So I accidentally turned on the TV the other night (something I do so rarely these days) and one of those incorrectly named “current affairs” shows was on. I left it playing in the background while I was pottering around. Big mistake. Huge.
Some small business was complaining that they were being massively undercut by a major chain store – and won’t the ACCC please do something about it?
What a load of crap.
If you suck at marketing, don’t go crying to the government to save you.
“Muuuuuuum! Woolies is stealing my market share!”
“Now Woolies, play nicely with your little brother!”
I mean seriously – the grown up business world is no place for whingers and victims.
If the only way you know how to sell is to compete on price and thereby make yourself a commodity, then get out of business or get so much money behind you that you can compete on price. But either way, stop bloody complaining.
Business isn’t “fair” and it shouldn’t be “fair” – fairness is communism. The reason I’m an entrepreneur is because I want more. I’m prepared to take the risks other people aren’t prepared to take. And I get very unfairly paid for it.
World renowned, awesome copywriter Dan Kennedy wrote an amazing piece recently on how being in business is like going into battle everyday.
In it, he talks about how getting up and going into business is a battle. It’s the warrior’s path – we wake up every morning and go to war.
“We may complain, but we – deep inside – like the fight. And the superiority.”
Oh yeah – let’s so not forget the superiority. There’s a touch of the megalomaniacal in all good entrepreneurs – yes, even the social ones. To get through the crap, you need to be driven by something greater – whether that’s a belief that they’re special because of their intellectual vanity or because it’s a belief that they are somehow chosen or special and need to be the ones who take a stand and change the world.
Interestingly, either of these would, if diagnosed by a psychologist, be definite evidence that you were crazy (delusions of grandeur) and enough to have you put on drugs if not shipped off to a nice, padded cell.
“Contrary to the psycho-silly no-grades, everybody’s-equal pablum being fed to babies all the way through college, on the business battlefield in the real world, there are – everyday – victors and defeated.”
Woo hoo!
Darn Tootin’!
To the victor goes the spoils – not to the whinging victims who are running around begging their mums to stand up to their bullies rather than focusing on getting better at their business. If it’s not Woolies, it’s going to be someone else. If you don’t know how to differentiate yourself from your competition, don’t rely on the Government to save you – get better at running your business!
Leela Cosgrove is Managing Director of Business Writers Anonymous, focused on sales, marketing and business development. She is also a firewalker, has a black-belt in Tae Kwon Do, a penchant for tattoos, and enjoys bands such as Rammstein, Li Bach, Marilyn Manson, Pennywise and Bad Religion.
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W Spedding Reply:
October 15th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
I agree – get the customer educated, show them something that makes you stand out, can you make a flyer with a “tick” to order this or that, have it in a display in/near your shop, take this flyer now, fax/email us the order and we deliver??
Maybe a letter box drop??
Single out “The Oldies”, make them feel special with a home delivery service, they can’t carry much themselves.
Set up a “round” like a milk run., run it once, twice a week and do not be put off with disapointing first or second week results
By absolute good furtune, we had ad “Old Dearie” ring and explain that her lift had not picked her up, could we come up and show her a such-n-such??
We packed 3 different units into the van, went up and showed them off, sold the lot, because the neighbours saw us, came in to see what was going on, and bought some themselves, we keep getting like calls for the next 6 months, sold about 12 units for an hour of the “personal touch” months ago.
Hope this helps
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