WHY NOT HAVING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS FROM THE START CAN HURT YOUR BUSINESS DREAM

Having an innovative business dream may be great in today’s competition, but it’s not everything.  Yes, it may be true in certain circumstances that “where you end up matters in contrast to where you begin”, but not anymore, at least in business.  Creating and establishing a blue ocean strategy and achieving an exponential growth rate, along with flawless timing is what can give a startup the chance to maintain leadership in a niche, in contrast to an idea that may offer more value, yet lack the brand awareness and loyalty that it has missed out on.  Establishing a startup’s story and brand, the ability to take their followers and clients on an emotional journey, and helping their team become inspired to grow in a corporate culture are keys to getting that growth rate and landing one’s company on Inc. Magazine’s top 500.
 
Let’s take the branding of Starbucks, for example.  Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz states that “Starbucks represents something beyond a cup of coffee”.  He is stating that Starbucks doesn’t just sell coffee.  They sell an experience.  Each and every single employee at Starbucks is part of a team in the customer service industry; not just selling coffee to consumers.  How can Starbucks give your startup insight and a lesson on how to quickly improve your growth rate?  The firm prides itself on constant transparency in their corporate culture and in realizing that customer service is more important than just giving out coffee.  The moment a customer walks in the door, the environment is crafted to welcome the customer, in contrast to a typical fast-food restaurant.  Desserts are set at the front, accompanied by coffee sold seasonally to communicate to the consumer that new products and improvements are always being analyzed, improved upon, or mitigated.
 
In order to take your clients on an emotional journey, it is critical to understand who your clients are.  Yes, casting a “wide net” may seem like the right strategy at first.  Customers begin to inquire, call in, or even take on your product or service.  Later though, this tactic does not maintain customer-to-client relationships and as time goes by, may confuse the founder on how best to navigate to make certain customers happy.  It is better then to be extremely specific on one type of customer.  What makes this customer feel passion?  Where are their selling pain points?  Are you consistently trying to avoid their pain points because of avoidance behavior, when in reality you are just selling your services and skills short?  The only way to convince customers to buy from you is to be real, specific, and certain that the value you are offering them will make their lives better, and if they don’t buy now, they will regret it and fall behind.
 
The gift to inspire others and to value inspiration on an ongoing business will help you attract the team of your dreams, raise transparency, and will focus your team’s motivation on intrinsic desires, in contrast to extrinsic desires.  CEO Tony Hsieh says “Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion”, which sparks inspiration, helps identify the true passions in each team member, and offers a mindset for the startup to improve the company’s mission and values with a dynamic focus.  Most of the startups that have succeeded understand the power of giving to their following and to their networks.  This offers startups that possess similar corporate cultures to form alliances and to quickly identify which investors to take funding from and which to avoid.  In certain situations, it is better to reign in on growth only if the corporate culture is deeply-rooted into place.  Other times, it may be the smarter decision to turn down extra funding from an ambitious investor, especially if they only value the business from its current