Guy Richards / Ordinary Life with a Brand Strategist

2 Businesses…sounds like a great idea!

Most businesses won’t become successful for at least 10 years.

Let me explain how I define success. Success: A brand that the market recognizes, that sells a product/service that the customers sees as valuable for the price and a process that can deliver the product/service and still be profitable without the owner doing everything.

Before this stage it would be foolish to start another business venture. Because, just like it is physically impossible to be in two places at one time, it is mentally impossible to split your focus between two businesses without them both suffering at some degree.

But it is possible to keep you focus on growing one and becoming more profitable with less headaches…unless you have a cash cow that runs its self. Then I say, “duplicate!”

Can’t Google

A lot of people turn to Google for business plans. But the one thing Google can’t do is provide this.

It is because business plans take insight into your situation, knowledge of the market and your offerings, plus wisdom to create a solution that only comes from experience.  

It is amazing how many people are searching for business plans. In my opinion the main reason is because it is near impossible for company to build a strong plan from within. They are to close to themselves to cut through the clutter of what is important to the market, to understand how the customer perceives them and to articulate the primary value they bring to the buyer.

Businesses should be looking for an experienced strategist with a great track record rather than a plan. Plans can’t adjust or be shared.

Give me what I want / Kashi

I was eating cereal this morning and noticed, written on the box, “Stay full longer.” I thought to myself, that is the best value proposition statement they could of said.

It sounds weird because it is not a flashy tagline that most brands would choose, but it is true. And in my case, the reason I like to eat Kashi rather than other cereal is because it does just that. I have more energy to work through the morning.

When creating a value proposition it is key to know what need your customers want you to fulfill for them. Once the want is identified the next step is to say it as simple as you can.

This allows potential customers to identify you can give them what they want in the pre-purchase stage.

A clear description of what your brand value is, trumps a snazzy meaningless tagline any day. Conversion is king and for this brand I would guess it is more important to win potential customers than remarket to the existing ones, because once a person starts eating a cereal the likelihood of them switching is low.

The key is to find out what your market wants you to solve for them. Because in all reality your brand is just a solution to a market’s want.

The more successful you get at identifying your market’s want, communicating you have the solution and delivering the solution, the quicker you will position your brand as the market leader in your segment.

This is why you haven't heard from me

As I popped on to my blog today I tried not to get woozy when I scanned through the dates of my last posts…12 months ago…24 months ago. Ahhh, I could feel my gut hurt.

Anyway. Let me update you on what has been going on in my life over the last 2 years.

As most of you know I’m sort of an awkward person. What I mean, is that I like to get lost. Lost in the process of creating.

First comes the dream that seems to consume me. I sleep less, eat less and drink a whole lot of coffee. And then…before much calculation of the pain I will go through…I start running.

2 years ago my wife asked me if we could close in a screen porch we had on the back of our house to give her a little more room as a place to teach the kids. From there I convinced her we should add a large garage, second story, second story porch while we are at it, master bedroom, another bathroom and hey, lets gut our existing house. Plumbing, HVAC, sheetrock, flooring, roof, siding and the list goes on.

In the end we more than doubled the size of the house, the budget and quadrupled the time we planned to do it.

As the project started, we planned on me being the general contractor. My work would consist of selecting and scheduling the people to build the addition. After a few weeks in, I couldn’t help myself. I became the coffee guy, then the laborer, after that I started to learn how to frame. Soon I found myself hiring laborers to help me.

I got so lost in the joy of building that our 4-month project turned into a 18-month project. For the last year and a half I worked at the office (Abiah) and then grabbed a coffee and headed to the house until about 10:00pm.

At the house, by myself in a wood shell, I would think about you and this blog. How I wished I could get the time to bring something of value to you, my friends. I would think, here I am, a brand strategist and designer and all I can think about is carpentry.

I’m happy to say that we have moved back into the house some weeks back, but still moonlighting as a carpenter…6 days a week.

This was a longer process than I wanted or planned, but through this process I learned that I have to create. And that I need problems to solve. Whether it is building with wood, color, metal or bushes. I’m sure a few of you are identifying with me.

NOTE: 2 years before this project I just completed a 5-year project of building a 12,500 square foot, concrete skatepark at our church, as a volunteer.

As a person who gets lost in chasing dreams, through this process I realized how important my role as a husband and father is. My next big goal is to be around a bit more for my wife and 2 little ones. Since we moved back to the house, the kids and I have been catching lizards, frogs, even caught a chipmunk (check my Facebook for the release video) and a bug my daughter calls “Leafy” who is her first pet.

Anyway. Thanks for those who have cared, encouraged and spoke into my life over the years.

Hope you enjoy these pictures.

 

...and still working on it!

Your heart

God cares about what's in your heart more than your hand.

And in my experience, He will take from my hand to direct my heart.

The call and your "sales person" (I mean advisor)

I was calling a friend today for no other reason than to see how he was doing. Then I realized a good rule of thumb, "the best time to call an acquaintance or a friend is when you don't need something."

It only strengthens the relationship. The same could be said for your brand’s sales people. How great would it be if they reached out to their contacts just to say hi? They wouldn't be sales people at that point. They would be trusted advisors.

 

Stuck

I have never met someone that dwelled on the past and was successful in the present.

THE PUSH

It's what happens when you are different, unique, so rare that you float from the dirt and become a focal point for the world.

If you are, or have something unique...then push.

#30 Nothing of value

#30 Nothing of value from Guy Richards

#29 That's my lego!

#29 That's my lego! from Guy Richards