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Assumptions are the enemy. Do you really know why your customers buy from you? Are you sure they aren't buying from your competitors too? Do you know what your customer's buying criteria is and how they evaluate who gets their dollars?

Most business owners and sales professionals will answer "Yes" to these questions. But I say "What you know ain't necessarily so".  And getting it wrong is very expensive and can make the difference between going to the bank and going out of business.

 

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“Necessity, who is the mother of invention” – Plato     
By Bijoy Goswami

As a business owner, I’m sure you are familiar with a very uncomfortable situation where everyone in the business is committed fulltime, success is within reach, but the venture has yet to be come profitable. Cash flow (or lack thereof) becomes all consuming in the entrepreneur’s mind.

At Bootstrap Austin we call this the “Valley of Death” (VoD), and it can be an intimidating and scary place. Many times, the desire to avoid it causes many entrepreneurs to prematurely seek funding from investors hoping to propel the venture over the VoD with minimal pain both for the founders and the venture.

But that would be the wrong thing to do. The concept of funding too early belies a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of constraints in the innovation process.

Constraints are not the enemy – they are the ally of the venture. They cause it to innovate and ultimately, to discover its unique business model.

In the early days of Southwest Airlines, the lack of cash caused the company to sell one of its four airplanes. Instead of viewing this as a step backwards or seeking investor capital to solve the problem, the team asked themselves a question they had never asked before, “How can we deliver the same rate schedule with three airplanes as we did with four?”

They noticed the hour-and-a-half turnaround time (an “industry standard”) and wondered if they could reduce that down significantly. This led to the many innovations – only using Boeing 767s, flight attendants cleaning the aircraft, etc. – that today give Southwest the shortest turnaround time in the industry. Notice, for example, the urgency you feel to board a Southwest flight because of the free seating and A/B/C categorization. Unlike other airlines, Southwest has their passengers helping to speed up the turnaround of their airplanes!

Many other examples abound: Virgin’s move from a mail-order music business to retail stores came from the constraint of a postal worker strike in pre-Thatcher Britain. The transporters from Star Trek (inspiring the phrase “Beam me up Scotty!”), were invented because the production company didn’t have the funds to make the sets. Dell’s direct business model emerged from the lack of money to buy the parts when making computers.

The list goes on and on.

It bears repeating: constraint creates innovation. Indeed, the great ventures discover their business models by directly facing the constraints they experience during that first VoD. This also reveals the issue with formulating a “business plan” in the Ideation stage of a venture. After all, how do you know your market if you haven’t proven it yet?

Yes, VoDs are repeating themes in the life of every business—and it means that Growth stage could be just around the corner.  So the next time you are asking yourself, “how am I possibly going to make this work?” Just realize that companies that learn to embrace their various “valleys of death” eventually propel their ideas into growth and profit.

And without it, it might not happen at all.

Bijoy Goswami is the founder of the Bootstrap Network which celebrates its 4yr anniversary this July. Bootstrap offers an online course on Bootstrapping at: www.bootstrapbootcamp.com. He can be reached at bijoy AT aviri DOT com.

 

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DriveBuy Technologies has developed a proprietary SMS (text message) marketing platform that allows companies to advertise their products and services via mobile telephone in order to fuel sales growth and build customer loyalty.  “We have initially created mobile marketing solutions for the real estate industry, which we discuss on the Austin Business District radio show”, says Dylan Schleppe, President and co-Founder of DriveBuy.

“The reality is that the majority of real estate buyers are looking at properties when agents aren’t around”, says Schleppe. “Information tubes are rarely filled with flyers, which leaves buyers frustrated and wanting information.  For agents, printing flyers for each property and restocking them at each location is inconvenient and expensive.  Additionally, when agents field calls from prospects about properties, they are repeatedly asked the same questions about price, square footage and amenity details.    DriveBuy Technologies’ state-of-the-art real estate mobile marketing system solves these problems by generating more leads for agents and by answering basic property information for buyers through automation, which saves agents a tremendous amount of time.”

DriveBuy’s service works by allowing prospective buyers to text message a property code on the realty yard sign. The buyer immediately receives detailed information about the property on their mobile telephone, including detailed specifications, pricing, virtual tours, and the selling agent’s contact information.   Agents immediately receive a lead via their mobile phone when buyers text message the selling agent’s property.  The lead contains the contact information of the prospect and the details about the property that is being inquired upon. 

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John McClellan and Kevin Bown to appear on the Business District Hour
Hosts of Real Estate 101 and Mortgage 101 talk about doing business in the real estate industry
Austin – Business District Magazine today announced that its guest for Sunday, August 10 at 3:00 on Talk 1370 AM will be John McClellan, owner of Team McClellan, a top-ten mortgage brokerage in Central Texas, and Kevin Bown, Realtor, Goodwin Partners. McClellan and Bown host Real Estate 101 and Mortgage 101 on Talk 1370 A.M. and will be appearing on the Business District Hour to talk about what it takes to be in the real estate business and offer their expertise.

“Kevin and I are excited about being on the Business District Hour,” said John McClellan, host of Real Estate 101. “On our show, we primarily talk about the real estate market and provide tips on investing, hot and cold areas of town, and what the macro market looks like—but we never get to talk about how our business works, and what you can expect when you go through the real estate process.”

“John and Kevin have provided a lot of insight into the real estate market and its effects on the Austin market,” said Jason Myers, publisher and editor of Business District Magazine. “We be asking our guests a number of questions about their businesses, such as how they built it, what the customer experience looks like, and how their business has changed, and pass along that knowledge to our listeners.”

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Austin – Business District Publishing, LLC, publisher of Business District Magazine, today announced that its guest for Business District Hour, Sunday, August 5th at 3 p.m. CST. will be Jim Comer, author of  When Roles Reverse: A Guide to Parenting Your Parents. Callers with questions for Jim can call (512) 390-1370 during the show and ask questions.

Comer's book chronicles his journey through the emotional and practical challenges of becoming his parents' caregiver. When his father suffered a massive stroke and his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Comer found himself an overnight parent at the age of fifty-one. In almost 11 years of care-giving, he has learned how to deal with hospitals and nursing homes, replace hearing aid batteries and come to terms with his mother's dementia. In the process, he found kindness and laughter in unexpected places and forged a deeper, more intimate relationship with his parents.

“Most people are not prepared for the challenges that is thrust upon them when their parents become unable to care for themselves,” said Jason Myers, co-host of the Business District Hour and publisher of Business District Magazine. “We plan to talk with Jim about issues he faced with his parents and how others in the same situation can prepare. We welcome call-ins with questions for Jim Comer at 390-1370, and we will be giving away copies of his book.”
Show Sponsor

Jim Comer’s appearance on the Business District Hour is brought to you by Wesleyan Homes, an inclusive ministry of Christ with older adults through the people of the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church serving Georgetown and Central Texas since 1962. The Wesleyan provides independent Retirement Living at The Wesleyan Retirement Center on University Dr.,  and Nursing Care, Alzheimer's Care and Rehabilitation Therapies at The Wesleyan Nursing Center on Scenic Dr.  A New Retirement Campus is under construction  on Williams Dr. and will be called The Wesleyan at Estrella. (512) 863-2528 www.wesleyanhomes.org

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Business District Hour on Talk Radio 1370. Sundays from 3-4pm every sinday! Where our issues are your issues.

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Business District Hour on Talk Radio 1370. Sundays from 3-4pm every sinday! Where our issues are your issues.

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Business District Hour on Talk Radio 1370. Sundays from 3-4pm Where our issues are your issues.

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Business District Hour on Talk Radio 1370. Sundays from 3-4pm  Where our issues are your issues.

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Business District Hour on Talk Radio 1370. Sundays from 3-4pm Where our issues are your issues.

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Business District Hour on Talk Radio 1370. Sundays from 3-4pm! Where our issues are your issues.

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Business District Hour on Talk Radio 1370. Sundays from 3-4pm  Where our issues are your issues.

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Business District Hour on Talk Radio 1370. Sundays from 3-4pm every sinday! Where our issues are your issues.

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Business District Hour on Talk Radio 1370. Sundays from 3-4pm  Where our issues are your issues.

Download | Duration: 00:43:20

Business District Hour on Talk Radio 1370. Sundays from 3-4pm  Where our issues are your issues.

Download | Duration: 00:41:05