. You need to read this! 

Yes it’s that time of the year again. Unfortunately for all these around me they not only have to consider a suitable Christmas gift (I would be happy with just their time) but my birthday also falls in December as well. 

As I watch the ones who are closest to me struggle with the ‘what do I get her’ question, I am incredulous in that I believe there are so many wonderful things they could give me that they overlook in their quest to get the ultimate material gift that in most cases I already have in duplicate. So here it is team… a blog on what I consider to have been my best gifts ever (and some received by others) over the last 15 years (I can't remember back much further) and hopefully this may help some of the other hapless males and children of significant others find the ultimate gift…

ONE

You can never underestimate time. I love to do stuff with the ones I love. Find a movie, a show, an excursion… plan it and make it happen. Surprise me!

The day that we took of midweek, went to Waiheke and long lunched at a small vineyard while the rest of the world toiled is wonderful memory for me. 

TWO

Capture a special moment. I love my children and my dogs. It’s as simple as that really. So the light boxes that have been created for me with these images on them have been my best gifts ever. A great causal shot by our pool of my two children with the two dogs that I adore has got to be one of my best presents (Tony found an old sleepy head light box when doing a shop fit to set it all into).

THREE

Trade Me… I'm obsessed and I'm always putting stuff on my watch list. It’s a massive clue guys. You will see a trend and can often discuss the list without her knowing what is happening or find similar stuff. An old Lynch print that I don't have would be a perfect gift. I'm also a fan of Sabner and Trechnichof and love flamingos at the moment… all things you can decipher from my Trade me watch list.

FOUR

What about writing and illustrating a book? They cost $50 to print digitally in hardcover.

I put together an illustrated story around our two dogs, Jam Jam and Paris (now deceased) for Tony’s birthday. It’s a great gift. You don't have to be able to draw, just add images (photos) that work and make up a story using meaningful characters.

These might be special moments in your life… the kids on a family adventure or a significant family holiday. I created a book for all the participants in our Indian trip last year… a photographic journey matched by letters from all the women on the trip that detailed the significance of the trip to them.

FIVE

Hold a small surprise party. Plan it without their knowledge and invite the most special people. The ones that she connects to all the time and serve her favourite food and drink.

SIX

Contract a video company and film a mock TV pilot. You may even have a friend that is great on a video camera. Find something that they are passionate about and create a reality TV show around it. These are all about characters and moments rather than celebrity. You never know… you may just be the next food truck… what a success Michael van de Elzen has been.

SEVEN

Create a great piece or art or buy one. Take a risk. This doesn't need to be a painting, it may just be an old car bonnet with a word as I got. Think outside the square. Look for interesting and different ways of creating art. You may be able to do this yourself. 

EIGHT

Arrange a meeting with a profile person that she aspires to or you know she would love to meet. You never know what may happen if you just put it out there. Approach the person and make a request, endeavour to set up a quick 20 minute coffee… look at the result that Kiri Nathan got when she put out there that she wanted to meet Beyonce.

NINE

If she is your partner, make a private declaration of love. One of the best that has ever happened for me was a huge red heart on the ceiling of our bedroom. This was made up of hundreds of small red hearts that pieced together to form a large heart. Each small heart had a love message in it.

TEN

Bombard her with flowers for the day. Imagine how wonderful it feels to get several bouquets delivered throughout the day to your place of work… just because you love her. 10 huge bunches ought to do it! 

When did the money question become so hard??

When we have determined our price and start to sell a product, why do we find it so hard to get paid? Why do the money conversations become so difficult.

Being paid is the most important part of your business model so from the get-go make sure that you clearly identify how this will happen. If you’re in retail it’s not so difficult as there is an expectation that people will pay at point of sale. 

If you are offering a service expect the same immediate payment whether you have finished the job or before you start. There are plenty of mobile transaction devices that will enable payments to happen offsite. 

Simply be very clear about what you want. Have the money conversation as part of the initial contracting of your service. It is a healthy part of the transaction process (people expect to pay).

Tell them what your payment timeframe expectations are. In many cases you can get paid up front i.e. before you start the work, if you decide to set up regular sessions with the contractor of your services you may decide to enter into other arrangements for payment going forward. If so make sure they adhere to them or the service stops! 

People contracting you have no problem making a request for your service so you should have no problem asking for the money. This is not a taboo subject. You need to be paid. It is a very necessary part of the business process.

The second part to the money problem is deciding what price to charge for you services or products.

Why do we all find it so hard to ask for the money when we start out in business? And worse still, why do we undervalue the product and services that we offering by starting out with a modest and often not even break approach to our price setting?

Your income constraints will not be your customers. Research your competition and identify your points of difference (you need to be very clear as to what these are and define these in your marketing speak).

Then decide on your price. This may not be relevant to what it costs to produce but it must meet the market you are targeting and the perceived value. I know that if we price a dress cheaply people automatically assume it has something wrong with it.

The biggest mistake I see most people make is they assume that everyone that they are intending to sell their product and services to has the same income constraints as they have i.e. the retail team in our stores often do this. They will assume a woman can only buy one dress when in fact she has the earnings to buy so many more. It is simply about the range of service and fit for purpose offerings that are made to her.