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.