Category Archives: Reality checks

April 22, 2016 · 11:58 am

Box Wine

Foodie Friday, and this week our focus is on wine. Like many of you, I enjoy a glass or two of wine with dinner. Over time, that can add up in terms of keeping the cellar stocked, so I try to find inexpensive, well-made bottles. I’ve found it’s not hard to find quite a few that retail for under $12. Some of the better wine I’ve been drinking lately actually doesn’t come in a bottle at all – it comes in a box.

This image shows a red wine glass.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’ve never tried box wine, you’re not alone. Box wine represents less than 5% of all wine sold here in the USA. Compare that to 20% in Europe and nearly half in Austrailia. What do they know that we don’t? Maybe that each box is generally the equivalent of 4 bottles and it will stay fresh for 3-4 weeks after you open it due to the vacuum sealed bags that are in each box. Unless you drink a typical bottle in a day or two, it oxidizes and the taste can become funky, no matter how well you reseal it.  But there is a broader business lesson here as well.

Box wine is a win-win for both the wineries and the consumer. The numbers I can find say that the cost to produce the box is less than the equivalent 4 bottles and the carbon footprint is less than half. It is way more convenient (try to carry 8 bottles vs. 2 boxes to your car).  Obviously, it moves more wine while providing a great value.  Why hasn’t it caught on here?  Maybe because some producers focus on making the wine as cheap as possible which often results in an inferior product.  As a great article from Food52 said on the topic:

In the U.S., boxed wine is plagued by associations with Franzia and college drinking games; when the technology first came out, cheap brands seized upon the budget vessel and filled it with contents that fully deserved the terrible reputation they gained. And the reputation has stuck.

We all need to think about the “bad actors” in our business segment.  How are they screwing it up for the rest of us?  Sure, it’s easy to say “well, they make the rest of us look good by comparison,” but the reality is that a significant percentage of consumers paint with a very wide brush.  While I think we all know great, honest lawyers, auto mechanics, advertising professionals, etc, those businesses have terrible reputations.

Consumers now assume box wine is low quality and won’t buy it, and because they won’t buy it, producers hesitate to make it.  It’s too bad that what is an obvious win-win becomes everyone’s loss due to a few bad actors.

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April 18, 2016 · 11:55 am

It’s Not Just The Great Idea

I attended a workshop last week. It was through an organization that works with veterans of our military, teaching them a number of the skills they’ll need to succeed as entrepreneurs. I was pleased to be asked to participate and I was also pleased that a number of others were there to lend their support and knowledge to the vets who attended.

One point that I think became clear as the conversation progressed was that a great idea is not necessarily a great business. It also became clear that skills beyond hard work were key to turning a good (or great) idea into a wonderful business. While it was very evident that no one was going to outwork the vets in the room who had begun their business journey, it was also very evident that a bit of guidance could make those journeys more productive.

A few of the budding entrepreneurs presented their ideas to the group.  They were given only 2 minutes, which is a challenging amount of time even for very experienced presenters to make their case.  One person began with the problem and explained the solution his product provided, which is a spot on way to attack this challenge.  Another told a dramatic story and told how she came up with the product but didn’t expand what was her compelling problem into a much broader need.  The last presenter was just confusing.  While he has a fantastic product that could revolutionize small farms, he couldn’t explain the problem and I was left (along with the rest of the audience) wondering what exactly it was he was selling and to whom.  As an aside, the more senior folks in the room helped him craft his pitch to make all of those things more clear.

It’s not just a great idea nor is it a willing attitude and hard work.  Passion is a prerequisite but it’s not enough.  These vets were smart enough to know that and were taking the time to learn the skills required.  They weren’t embarrassed to say “I don’t know” or “I need help.”  Are you?

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April 11, 2016 · 10:58 am

Are You A Mechanic?

Unless you are a very knowledgeable gearhead, you’ve probably had the experience of something going wrong with your vehicle and heading to a mechanic.  Hopefully, I’m not the only one who is immediately paranoid about the diagnosis offered.  I’m always concerned that what I’m being told is causing a rattle is a broken motor mount that requires expensive repairs when it’s just a loose hose that could be fixed with a zip tie.  By the way, if you think I’m exaggerating, read this article. 

The mechanic situation is an example of someone with more knowledge and, therefore, more power taking advantage of you.  You might be reading this while shaking your head and saying I would never behave that way.  I’m sure on the surface that’s true.  Let’s think, however, about another situation in which you might just be behaving just as badly and taking advantage of someone.

An employee leaves and you ask someone else to cover that work as well as their own.  Given that most jobs take at least a month (and generally more) to fill, what are you doing to compensate that person for assuming the extra workload?  Is it possible either to have several people cover or maybe some things just go undone while you go through the hiring process?

Another example.  No one ever really leaves the office anymore.  Email is never off and most people carry email access on their persons at all times.  That said, we’ve all heard of situations where someone sends an email at night and when it isn’t answered in a few minutes, follow up with either a second note or a phone call.  Unless it’s a major crisis, why can’t that wait until work hours resume?  It’s one thing to make these demands of salaried management; it’s quite another to ask hourly employees to keep working outside of work since they’re not getting paid for the time.

Finally, when was the last time you said “thank you” to every member of your team?  Sure, a paycheck is a nice “thanks” but you’ll be surprised how far a few kind words can go.  It makes the folks with whom you work confident that you’re not the evil mechanic who is taking advantage of their situation.  Willing to try?

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