Is your News Year’s Resolution to be a millionaire? Would you like it to be? Think about this:
Bottom line: growth, if it’s growth you’re after, doesn’t come from acting like you are already the dominant force in the market, able to deliver average products for average customers. Growth always comes from the edges.
In Seth Godin’s post, he outlines how Walmart and Dell are great companies who don’t appear to be remarkable in any way. They have remarkably efficient business models and a huge customer base, but in today’s marketplace they don’t do anything terribly special. The reason: They WERE remarkable! They were innovative. Walmart and Dell each handled their critics incredibly well. They became so successful that their business practices are part of our everyday culture.
So what can we do to build remarkable businesses?
Find an area, determine it’s problems, and that’s your new foundation. Make the customer want to switch. Build the culture.
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Jason makes a key point about creating a niche. What was seen in the past as innovation will no longer have same appeal to potential clients. The pace of modern change leads people to seek things that will help lessen current burdens, simplify their lives and enable them more time to focus on real priorities. You need to find ways to set yourself apart which do not necessarily follow the line of ‘faster, better, cheaper.’ You can learn traits of leaders without doing everything they have done in exactly the same way. Turning heads and recuiting clients can be done once you discover how you can evolve to be a pioneer.
Hi Liara, and welcome to the site!
You are exactly right in saying people want to lessen their current burdens. Sometimes the people that offer the most benefit are those that stir the pot in a way that is slightly different from the rest. They can shake out the innovation and turn it into a profitable business!
My own experience is that ‘stirring the pot’ doesn’t have to be intentionally provocative to be innovative. I’ve known people who choose to think concepts that are different are also threatening or disturbing. A good lesson to learn is that your business choices will not always please or appeal to everyone, especially competition. Learning to stand apart requires courage yet, also offers priceless rewards because you build confidence and empower or inspire others.