How To Find A Market: Be Remarkable

Last week, I had one of the most memorable “eating experiences” of my life. Note the use of experience rather than meal, because that’s exactly what it was, an experience. I’ll be thinking about this dinner for a while, and it was the inspiration for the essay you’re reading now.

The restaurant business is tough. According to an Ohio State study, 80% of new restaurants fail in the first five years. The margins are thin, competition is high, and the work is tedious. What could possibly go wrong?

If you’re looking to differentiate, add more value

A marketer’s job is to inspire your confidence, loyalty, and behavior, ultimately plowing a path to the bottom line. Lots of ad money is spent dismissing the competition to make products look better. But manipulating the minds of customers isn’t the only way to make a profit. Sure, you might improve short-term sales, but that’s like adding growth hormones to vegetables, there are long-term side effects.

Instead of investing time on things you can’t control, why not focus on what you can: the value you provide. The restaurant was remarkable because of the ubiquitous unbelievable attention to detail. So much effort, concentration, and care went into creating an enjoyable meal. I didn’t feel like a sucker for an ad, I was genuinely having a wonderful time.

Why more value isn’t obvious

Providing more value to your customers might sound like a no-brainer, but I assure you, most people won’t go the extra mile. Why, because it’s hard. Instead we settle for “good enough”. After all, it’s not our name on the brand or product, and one cut corner won’t hurt. Good enough might satisfy, but it will rarely wow a customer. If you want to differentiate yourself, choose the way of remarkable value.

Summary

There’s a lot of psychological research on reciprocity. It seems as though people are wired to return what they receive. E.g. you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, etc. Ordinary businesses offer minimum value at maximum prices. In return, they end up looking like every other business. Conversely, remarkable businesses deliver extraordinary value for what they charge (note: not all value is monetary).

My thesis is that there’s always room in the market for someone willing to provide remarkable value. Creating a sustainable model to deliver said value is difficult, but it’s well worth the effort. After all, what are businesses for, if not to serve customers. My experience last week reminded me what it feels like to actually be cared for by a company, an all too rare occurrence. The lesson: go the extra mile and you might be surprised to find you’re the only one still running.

Not My Fault

Last weekend I rode my bike to the park and passed a young boy wearing an awesome baseball uniform. I mean, he had it all, the pants, the hat, the jersey - really looking the part of a future pro. Then it occurred, at his age, there’s only one thing stopping us from the major leagues, time.

When we’re ten, all we want to do is speed things up. “If only I were older,” we whine. “I’ll be in the major leagues, smacking it out of the park, just wait and see!” Unfortunately, for most of us, that never happens. SOMETHING between the ages of ten and whatever you are now (assuming you’re not a professional ball player) gets in the way of that dream.

The ironic part, is that when we’re older, we wish we were young again. That way, we’d have more time to practice. Ain't that somethin'. I’ve been digging into why scenarios like this happen, and I keep discovering that no matter the conditions, there’s always an excuse to be made.

You see, if you wait for perfect conditions (no such thing) you WILL miss your opportunity. You heard me, it will pass you by faster than you can say the word “gone”. Look, there it went.

The psychology behind excuses is simple. If it’s out of our control, the failure can’t possibly be our fault and boy do we hate being inadequate or wrong. If we’re not good enough for the pro leagues now, it must be because we’re too young, and when we’re older and stronger, then we’ll be ready! Or if we’re not happy with our body, it’s probably because there just isn’t enough time to work out, and when there’s more time, then we’ll lose that weight.

This happens to me constantly. When I think I should write, I get distracted. I’ll start that article as soon as I finish checking my Facebook updates. Two hours later… “Oh yeah! I’m supposed to be writing now. Oops, well now it’s time to eat. Maybe tomorrow.” Sigh. At a larger scale, this is what happens to us in life. We get distracted by other people, things, gossip, work, etc. Then we forget what we came here to do in the first place, and by the time we remember, there’s not enough time, and we’re full of regret because we realize we should have been working.

Good News

There’s hope. You don’t have to end up holding excuses and regret. When you actually TAKE OWNERSHIP of your dreams and goals, and get to work, excuses magically crop up less and less. Goals are like a magnets, pulling us stronger as we get closer. If you’re too small or weak for the major leagues now, that’s no excuse, it’s a condition you must work with.

Conditions aren’t always fair. Some people do have it easier, but identifying inequalities won’t help, working on them will. You always have the choice to give it your best effort. That’s all anyone can ask, and if you find yourself in a situation wishing for better circumstances, ask what you can do about it NOW.

I hope that kid in his baseball uniform makes it to the major leagues some day and time really is the only obstacle in his way. The truth is that the dreams of life don’t work unless we do. You’ve got to chip away every day, regardless of how much it hurts, how stupid you look, or how many people take offense. There will always be an excuse for why we can’t do something, whether we accept it, is entirely our decision.