I really think that's the way to go.
An analogy is my writing. When I have taken creative writing classes or joined 'creative writing' clubs, people have tended to judge my work through the eyes of others, that is, whether my work is likely to be 'publishable.' However, when I have gone to an event where I have directly read my work to the members of the general public, people have tended to like it. My creativity has worked in my favor.
And I think it's the same for a business. If you selling, say, photocopy services and running an in-house photocopy center to a large corporation, the purchaser is going to judge you by 'normalist' standards, that is, by how he or she thinks you're likely to be perceived by co-workers and executives in the corporation. And usually, they're going to end up playing it safe.
If, on the other hand, you start a walk-in photocopy center, people are going to like quirkiness, creativity, being different, uniqueness, keeping it real. At least many, many people will. And they're not going to be so concerned about what other people think.
A classic example is restaurants. People like restaurants that our different. But please be advised that a restaurant is a notoriously difficult business. 80% or more of new restaurants fail, the biggest cause being "undercapitalization," you just don't have enough money to really start it. Even people who like it might only come every couple of weeks, so it might take nine months, a year, to build enough of a clientele to start turning a regular profit.
But the general idea, pick a business that is likely to have many small- and medium-purchasers, I think is a valid general idea.
12 Jun 2009, 1:44 pm
