The Rule of the Startups say: Everything costs twice as much and
takes twice as long as expected.
(article continued below ...)
Planning is essential to minimize any unexpected turns as you start your
business. Your business plan in itself will not tell you what to do. In
fact, your business plan will become obsolete as your assumptions,
conditions and environment change.
 According
to Harry Beckwith, author of the book "What Clients Love," the
value of planning is not in the plan but in the process of planning.
Planning teaches you in a way that nothing else can about your business,
your customers, and your market.
There is a downside to planning, though. Planning can fail you - not
because of the data, but the way you think. To harness the real power of
planning in your business, here are 14 ways to help you draw the blueprints
of your business:
1. Forget the
future.
No matter how hard you try, there are only two certain things in the future:
death and taxes. Do not rest your business decisions on future suppositions.
You just don't know what will happen down the road. Instead, follow a simple
rule: people will pay for what they love. Build and sell what people love,
and the future will take care of itself.
2. Stop - Yes,
Stop - Listening.
One of the most prevalent advices given to business owners is to listen to
their customers. Beckwith, on the other hand, says stop! "Listening to
customers" is based on the flawed assumptions, foremost of which is
that customers say what they think. Reality shows otherwise: many people say
what they think would make them look good to whoever is asking. Secondly,
"people do not always understand themselves well enough to reveal
themselves accurately." Take what customers tell you with a grain of
salt. Instead, watch and observe more carefully.
3. Celebrate
Foolishness. Think outside
the box, and your foolish idea could be the next cash cow. Examples of
success by going outside the norm are plentiful - Apple's grape colored
iMacs, Starbuck's $3.75 coffees, and reality shows Joe Millionaire and
Survivor. People love fresh and hip new ideas, no matter how crazy they may
sound. Think dumb.
4. Resist
Authority. The most
powerful is not always right: they just have the loudest voices. They may
not always be wrong, but they are also never always right. Their opinions
may reflect past experiences, which no longer hold true in given
circumstances. Question authority (but quietly).
5. View Experts
Skeptically. Experts -
from economists misjudging recessions to meteorologists failing to predict
rain - are fallible. They can and they do make mistakes, even armed with
data to the teeth. Learn how to question what the experts say
6. Beware of
"Science." Learn
how to put "research" into proper perspective. Research does not
mean gospel truth; it simply suggests a conclusion to a hypothesis. When
using research in making business decisions, bear in mind that it may not
really reveal what clients love. Remember from these mistakes from basing
their decisions on research: Columbia Pictures to pass on E.T. and produced
Star!; Ford was convinced that Edsels would sell like Hershey's Bar. Sony
founder did not listen to research, and emerged a victor with its Walkman
product.
7. Mistrust
Experience. Question what
you remember or read, or even those you think you know and experienced. What
you think you know "for a fact" may have been a creation of your
fertile imagination.
8. Mistrust
Confidence. "We are
wrong more often than we know - especially when we are sure we are
right," according to Beckwith. Demonstrated in several studies, this
"Overconfidence Bias" shows that whenever you are certain of
something, you are wrong 15 percent of the time. Translated into business,
this rule highlights the importance of questioning yourself constantly, even
when you are sure you are right. Same with other people who may be giving
you advice - they may be giving you wrong advises, no matter how well
meaning. You also need to make sure that you find those areas where you are
constantly working on mistaken assumptions - and correct those mistakes
fast.
9. Avoid
Perfection. Striving to be
the "best" in business is not always the smartest way to go.
First, how do you define "best"? Will your customers share your
definition, or do they have another idea of what is the best? Even if you
define what is "best", will you have the time, resources and
manpower to implement? And will your customers care? For Beckwith, sometimes
"good beats perfection."
10. Beware of
Common Sense. Beckwith
finds that common sense is "neither common nor always sensical."
While it can prevent you from making huge missteps in business, common sense
has never inspired the colossal innovations of our time. To create the
needed breakthrough, you need to have loads of imagination.
11. Embrace
Impatience. Like your
body, your business needs to move, to exercise. You need inertia. Fail to
move your business and it could atrophy and die young. Avoid falling into
the lull of safety of the status quo - the
"things-are-going-well-so-why-should-I-change-anything" behavior.
If you become waiting-oriented, even your most dynamic employees can become
dormant and lose their zest for new challenges.
12. Find the
Water. In your search for
water, you often find yourself faced with a mirage. With your water supply
all dried up, you find that you have exhausted all your means. So what do
you do now? In business, you have researched, planned and decided on one
strategy. Then you put all your resources towards that one strategy. But
what if that strategy fails? You may be risking the very survival of your
business. Instead, the author recommends that you test various options first
to see which is the most workable and could bring the best results. Then,
and only then, will you put your energy and resources. Dip your toes in
several ponds, and then dive into the lake.
13. Finding the
Water: A Warning. As you
search for water, do you wait until you are certain before doing anything?
Beckwith says that the company that waits for guarantees is doomed. Nothing
in business is guaranteed. Your past success is not a guarantee of future
success. Instead, do something. Only by doing something can you start the
process of learning.
14. Search for
100-X. In financial
parlance, venture capitalists are looking for investments that could
appreciate 100 times, or 100-X. In your business, you will be choosing among
several strategies, some of which could turn out to be winners, while others
losers. Find those strategies that could produce hundred-fold returns. Focus
your efforts, time and resources into one or two possible 100-X strategies.
Source:
"What Clients Love" by Harry Beckwith. Copyright © 2004 by Harry Beckwith
April 22, 2003
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