The Heart of the Question

I had a great learning moment yesterday.

I was attending an annual planning meeting for a mid-sized business, and we were going through a strategic exercise to discuss, “What do our customers value?”

It seemed like a good way to review the needs of the company’s clients and prospects, and make sure we were meeting them. But there was also an expectation that it would help us discover some new unfilled needs that would point the way to new products and opportunities.

Trouble was, we were getting bogged down. People in the meeting, quite naturally, kept bringing up things that clients value that the company already does. Since this firm is already pretty client-focused, that meant we were mainly creating a list of things the company is already doing well.

How to make customers’ unmet needs stand out? I suggested we ask another question: "What do our customers take for granted?"

Suddenly, most of the things we already do for customers could be put in the “take for granted” category, and set aside. They're just table stakes. What matters are the things customers value that nobody is supplying now – because that’s where the best “adjacent opportunities” lie in wait for you.

Why do I need a business plan?

How do you write a business plan? What should be in it? How can it give you a competitive edge? Why do plans have to be so detailed?

And what’s the worst that can happen if you blow off the plan and just start your business sooner?

These are just a few of the questions answered by Steve Stunt and myself in a new “webinar” on business planning produced by TD Canada Trust. The 50-minute program looks at the role of planning, why you need a plan, and how to make sure that every moment you spend on planning (before your startup) will pay you back several times over.

I know lots of entrepreneurs who despise planning and want nothing to do with business plans. I hope luck continues to be with them, because that attitude is about as mature as driving to Gimli, Manitoba without a map.

Steve Stunt is a consultant, broadcaster and business advisor for the Business Development Centre at Niagara College. Rick Spence has been poring over business plans for 20 years. Irene Law is the MC who tries her best to get these guys to offer brief answers to her questions.
If you're working on a business plan, or starting a business without one, grab some popcorn, curl up to the computer and watch this webinar. You have nothing to lose, and a world to win.

Check out the program at http://events-dev.slidecast.com/tdbank/20100112/?referral=0009

Free registration is required. As far as I know, no salesman will call.

And feel free to click on "Comments," below, to let us know if you found a business plan useful in your business.

Boiling the Ocean, Opening the Mailbag

I've received some positive feedback on this week’s Post Column on “boiling the ocean.”

“Boiling the ocean” refers to businesses taking on bigger markets than they can possibly handle. Silicon Valley cynics used it to describe starry-eyed companies that wanted to change the world but it can also usefully be applied to businesses that simply take on too much.

This column referred to an Oshawa-based entrepreneur who wanted to sell an innovative new service to homeowners throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Nothing wrong with that, except her service is complicated. It takes too long to describe and understand. And her marketing budget just isn't big enough to allow her to overcome that knowledge barrier over such a broad marketplace.

The secret, I suggested, is to select a reduced market segment that represents some of her best prospects – and is small enough for her limited marketing funds to have some impact.
You can read the full story here.

One reader emailed me today and said, “Great article, thanks. I have a prospective client that needs to hear this... and your expert advice will help me give them the message.”

Most writers work without ever getting much feedback, so it’s hard to know when you’ve produced something that really resonates. Thanks, G. Comments like these are very helpful.

I also heard from a longtime contact, a Montreal entrepreneur I've known since my PROFIT Magazine days. He offered some very useful advice beyond what I had written, so I’m glad I can offer it here.

“You are correct in abandoning the mass market for a smaller niche market, but there would be an even better approach for "Shirley". While she has had limited sales, I would suggest that she truly understand the profile of those customers that bought. Then, find more customers with the same profile. Let Shirley communicate with those who bought and ask, "Why did they buy?" This dialogue can generate a wealth of information that can be used to find more of the same type of customer. Inexpensive to garner this information, and enormously powerful to use. Then, prepare a mailing targeted to those same type of customers.”

Thanks for writing in, D. My very public education continues.

Strategy and Luck

Last month I posted some musings on the role of luck in business, and tips on how to maximize your own good luck.

This morning I found an intriguing comment on luck - in, of all things, a story on University of Calgary poli-sci prof Tom Flanagan, a longtime aide of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Flanagan has just written a book on the rise of the Conservatives called Harper's Gang. In an interview with the National Post yesterday, Flanagan says Harper possesses one of the most strategic minds he has ever encountered. And, he observes, "strategists tend to have good luck."

Strategy in business is all about setting objectives, pursuing appropriate courses of action, and keeping a steady eye on your industry and the economic landscape. That helps you know when to stick with your focus, and when to adjust. People who do that, says Flanagan, "tend to have good luck."

Want to get lucky? Fine-tune your business strategy. People who focus their efforts and constantly monitor their results make their own luck.