Tag Archives: Strategic management

May 10, 2019 · 3:31 pm

Shopping At The Farmer’s Market

It’s Foodie Friday and the local farmer’s market opened up here a couple of weeks ago. Of course, the state farmer’s market is open year-round but it’s huge and a 25-minute drive. The one here in town is more intimate, less-crowded, and only 6 minutes away.

I like farmer’s markets for a few reasons. The first is that the quality of food – mostly produce – is generally higher than what you can get from the supermarket. It’s likely it was picked either that morning or the day prior. It certainly didn’t have to travel from Mexico or South America. Most importantly, these markets are inherently seasonal. You don’t get watermelons until late summer (OK, earlier here in the South) and there aren’t red things masquerading as tomatoes in March.

As a cook, the farmer’s market presents both an opportunity and a challenge, one that actually is mirrored in most businesses. The opportunity is to find ingredients that are in peak form, and because they’re plentiful, at a lower cost (that whole supply/demand thing, you know). The challenge is that to take real advantage of the market, you have to be willing to work with what’s available and that can be limiting. You might want to make a peach cobbler for dessert this week but it’s blueberry season now so that’s dessert.

Businesses face the same challenges as cooks. There is a seasonality involved in almost every business and the opportunity in season is to maximize profits. I think there’s a real opportunity outside of your prime season as well. This is when you can experiment with new products or promotions. You can look for niche audiences (what’s available!).

There’s also the challenge that my little market faces each week. It’s 15 miles from a much bigger market. How can it attract high-quality vendors and draw from surrounding communities? Obviously, most businesses face similar issues to distinguish themselves if they’re realistic about the choices consumers have these days. When I was working in TV we worried about the other networks. Broadcasters today have to consider anything with a screen as competitive.

Mostly I like farmer’s markets because they force me to be thoughtful and creative. How can I plan out a menu that’s the best within the limitations of what’s available? You might ask yourself the same thing about your business. Every business has limitations, whether financial, supply chain, or even people. How do you get the best out of what’s available?

Leave a comment

Filed under food, Thinking Aloud

Tagged as , , , , ,

April 29, 2019 · 2:51 pm

Your Ideas Suck

One thing I’ve done over my decade in consulting is to go to tech events. Many of these attract dozens of budding entrepreneurs as well as we consultant types who are always on the lookout for a new client. Inevitably, as you’re making small talk and new connections, someone will tell you about their earth-shattering, world-changing brilliant idea. All they need is some seed money. Most of the time, their ideas…well…suck. Let me explain why.

First of all, they can’t explain the problem that they’re solving. They have a vague idea of who might have the problem but they can’t really explain what the problem is since they’re not the customer. Then they can’t exactly explain how they’ll scale – how they will attract a large enough customer base to get them to positive cash-flow and profitability. Lastly, they can’t explain the revenue model – how they will monetize the enterprise.

Major suckitude, in other words.

If you can’t explain how your idea takes in someone’s money – an investor’s or a customer’s – and spits profit out the other end, you’re in big trouble. An idea isn’t a business, you see.

One thing I’ve learned in consulting on franchises is that a lot of food franchises want you to have some food experience. While specific industry experience is less of a requirement in other categories, having relevant experience is a huge help everywhere, even if it’s just demonstrating skills that can help in your new business. If you don’t have the basic skills you need to germinate your idea – leadership skills, sales skills among them – or relevant industry experience, you are going to fail. Was that mean? OK, it was mean, but your idea still sucks because you are hanging it out there all on its own with nothing to support it. No money. No experience. No skills.

By the way. Most people who have been around for a while (your potential investors and others) can figure out very quickly if your buzzword-laden pitch is BS. Dressing up your sucky idea with a fancy presentation laden with jargon is lipstick on a pig.

What ideas don’t suck? The best businesses come from someone trying to solve their own problem and having the business acumen to grow that solution into something that can benefit others if the problem is a big enough one. There is a plan to make money, acquire customers, and generate a profit. Got an idea with those things? THAT doesn’t suck!

Leave a comment

Filed under Consulting, Reality checks

Tagged as , , , ,

April 26, 2019 · 1:55 pm

Passover Baking And Business

This Foodie Friday, we are most of the way through the period during which observant Jews don’t eat leavened goods. That means no bread or anything else that involves flour or anything that could make the baked good rise. Think about anything that you bake. I’m guessing that it has flour or baking powder or baking soda or yeast. All of those things are big no-nos to those that observe Passover.

I’m not a baker, as I’ve written before, but since I’m often tasked with preparing the food for Passover I’ve learned quite a bit about baking during this time of the year. Oddly, it doesn’t really require a huge shift in your thinking these days since many people are on some sort of gluten-free diet. That accounts for shifting away from flour and into things such as finely ground nuts, which are totally fine for Passover. In fact, my Aunt Ileen’s nut cake was always in demand and it wasn’t until recently that I realized it was gluten-free. Who knew 30 years ago when I got the recipe from her!

How do you make cakes rise with no leavening agents? Whipped egg whites will get the job done. Everything becomes a sort of chiffon cake (or a tart of sorts). Then, of course, there are things such as macaroons (not the delicate French kind) that are just scoops of coconut or almonds held together with sugar syrup and often dipped in chocolate.

What does this have to do with business? While the easiest thing to do at this time of the year is not to bake due to the conditions having changed, instead people learned to adapt. If you have anyone with gluten intolerance in your life, you may have already begun to make that change, not realizing that it would come in handy in other situations. Businesses need to be prepared to do this sort of thing as well. Markets and business conditions are constantly shifting, and the ability to adapt and change is one of the most important things a business can have. Maybe it’s a supply-chain disruption. Maybe it’s the loss of key personnel or of an important client. Continuing on in your business, even if you have to make product changes to serve the customer, is paramount at all times of the year, unlike Passover.

I’m very much looking forward to getting back to leavened bread but I’ve come to appreciate what we can learn from how the rules shifted this week. You?

Leave a comment

Filed under food, Thinking Aloud

Tagged as , , , ,