So What? Who Cares? Why You?

Dog Days of Summer

OKAY -- We're busted.

Meet Molson -- my CCO, Chief Canine Officer.

Molson says it's too hot to be leashed to the laptop, so we're taking some R&R.

We'll be back after the long weekend!

Showing the Money

If you're like most folks in startup land, you've got callouses and blisters from crafting investor documents.  You know the ones - those ten slide presentations (yah, right!!!), 2-page investment summaries, and not to be forgotten, business plan bible.

Several times in these documents I've found myself debating where you should put the "ask". 

This morning I dug out an article written by PowerPoint guru, Cliff Atkinson.  Cliff makes a great case for putting your most important slide, "the money slide", up front.  I had this discussion with a couple of founders on Monday and thought some perspective on this topic could be useful for others.

Read Cliff's article here.

Amazon Turns 10!!!

Happy Birthday Amazon! 

Check out WorthWhile Magazine's piece on Amazon.

A big congrats to Jeff Bezos -- he's managed to captain this ship since its inception turning it in to a billion dollar business that is now turning a profit.   Not many entrepreneurs can stake that claim, and the article makes mention of a few.

While you're there, sniff around on this blog. It's worth a read now and again to remind us of how to get the most out of work and play.

Wendy’s Bit on Branding -- Be Different, Look Different, Act Different.

Here’s a fun and funky startup! A great example of niche marketing and power branding

LittleMissMatched, www.littlemissmatched.com

They’re a great example of finding a pocket of opportunity in a hugely saturated market.  I don’t profess to be a branding expert, but thought I’d take a crack at giving you all a bit of branding by Wendy. 

Funky socks, 134 in total (packaged in 1,3, or 7’s) all designed in bold patterns being mismatched, designed for girls in the 8-14 yr old segment.  A key to their success lies in the branding – and believe me, these folks understand branding. 

What these guys get about branding is that it’s NOT just about having a catchy name and logo – it’s a tool that extends across all aspects of a company -- from product design, to packaging, to distribution, customer service, shipping, etc.

Check’em out. www.littlemissmatched.com

Are you fully exploiting your brand – here’s “A Bit of Branding” to help you answer this question.

1.  Brand Personality – If your brand was a person, what personality would you want it to have?  Litlemissmatched wants quirky and fun - what’s yours?  Doesn’t matter if you sell computer chips (ie. Intel has personality), CRM software, or emergency response systems – your brand personality needs to make a connection with your market.  And consistency of brand personality builds traction.

Think of the personalities of companies like -- Yahoo!, Amazon, and of course the IPOD.

Look closely at the personality of your own brand – what message are you sending?  Is this personality being carried consistently to the market?  Does everyone in your company know what the personality is?

2.  Brand Values – what do you want your brand to stand for?  Honesty, Strength, Responsiveness, Magical, Innovation, Robust, Quirky, Whimsical, …  Define 2 or 3 values in order of priority.  This should be what customers value and not necessarily just you.

3.  Brand Name &  Brand Marks – the name and the marks are the visual part of the brand.   The personality and values from above help you to create a more effective brand name/mark.  The best of breed players invest time to do this exercise and you should to.  Use your name and marks to stand out from the crowd. 

Need some ideas – some of my favourites are: FedEx, Blackberry, Google (now a verb for searching!!), Monster.com, and of course littlemissmatched!

4.  Where’s the Beef?  Think Whole Product – look at how the brand promise from above is being carried out across your whole company and product -- the packaging model (1,3,7’s) of littlemissmatched reflects the brand, customer dialogue - the use of a blog to dialogue with customers on future products, etc. 

Are you packaging to fit your customer segment, or packaging to suit your company’s cost envelope? No doubt you need to manage costs, but are you extending your brand through your packaging?

There's lots more punch to pack in to a brand, but let's start with these tips for now.  Let me know if you 'd like to chat more about this.  I'm open to doing some web seminars on certain topics so pass your suggestions along to me.

Enjoy!

Wendy Kennedy

author/advisor/lady with the flipcharts

So What? Who Cares? Why You?

www.wendykennedy.com

When You Make a Promise – Keep It.

Are you keeping your promises? 

Make no mistake, everything you do in business revolves around promises made.

The most important ones are the ones you make to your customers. Every message you send to your target market is making either a direct or implied promise. And customers today have little tolerance for broken promises. They’ll drop you like a hot potato.

It’s critical if your differentiator hinges on it, like FedEx (delivery by 10am the next day), but it’s also important if it’s simply a promise on features and functions, customer service, product claims, or competitive differentiation.

At every stage of the customer engagement, from first sale to post sale service, there’s promises that have to be kept. And remember Mum's famous last words...."two wrongs don't make a right"!.

We’ve all had experiences where promises aren’t kept. Some are the “no harm, no foul” type where it’s of no consequence. But others are significant and we as customers make a mental note not to purchase it again, and tell our peers and friends to do the same.

Don’t put your own company in the situation where customers walk away. You worked hard to get them. Force yourself to make only promises you are able and prepared to keep.

Encourage people in your company to think about decisions as promises. It may just change their outlook on delivering.

Wendy Kennedy
author/advisor/lady with the flipcharts
So What? Who Cares? Why You?

Trees and Company Building

Yes, I know it’s an odd topic.  But I’m on vacation right now and so my BLOG posts are a bit infrequent and light hearted I confess!

I was wandering around our property this morning with an arborist, who’s trying to save a few of our birch trees from disease.  Based on his invoice, I’m thinking this might be a more lucrative profession!!!

As we moved from tree to tree, he carefully looked at the trunks and leaves for signs of stress and then offered up his words of advice for nurturing each one.

The list was extensive, and I’ve forgotten much of it, but it was the similarities to company building that I had the most fun with.

Maybe it’s just me and too much sun, but here they are:

1.  Trees focus on building roots for the first 3 years – it’s not until after that when they really take off.

2.  Cut off multiple “leaders” (the top branches), if they happen to appear or the other branches will try to grow behind both leaders and the tree will be stunted.  I thought you’d like this one J !!

3. Never plant a tree alone – it needs an ecosystem to survive.  The elements like wind, winters, etc. can be very hard for a tree to survive with the support of other trees around it.

4.  Pruning every once in a while makes the tree stronger.

5.  Trees die from the top down., not the bottom up.  Now that’s a powerful one for sure.

I think Jim Collins, author of “Good to Great”, would agree.

Enjoy your summer where every you may be.

~~~~~~

Wendy Kennedy

author/advisor/and lady with the flipcharts

So What? Who Cares? Why You?

www.wendykennedy.com

Casting for Customers

Want to get a better grasp of "Who REALLY Cares" about what you've got.

Check out my HOW-TO guide on Casting for Customers, posted under Growth Tools.  I promise you it's a great way to think beyond your first instincts about who your customer is.  Often the people who care "most" and offer the most potential for $$$, are not the ones we first identify.

Print it out and take it to the cottage this weekend for some mental floss.

Wendy K. - author/advisor/lady with the flipcharts

So What? Who Cares? Why You?

www.wendykennedy.com

It’s A Small World

With summer in full swing and everyone out and about, I find myself in the “it’s a small world mode”.

It’s either because I’m getting older (as much as I hate to admit it), or because I’m cutting across many different social networks. Whatever the reason, it’s great.  Reconnecting with folks, cross-pollinating friendships between old and new acquaintances, and cultivating new relationships, it’s all good on both a personal and business level. 

I’m treating that theory of 6 degrees of separation like my golf handicap – battling to get it down!

Why this Post?

Because I find that summer is an absolutely perfect time to “connect” – people generally tend to be in a connecting mindset and there’s no shortage of things to do or talk about.  The perfect conditions for networking and building new relationships.  We often get so busy that we dismiss social events as taking time away – but in fact, it’s one of the best business investments you can make. 

It’s no secret that a strong network is a pillar for building great companies.  So take advantage of this time of year - whether you golf, play tennis, bike, love to cook, or whatever, find an activity or create an event to extend your network.

Just think of it this way -- It’s simply good business.

~~~~~~

Wendy Kennedy - author/speaker/lady with the flipcharts

So What? Who Cares? Why You?

www.wendykennedy.com

What’s Your Business Model?

Curiously this question often evokes many different reactions and responses.  I often find that depending upon who I’m speaking with, it inspires a discussion of channel partners, product roadmap, F1000 accounts, etc.

And ALL of this is important….but in my experience, I believe it clouds the importance of the question. 

When someone asks about your business model, I think we should have a very clear answer – and in that answer must be details of:

1.  How do you make money?

2.  What form does it come in?  Licensing in volume deals, per seat pricing, royalties, revenue-sharing, subscription, etc. – spell this out.

3.  Show how it grows – that famous scalability question.   This can be from new products, ancillary services, follow-on products and markets.

Business people, particularly investors, want to “do the math” between what you say is your addressable market and how you plan to go after capturing it.  You should spell this out by doing the math yourself.  Look at what you’re promising in the market sizing area of your business proposition and the path to revenue. 

It’s a great sanity check on whether your business model has a backbone.

In my experience, this is an area of weakness for many early stage businesses – we are unrealistic in how we will capture the market or, alternatively, our chosen strategy to make money cannot produce the results in the window that the stakeholders are looking for.

So this week:  Crack open an excel spreadsheet and take a hard look at your model. Challenge the assumptions and the timing.

 

Try to be crystal clear on the 3 questions above when you are describing your business model.  Leave the other points about your channels etc. for another time.