I am a total foodie. I also love craft beers, wine, and top shelf spirits. I’ve spent years exploring, traveling, and educating myself on the things I love. In the process I have noticed 5 things that fine food and drink can teach business owners about designing a successful business.
Ingredients and Process Matter
The best stuff starts with quality ingredients. If your foundation is shaky, you cannot create something truly memorable. What you do with what you have is equally important. The process matters. The end never justifies the means. Cutting corners is not a viable option if you want a truly good product in the end.
Quality doesn’t have to be complex or expensive. In fact simple and intentional is often best (think small-batched, locally and organically grown). The same holds true for service based business owners. You don’t need to be fancy, but you do need to be good.
Subtleties are What Set You Apart
The difference between you and the competition lies in the subtleties. Think about a fine wine. You can drink several different enjoyable cabernets side by side, but the ones that go from good to wow bring the most out of the grapes and the process. You are not a big box chain store. You are in the business of creating experiences. Yes your service needs to be top-notch but you need a little special something to stand out. This is where your uniqueness and the subtleties come in. Learn, claim, and capitalize on them.
[clickToTweet tweet=”You are in the business of creating experiences. via @paulag01″ quote=”You are in the business of creating experiences. “]
Your Ideal Client is NOT “The Masses”
I hear this all the time, particularly when helping clients with website related things. How will the masses find me? They don’t need to. Only your ideal clients need to find you. If you try to please everyone, you will please no one and you will simply vanish into obscurity. Think about iconic brands. They do not appeal to everyone but they do create raving fans with their ideal tribe. Dogfish Head Beer? Definitely challenging on a newbie’s palate, but devotion is fervent among this off-centered tribe. Starbucks practically invented the $3 cup of coffee. People either love or hate them. The devotees are not the same people heading to Wawa for a $.99 cup of caffeine.
All Talent with No Business Savvy Breeds Extinction
Food, art, beverages, services….are all businesses. If you are wanting your endeavor to financially support your life, you must become savvy about the business owner side of things. We all know stories about local businesses that had the best coffee, ice cream or food but then disappear from existence. No matter what service you provide, you are in the business of running a business. If you don’t know your numbers and don’t tend to the fundamentals you won’t be in business for long. Don’t be intimidated by this. With the right help you free yourself up to thrive at what you do best. Remember – you can always delegate what you aren’t good at, but you can never abdicate responsibility for knowing how healthy your business is (or is not).
[clickToTweet tweet=”All Talent with No Business Savvy Breeds Extinction. You can delegate but not abdicate. via @paulag01″ quote=”All Talent with No Business Savvy Breeds Extinction. You can delegate but not abdicate.”]
It’s All About the User’s Emotional Experience
People buy based on how it makes them feel. No one really needs a $3 cup of coffee or an $8 glass of beer or $50 bottle of wine. Yet the quality, experience, and feelings we get from what we do is what we’re really after. Talk to a foodie like me and I can wax poetic about a good cheese or the bouquet of a wine. It’s a multi-sensory experience in savoring. Even if your business is a service that is as far away from this visceral experience as can be (think tax accountant or bookkeeping) – the experience a client has with you is the difference maker. You might not deliver rich chocolaty goodness, but you do offer peace of mind, confidence, or security. You can make a necessary evil pleasant and productive. Always be thinking about your ideal clients’ experience.
Why it Matters…
Now that you are dreaming about that next sip of your favorite beverage or savory bite of food….
This idea of seeing business solutions in everything around me is part of my knack for helping people. My clients are active entrepreneurs who love more than just doing business. Leveraging these ideas about fine food and drink will help you tap into your own innate excellence.
Consider that running your business can be just as satisfying with the right ingredients.
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Fabulous article. Being a foodie too, I can relate to your analogies! And I love your point about outsourcing… you can delegate but not abdicate. I find that a lot of business owners would prefer to abdicate, and then they wonder why their business isn’t doing well.
Thank you Denise! I see people get into big trouble when they either 1)
Put their head in the sand (avoid) or 2) Abdicate. While not a food
analogy, if you think of professional sports or top musicians, we see it
all the time. They abdicate (instead of delegate) all their fiscal responsibilities and then wonder how they could have made $40 million and be destitute.
While not as big sums (typically) for the average business owner… you can’t just turn the oven on and forget about it (circling back to the foodie metaphor)
I love it Paula … I’m not what other foodies would consider a foodie, but I am a beer snob and so many points you made about food/wine (insert beer) here ring true with running a business. It’s all about satisfying your clients … and they are all different. Find out what “notes” of your business will attract the clients you want.