Same = Lame
Last week in my article FYI: Why good coffee doesn’t come in vacuum-packed cans I briefly discussed the necessity of getting past the notion that you have to “follow the rules” set forth by your peers in your business. Since it was a popular article, I decided to put together a follow-up to it this morning. Okay, so it’s basically a fun two-part assignment for you:
a. Please write down every “industry “rule” in your business. Let me help you get started:
- How products/services are designed
- How products/services are priced
- How and products/services are sold
- How products/services are delivered
- How products/services are advertised (I could go on, but you get the idea.)
b. Then, after a day or two, try to figure out how you can quickly defy as many of them as possible.
If you manage to execute this well, chances are you’ll be well rewarded. Not convinced? Fair enough. Consider this: when the first iPhone came out, it did not feature push-button dialling. Even those considered as being significant to the “You’re better off ignoring the competition” movement, people such as Jason Fried, seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea.
Still not convinced? Consider this: “The only way to make real money is to offer the public something entirely new, that has style value as well as substance, and which they cannot get anywhere else.”— Sir James Dyson, Against the Odds: An Autobiography
Image via facesofdesign.com
(I could go on, but you get the idea.)
My 2¢:
Taste Younique. It’s the only way to make real money. (What’s so great about being typical anyway?)
Many businesses are far too constrained by “rules” that are dated and/or dubious (if not 100% imaginary).
Please note: The last statement is not applicable to all kinds of government and other legal regulations that are or may be in place where you run and market your business, which do affect what you do and how you do it. It’s simply aimed at “restrictions” you face in running and marketing your business that are based on peer pressure.
Oct 17, 2012