It’s been a while since I’ve written about my new burgeoning business and I thought that it was about time I updated everyone with how it’s going. To say I’ve been busy is a bit of an understatement but first, let me provide you with a quick recap.
Early this year I set myself the challenge of launching a new venture and it was an instant success with the target market. I had customers flocking in from all over the place wanting to get access to the services I was providing.
I then wrote about the fact that I planned on tackling a new target market. This is quite often a risky proposition for a new business as the expenditure of stretched resources could end up disrupting existing clients and sending the whole venture bankrupt.
I just knew in my gut that this new segment wasn’t being served adequately and with no market research whatsoever I decided to push into the unknown. After tweaking my services, a number of times I’m pleased to inform readers that it’s been a great success!
Of course, the business I’m talking about is about how to attract birds (the flying variety) to my yard and more importantly just out my study window. As can be seen from the above photo I’ve managed to get a flock of cockatoos as customers and one of them even allowed me to handfeed it.
I must admit it was a surreal moment as I slowly crept up to the beautiful bird and extended my hand with some seed in it. It felt like a complete endorsement of my whole business model….and that’s often what success is all about.
So what lessons did I learn along this perilous journey? For a start, when something wasn’t working I changed things up. For instance, the bird bath wasn’t in the right position and my fine feathered customers were ignoring it, so I moved it to a new location. Voila! Suddenly I had customers dive bombing the water in an effort to avail themselves of the service I was offering.
If you’re running a business and something isn’t working, then don’t keep on doing the same thing and expect a different outcome. Change it up a bit, measure the results and then try again until it resonates with customers.
I also found that if I consistently put bread and seed out then the birds learned where they could get something to eat. Likewise, if you’re haphazard with what you’re offering with your business then don’t expect clients to return. You need to provide a consistent level of service and customers need to know what to expect.
McDonald’s is the classic in this area. No matter where you are in the world you know that you can get a Big Mac that is essentially the same. They’ve managed to build a global business that consistently provides the same product no matter if you’re in Tokyo or New York…..it’s simply staggering.
Finally, I paid attention to what was going on in the marketplace. I wanted to know what birds were around and how to attract them. It didn't take me very long to work out that there’s absolutely no point in putting out bread if you’re trying to attract parrots.
Likewise, if you have a business that’s trying to reach Swahili speaking individuals in the middle of Manhattan then you’re likely going to have a bit of a problem. The market is going to be very small to non-existent (I presume so but could be corrected here). Why not target a larger market that is more likely to be forgiving as you make the mistakes every new business makes?
So there’s three words of advice; change it up, be consisten and go after bigger markets. I've just noticed that a flock of customers are squawking at me for food….there’s nothing quite like running a business that is being inundating with opportunities.
Have a great weekend!
Michael