I was talking with a shop assistant recently - her job was not secure and her mother was worried that "at nineteen you'll lose the only job you've ever had".
Why would someone cling to a job where they sit alone in an empty store? If it appears foolish it's because we can see possibilities for her that she can't. But from her perspective she's safe inside her small world - the outside world offers only fear.
The key is to realize that we're all in the same situation - no matter how large our world, it's all we know. You'll never know what possibilities lie outside it unless you step out and take a look.
Times are tough for many businesses and will likely get worse. If you needed proof, however, that adding value to customers generates profit in any economic climate, consider Apple's earnings for Q4 08 - Apple sold 6.8 million iPhones last quarter, has USD25B in the bank and zero debt.
It's easy to blame the economic climate, recalcitrant customers or the phases of the moon for poor profitability. What's hard is to accept responsibility for poor results and to start creating real value for your prospective customers.
Near my office is a cafe that has practically no foot traffic, is almost always empty and changes hands every year or so. For each new owner the temptation is obvious - a fully fitted kitchen & cafe with low rent. There's also a conceit - 'I can run this business better than the last guy'.
Sadly each of the three owners I've met ran the cafe in exactly the same way - as a completely conventional cafe inviting passers-by to drop in for a coffee or light snack. It's a business model that requires plentiful prospective customers and a scarcity of competition. Funnily enough, that kind of location doesn't come with low rent.
"Build it and they will come" doesn't apply for any business - you need to give people a good reason to visit. A reason worth stopping what they were doing, traveling at their cost to your business and giving you their hard-earned cash. If you don't know what that reason is, your prospective customers certainly don't.
Recently my brother and I visited a high street, high-end audio equipment retailer. In the hushed tones of faux luxury we browsed under the gaze of a self-important salesman. My brother didn't need him - he knew all the models, the specs, comparison prices and that some of these very expensive hi-fi units were already superceded. We walked out without conversation or purchase.
The concept of a middleman as a gatekeeper - someone you must go through to purchase - died several years ago. The only way to survive as a middleman now is to add value that a customer needs and can't obtain on their own. Be an advisor, simplifier, connector, risk carrier, troubleshooter ... whatever your prospective customers need.
If customers purchase your products through a tender process, they're giving you a stern warning - you sell a commodity.
Commodities are good products. Jim Collins taught us, however, that 'good is the enemy of great'. Make something great and customers won't waste time and money shopping around, they'll come straight to you and buy.
The employed labor market is about potential, based on prior success. A low risk form of potential, if you like. But in the self-reliant, self-starting, self-employed world, no one's interested in what you could do if you actually did it. They're interested in what you're already doing or have already done. It's an easy lesson to understand but a hard one to learn / unlearn.
Kudos to Seth Godin and his blog musings for helping me to understand this.
