I just heard about a dentist who is offering Botox therapy to his patients to supplement his income; which is down as a result of the recession. These days, I’m hearing more about business owners grasping for revenue with new product lines just to keep the lights on.
In fact, I’m starting to get nervous about my book tour this spring. A big part of my talk that supports Built To Sell is the importance of focusing on a single product/service that scales if you want to build a company you could sell.
I learned about the importance of absolute commitment to a single, scalable offer the hard way. When I first tried to turn my research business into something sellable, I developed a subscription-based offering but continued to accept custom projects. Clients and employees could sense I wasn’t truly committed to the subscription business and pushed back. Ultimately, I had to shut down the subscription offer, put my tail between my legs, and go back to selling time.
After a few years, I made a fresh attempt at the subscription business but the second time, I turned off the consulting business and told customers and employees all we were offering was the subscription. It worked because I stopped offering customers a choice and gave our sales people a chance to sell a consistent, packaged offer. Customers who wanted our expertise, had to buy it as a subscription. We stopped responding to Requests For Proposals (RFPs) which gave our sales people more time to sell. Ironically, eliminating choice and packaging what we had to sell better, helped us sell more.
I feel like the message is even more important in today’s economic context but I have to find a way to deliver it without sounding tone deaf. Enter Trevor Currie of Podium Consulting. Podium trains people to be better public speakers and Trevor is helping me find a way to make an audacious point seem reasonable. So far Trevor has come up with the idea of showing the audience a famous quote as the lead in:
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffective, concerning all acts of initiative (and creation). There is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.”
-Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
I’ll let you know how I make out; the first speech is Tuesday in Mississauga.
Below are three articles I wrote last week on creating a company you can sell:
Don’t Become Irreplaceable
~ published April 1, 2010 TIME Magazine
One of the biggest casualties of the recession may be the health of America’s 27 million business owners. Aging and wounded by the crisis, more than 50% of business owners in the U.S. say they want out in the next 10 years. They wish: only 1% of them will successfully sell their companies each year.
Small-business owners have always viewed their firms as the key to a comfortable retirement. Throughout their business lives, they have poured most of their extra money into their companies, believing that their value would grow. Many now have neither a retirement nest egg nor a sellable business. Considering the tens of millions of Americans ill prepared for retirement, it is a looming problem for American society if left unaddressed. » more
Package your service, courtesy of Tide
~ published March 30, 2010 The Globe and Mail
To create a company you can sell, you need to demonstrate to a buyer that the business is more than just you.
One way to give your business an identity distinct from your personality is to package and “productize” the way you deliver your service.
Peter Turpel went from consulting with companies about how they used their phone system to developing the “phone on hold marketing system,” which offers businesses various options for handling customer calls, such as music and call routing. Mr. Turpel moved from consulting with customers to productizing his knowledge so that the business became less dependent on him personally. » more
Paper a deal like Warren Buffett
~ published March 31, 2010 The Globe and Mail
I once went to a Broadway play starring James Belushi. We had good seats, so Mr. Belushi was only a few feet in front of me.
I remember how engaging it was to be that close to someone famous. I became engrossed in the show and felt as though Mr. Belushi was talking directly to me. I lost touch with time and my surroundings. I forgot about all of the work behind the scenes—the lighting, staging, music—and just sat there and enjoyed his performance.
When you sell your company, you should make a choice about who the lead actors are going to be and who will remain backstage, behind the curtain. » more
