Monday Musing 07/11/16:
On Business Advice
As the saying goes, no two snowflakes look alike. Everything in the world is unique, even two animals (for example two goldfish) if closely analyzed are not the same — with some unique features and unique behaviors.
Nonetheless, we can find basic truths. This animal type likes to eat this particular item, live in this climate, and has certain common colors or design.
This is true for everything. One can find certain features of anything that are always (or mostly so) present in a certain thing. A successful business, a great coach, or a bad movie have some similarities amongst all members of their “species”. However, these general rules don’t necessarily tell us enough to actually do anything. I might know a good coffee shop has comfortable seating, fresh coffee, and a good location. But that’s not much more than a dictionary definition. I don’t know how to run a coffee shop now.
It takes a long time to become an expert. There are academics studying one era, one specie, or one person for most of their lives! And there are old business people still learning new tricks.
So what do you do when seeking business advice, knowing it is simply a homework assignment answer within a lifelong degree program. The key is picking up on nuance. General themes can be true and feel useful, but again not so practical in advancing ones actual skills. However when we here a concept that we know with a little twist, we can see that concept more broadly and actually improve.
Let’s conclude with an example.
Business: Strawberry Jam maker
General: Top jam makers advertise on kid or family tv shows or websites.
Nuance: People usually buy food because it tastes good. Jam is more than that. It’s something that is supposed to be in the kitchen. It is a common ingredient of basic fixings like PB&J or toast with jam that are often eaten by children.
Overly Simple Analysis: both of these are generally saying the same thing. Jam is eaten by many kids, purchased not as an immediate consumption but a family kitchen staple.
Intro to looking at the nuance: again, nuance is giving the details to work on the practical. Ok, kids like jam sandwiches. So let’s just find where kids are -an educational website, a school cafeteria and just start advertising our strawberry jam. No, that’s not so simple. Let’s look deeper. Whose buying the jam (parent), what are the associations (childhood), how can this be reflected in the logo, jar (maybe a parent on the jar or a kid, cartoon etc.) There are so many lessons so the first advertising campaign can be a more likely success if one picks up on nuance of the 2nd piece.
