Tag Archives: business

December 5, 2016 · 12:28 pm

Where Do Business Ideas Come From?

I participated in a business forum last week for veterans who have separated from the service and are looking to start businesses. One question that came up is about the origin of business ideas. Where do business ideas come from? Why do businesses fail? What are the best businesses to start?

Gnomes' three phase business plan

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There were a number of folks like me in the room who tried to provide some answers and perspective. I think where we all came out was that the best business ideas are those which solve a problem worth solving. How does one know if it’s worth solving? Well, if it’s a problem that only you have, it probably isn’t. If a lot of people have this problem you then might have a market. If it’s a problem that keeps needing solving, then you have a really good market. If people care less about the cost of solving the problem than they do in just getting it solved, you have an excellent market. And if you’re the only one with a solution that solves the problem in a way where the cost to do so is outweighed by the value you’re providing, you just might have a great business idea.

It was interesting to hear the responses as we went around the room and heard about the businesses these veterans either had started or were contemplating. Many fell nicely into the paradigm, above. In some cases, they needed help expressing their idea succinctly and clearly and in a way that demonstrated they understood the problem they’re solving and the market presented. A couple stood out as being fantastic ideas while a couple of others clearly needed more refinement and thought.

I’d encourage you to try that exercise. What problem are you solving? Is it a problem shared by enough people to make it worth solving? Who else is solving it? Why is your solution better? With those answers, you’re well down the road both to a solid business plan and to finding people who will invest in making that plan a reality. You in?

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November 10, 2016 · 2:49 pm

Dead Wrong

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from the events of the last couple of days and not all of them pertain to our politics. One question I think I hear from people who fall all across the political spectrum is “how could almost every prediction be so wrong?” After all, putting aside the prognostications of loyalists on either side, none of the pollsters and data-based predictors got this right.

I’m not going to go into the politics but we can learn some valuable business lessons here. I’m not sure this was a case of garbage in, garbage out. That said, it’s clear that the legacy systems from which samples are drawn such as calling landline telephones are not accurate anymore. The real issue is one that I think we have in business, though, which is the inability to tell the difference between “good” data and noise. More importantly, we tend to rely on faulty data to the exclusion of both external factors and our own common sense. We like to tell stories that can be believed, and that happens when the stories echo popular beliefs. We focus on things that have happened already and in so doing we often miss subtle undertones that tell us what went before may not indicate what will come next.

We also suffer from the echo chamber in business. We talk to our coworkers and reinforce faulty information. We tell the tales that our tribe shares and miss those from the outside – the other tribes.

I was just as bad as many of you on Tuesday. I said more than once “unless every poll is dead wrong, it’s going to be a short night.” Well, they were and so was I. While the pollsters will have to wait 4 years to show they’ve learned how data can’t be the only thing we consider as we make decisions about the right path, you get that chance the next time some information crosses your desk. Take it!

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October 13, 2016 · 3:25 pm

Can You Pass The Dylan Test?

I wasn’t going to post anything today, but with Bob Dylan being awarded the Nobel Prize in literature (yay!), I couldn’t let the day pass without putting up this post again. Whether you love Dylan’s music or hate it (although many people love the music and hate his voice), you can’t deny Dylan’s importance in music history. Here is why and what he just might mean to your business.

Yesterday marked an anniversary that I could not let pass without comment.  On March 19, 1962, 50 years ago yesterday, Bob Dylan released his first album, or LP (to signify a long-playing record rather than a single) as they were called at the time.

Bob Dylan performing in Rotterdam, June 23 1978

Bob Dylan performing in Rotterdam, June 23 1978 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This piece from Rolling Stone does a nice job of summing up the album and how it got made.  I’m a long-time fan of the man and his music and while I can’t say I love everything he’s ever done, it’s all really interesting and in many cases, his music went beyond popular culture to become transformative (start with “Blowin’ In The Wind“) for an entire generation and country.  I’ve heard so many people dismiss his music and yet when I give them the Dylan Test, they can’t deny his impact.  What, you ask, is the Dylan Test?  Something I think we should apply to way more stuff than Bob’s music – any business could benefit.  Let me explain.

The Dylan test is simple:  I know my grandchildren will hear the music of Bob Dylan.  They may not like it, they might not ever buy it, but they’ll hear it and they’ll know who the guy was that recorded it.  Not because I’m going to ram it down their throats:  I’d make the same statement about my great-grandchildren.  It’s because Dylan’s music is that important, just like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Springsteen and The Beatles.  And that’s the test.  Can you make that same statement about whatever music you believe to be “great?”  That ought to be our business objective.  To pass the Dylan Test.

I wrote in this piece a while back that we ought to be creating things that are built to last.  While the tools are temporary – Dylan’s first disc was pressed in vinyl – the content and the core of the business endures, or we should hope it will.  So ask yourself the Dylan Test question as you’re contemplating investing your time, effort, and money on a project.  While very few things pass, it’s not a bad standard to keep in mind.

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