Reflections

KLR Best Practices--Helpful Quotes

"Building a world-class company calls for a world-class commitment to your own personal growth." From the E-Myth Mastery, by Gerber. So true. In fact this is also true...

"Building a world-class [         ] calls for a world-class commitment to your own personal growth." You fill in the blank! [Life, church, business, marriage, family...other ideas?]

KLR Best Practices--Who Moved My Cheese?

I was with a client Monday. We were discussing his business development strategy in this difficult market. He told me about the book: Who Moved My Cheese? It is a book about leadership, recognizing trends, and managing change. My client related to the simple but profound idea of this best selling book: leaders recognize if the cheese is running out and lead their organizations to go to where the cheese is! Good stuff.

In his case, he adjusted his plan to move his company's business development efforts to where the cheese is. At the core of finding the cheese is understanding who is our customer? And what does our customer value? And what need can we meet for them?

Another client had the leadership insight 7 years ago to begin the involved process of expanding his business internationally. He recognized something many of his peers failed to see--he saw where the cheese was moving in his particular industry. To his credit, he is among the first in the rooms full of glorious cheese!

Finally, an associate is looking at a prospective business to acquire. Realizing the economic uncertainty that will most certainly continue for the foreseeable future, he has selected a business that is more likely to weather a sluggish and sliding economy.

In each case...they are following the cheese. No question that today many rooms that used to be filled with cheese have run dry. But, there is still cheese out there. The leaders are finding the cheese and taking the needed steps to get their businesses into those rooms.

KLR Best Practices

This is the first of a new series "KLR Best Practices". KLR stands for Kern Leadership Resources--my consulting practice. From time to time I come across best practices that I will post under this category (see side banner KLR Best Practices)

I found this video today and thought it would be helpful to entrepreneurs. This is the "bootstrap" model for a new business launch. Some observations: The first stage in the model is the Awaken stage--the time when the "Bootstrapper Team" comes together. Notice the team comes together before the product is designed. This is consistent with the principle in Jim Collins' book Good to Great, "First Who, Then What." I have also found that "First Who, Then What" is not only a business decision to team up with strong talent, but it also is a quality of life decision. With so much time and energy invested in a business, do you have a good relationship and shared values with your fellow "bootstrapper(s)"? 

In my experience the product-customer stages are not sequential but occur in tandem and inform one another. In fact, I think it best to begin with answering some key questions about your potential customer before you go to demo. Ask yourself "Who is our customer?" "What do they consider value?" "What product or services will best meet their needs and wants?" With this in view, the product-demo can be developed to deliver what your potential customer wants. Then, as mentioned in the video, you go through various refinements of your product as you assess the customer's reaction to your product offering. All in all this looks like a helpful model.