Create a moment. Don't just sell a product.

Laughter, Love, and a Sense of Accomplishment Will Always be Wanted.

The Story

I have written previously about my business mentor, when I was a young twenty-something just starting out. Bob was a 60+ year-old multimillionaire that enjoyed teaching young kids that he believed had some potential. 

He often shared the story of how he made his first million. He became the exclusive Bosch Magic Mill distributor in the state of Utah in his 20s. The Magic Mill wheat grinder was a heavy, clumsy and expensive piece of equipment. Bob and his sales team would secure appointments in the homes of young married couples where they would use the mill to make bread together. 

Bob would say, "It was the feeling you got when you began to smell the bread in the oven. Then the experience of taking that hot bread out of the oven, cutting a warm slice and spreading butter as it melted over the top. Then we'd take a bite, smile at how delicious it was and show the young couple how easy was to have this moment again and again with their own Magic Mill." 

He wasn't selling a wheat grinder. He was selling a moment that everyone wanted. And he taught us to always be looking for those moments. A shared, special moment is where great products are born. Shared, special moments will never go out of style. 

We used that logic to build two apparel companies that came from moments on vacation in the Caribbean. We built our stores and our products to help bring that moment to our customers again and again no mater where they lived - a product that felt like that time on vacation in the Caribbean. 

So in 2016 when my wife and her two good friends were making vanilla extract for Christmas gifts - and our home filled with the wonderful smell of vanilla and the sound of laughter while making this incredibly sweet gift - it shouldn't come as a surprise that we saw the birth of a special moment. We realized that we could help others create that exact same moment with vanilla beans, cute bottles and spirits. And our business, VanillaPura, began. This story is shared in more detail in our best-selling book, The Art of Extract Making. 

The Lesson

Great businesses create great moments. Look at several of the most valuable businesses on our planet today. Apple captures music, media, the ability to stay connected with loved ones, video conferencing and many other moments that touch the emotional senses of its customers. Tesla provides a car experience like no other. Self-driving features, controls that work from your phone, updates to apps that bring your car to life. Love or hate Tesla, it's hard not to have an opinion after you have taken your first ride in one. Microsoft brought business communication together making it easier for employees, people and companies to talk to each other. 

If you are simply creating a product, putting in on a shelf next to other, similar products and hoping that people will buy yours because of nice label or a fun name, then you are likely at the start of venture that will be very difficult and expensive to scale. 

Your brand needs a mission. You need to be on a journey and you need to ask others not to buy your product...but to join you on the journey. 

Walt Disney understood this principle and put it into action in a way that is clearly tangible. When you enter Disneyland you enter an entirely new world. Light bulbs are never burnt out, trash is never on the ground, the smells of churros, homemade pastries, pineapples and fresh baked goods are everywhere. The park is designed to be the ideal American town. Lines to rides are designed to be entertaining. The ride itself is an incredible, memorable and emotion-enhancing journey. And you don't pass through a store with products for sale until after the ride. Because it's at the end of the journey that consumers want something to remember the moment with. After kids experience the thrill of Space Mountain, or the Star Wars theme park, or the Jungle Cruise, they want something to remember that moment with when they go back home. 

If I ask you what you sell, and your answer is simply a description of your product, then your brand hasn't been born yet and you are on the path of the most expensive and competitive market place to compete in: commodities. 

If I ask you what you sell and your answer has something to do with, "laughter, love, special moments with friends and family, connectivity, sweet memories, joy, personal achievement, peace of mind, relaxation, a brighter future, a happier present, etc." then you're on the right path.

If you haven't addressed the hard questions about your purpose, then you will find yourself frustrated in the near future that other competitors are popping up and selling your product and stealing your business. You will find yourself in constant price wars. You will find yourself frustrated at risings costs and your inability to manage them. You will find your own joy and excitement of starting a business, has turned to frustration as margins are pinched, customers stop returning and marketing to find new customers is too expensive. 

So how do you make sure that never happens to you? 

The Solution

Spend a day, a week or even longer if needed to write out the answers to the following questions:

• Why did I start my business?
  • If you find that all of your answers serve only your needs, then you need to dig deeper. In other words, if you say, "Because I wanted income independence. I wanted the freedom of business ownership. I wanted to make more money than just a salary. I wanted to be my own boss." If your business serves only you, then your customers will feel it. 
  • If you find that your answers serve other needs, then keep going. "Our product makes people happy and we want to share that happiness. Our product solves a real problem and we want to help simplify our customer's lives. Our product brings family and friends closer together. Our product creates laughter and facilitates memorable moments. Our product is so much fun, or tastes so great, or is so different from others...I just have to share it with the world." 
  • Do you see the difference? Your customer will, I guarantee. 
• Who does my business benefit most if I succeed? 
  • Again, if you find that when you honestly answer this question that you are the greatest benefactor, then you need to dig deeper and rethink your motives. 
  • If you find that your answers represent a large population of people that truly need you...you are truly providing something that they can't get anywhere else...you are truly solving their problems, not just yours...then you are on the right track. 

The two questions above are the "Why". Now let's get into the "What" and let's make sure that you are taking a deep look at your business model in the most objective way possible. For nearly two decades now, I have used a S.W.O.T. analysis as my basis for making business and strategy decisions. It's a simple system that, when followed objectively and honestly, will tease out important critical points about your business plan. 

• S - Strengths
  • Write a paragraph about your strengths as a business owner and about your business's and product's strengths. Don't hold anything back. Write down why you, your business, your products, etc. are all advantaged and in what way. Don't be shy. You're not bragging. You are listing your individual strengths because they are the assets that you will be betting on. 
• W - Weaknesses
  • Write another paragraph or a series of bullets that is equally objective and just as long as your list of strengths. Call out your blind sides. Write down where you are vulnerable and why you might fail. Maybe you are worried that your product is too expensive. Maybe you don't have a lot of cash. Maybe you don't have financial acumen. The more you write here the better - because your final business plan will account for each of the weaknesses that you list - so list them all. And don't beat yourself up or take it personally. Every honest person will have a long list of weaknesses. It's not unusual for our perceived weakness list to be longer than our perceived strengths. 
• O - Opportunities
  • Do you have tail wind right now? Is your product popular right now? Are celebrities talking about your product? Have you invented something that solves a problem that is not currently marketed anywhere? Do you know people that want to place your product in their stores already? Do you have business connections that can help? Do you have a secret recipe that you know people will love? Do you have a large online community already? Is there a show coming to your town that you can market to? Are you aware of another similar business that might be closing, creating an opportunity for you to open and take market share? Be optimistic in this section and list anything and everything that might be in your favor. The more you write, the more detailed and specific your marketing plan will become. 
• T - Threats
  • What worries you the most about your business? New competitors? Ease of entry into your market? Old competitors? Rising costs? The threat of a recession? The regulatory market. Perhaps your product is trendy and the trend might die. Spend a great deal of time analyzing this section as it will play a large role in developing your business plan and your marketing plan and the more details you have, the better the plan will be. 

With the "Why's" and the "What's" now clearly laid out before us, we can begin to build a JOURNEY together. You aren't just opening a business, you are building a vehicle that will carry thousands of consumers to a destination where many of their problems will have been solved, moments will have been made and joy at some level will have been experienced. 

Build a narrative where you invite people to leave the difficult, competitive, loud and often unfair world behind and enter the world that you and your business and your product and your brand create. Find a higher purpose, and others will want to join you.

Need help creating your SWAT analysis, business plan or marketing? We can help. It begins with a $99 Discovery call, the cost of which can be applied to a future service or fully refunded if you aren't satisfied with the call. 

We look forward to speaking with you.