A new world of insight

I've spent my career trying to understand consumers, their lifestyles, their needs and their passions. I've watched people play paintball, take showers, plant gardens and cook gourmet meals. I've traveled the world to understand how consumers in different cultures differ in their desires and preferences.

But last week, I had a brand new experience. I spent 8 days in northern Haiti. Our charge was to capture video that could be used by a mission group to promote their ministry, solicit donations and encourage child sponsorships. Unlike past international trips, I didn't stay in a 5 star hotel and venture from my air conditioned cab into a recruited home.

This was immersion. We worked side by side with locals, conducted interviews with people that had no clothing in villages that had neither electricity nor running water. We traveled in a taptap, essentially an open bed truck with a steel insert for passengers to hang onto.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Having spent a lot of time in India, I've seen poverty before, but never in such a beautiful setting. Haiti reminded me a lot of Hawaii, or of many of the other Caribbean islands, but with poverty spread all across it.

In spite of the poverty, I've never encountered a culture so warm and friendly as what the Haitians were. As we walked or rode around, children would run out to wave yelling "Hey Blanc, Hey Blanc" - translating to Hello White.

It was both sad and beautiful at the same time. Seeing children with nothing that could laugh, smile and play with stones made me realize how spoiled our culture truly is. Our nation is in a panic because our 401k's have dropped in value. In Haiti, people wonder when they will eat again.

I spoke with a couple of civic leaders about the state of their nation. They made a comment to me that they truly appreciate what America has done for Haiti, and that the generosity of money has been considerable. However, if Haiti is to ever rise out of it's current state, it's time to do more than send money. It's time to send "teachers". People that can teach people how to farm, how to run a city, how to teach children, how to run a small business.

It will only be through education that the economy will be able to turn around and begin to grow from it's current third-world status.

I know in my own life it's often easier to open the checkbook and write a check to a good cause than it is to commit my personal time and energy to something. But checks alone are not going to improve our world. This was my first trip of this nature. I've got a feeling, it won't be my last.

Business Lessons from the Garden

I've planted a garden this year in my back yard. It's the first year I've had a garden at this house, and the first I've attempted in years. As I work in the garden each evening, my mind thinks about the parallels between this patch of earth, and business... Sort of like "Garden Musings". The following are some of the connections that I've been making. I'm sure I will add more as the season goes along.

"Don't expect too much, it's very hard to get a first year garden to grow."

I've heard this from many people, and I'm finding there is much wisdom in their words. The soil is not cultivated or fertile. It takes a lot of time and energy to work the soil and add the ingredients to make it garden ready. They say that next year, once it's been established, it will be infinitely easier...

This is no different than going into a brand new market with a business or new product line. It takes a lot of money and effort to "prepare" the market for your offering. It is much easier to go into an established market with a product and differentiate yourself than to try to build a market where one did not exist.

"I planted a lot more seeds that what actually came up"

I'm sure this ties to my first point, but I was surprised at how many seeds never emerged. It took as much energy to plant the dormant seeds as it did to plant the ones that have sprung up. There was no way of knowing which would be which when I put them into the ground...

That sounds a lot like prospecting. You never know which appointment, or which phone call will culminate in a contracted job. It takes as much time and nerve to make a call that goes no where, as it does to make a highly successful call. As with the garden, a more established plot will yield a higher percentage of crop. However, it is safe to assume you will always have to plant more seeds than you can possibly hope to grow.

"My sweet corn didn't come up at all, so I replanted it. This time it's growing".

I love sweet corn. And I was horribly disappointed when several weeks went by with no sign of growth... So, I started over, bought more seed and planted it all again.

In business, there are times when you want it bad enough you just won't take no for an answer. If you are met with rejection, you start again (and again if necessary) until you see success.

"It takes a lot of time and effort before you see any produce from the crop"

I'm probably 60 days away from eating much from my garden. And yet I find myself spending at least an hour/day weeding, feeding and watering my young plants.

Prospects are no different. They seldom spring up overnight and bear fruit. They show some level of interest, but require nurturing and guidance before you gain the benefit from them.

The Cart before the Horse?

I've been watching a new series on the Discovery Channel called Pitchmen . In this show, self-proclaimed informercial superstars Billy Mays & Anthony Sullivan speak with aspiring entrepreneurs each week whose sole goal is to get a shot at a national infomercial and the resulting overnight riches. The show does a good job of showing both high-potential ideas as well as ridiculous ones.

Last week's show had a product being pitched called the "Spin-Gym". The inventor was Forbes Riley, a woman who is a QVC celebrity in her own right. She developed a fitness product that will "fit in your purse" and yet provide you with "total upper body fitness". She was understandably passionate about the product and is promoting it across every channel imaginable.

The problem is two-fold. First, the product is hardly unique. I had a toy as a child that does essentially the same thing (except that my toy made a cool sound when you spun it really fast). I'm not sure how she patented the thing, but evidently she did. But more importantly, this seems to be the classic solution looking for a problem. On the show she had huge body-builders using this product as if to imply their shape somehow came from this tiny product. Yes fitness is a growing trend across America. However, the form of any new product must suggest its intended use in a manner that is believable. Be honest, can you believe in a fitness product that you hold only with your thumbs? You really got the opinion that the "research" they did consisted of putting the Spin Gym into people's hands with the question of "Isn't this the greatest?" or "Can't you feel the muscle burn?". On the show the product was tested in two markets at different price points. Almost no interest was generated in either market.

Having this unique opportunity to see this real-life, time-compressed example was fascinating. This same thing happens across our country everyday, both with entrepreneurs as well as with established corporations. Somebody falls in love with an idea, and becomes blind and deaf to feedback. They are determined to muscle their way into the market, regardless of what they hear.

How much time, money and energy could be saved if they sought the feedback early in the process, at a time when they could still make modifications (to the product or the messaging)? Let's be outrageous here... What if they actually spent the time to understand the needs of their targeted consumer, then designed a product to satisfy it?

It sounds so simple. But it seems to fly in the face of the way so many do business.