I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Off the Beaten Path
Hi Reader,
This past July 4th weekend, one of the guys who works in my apartment building jokingly said to me, "I think we're the only two people left in the building this holiday weekend."
I've never, personally, enjoyed traveling on holidays. Sitting in traffic. Waiting in long lines. Feeling like part of a crowd.
It's not for me.
Instead, I like to look at the mass exodus of holiday travel as a unique opportunity—especially here in New York—to enjoy the more relaxed pace and unique opportunities that suddenly open up.
Such as, reservations at popular restaurants, elusive tickets to shows or exhibitions, and shorter queues pretty much everywhere.
This particular weekend, I scored a prime bench in my neighborhood park, an ice cream with no waiting at a place that is always mobbed, and breezed through the checkout at both a grocery store and a clothing store one after the other.
Heavenly.
As I wandered around my decidely emptier neighborhood, I realized how good it can be to buck the trend, defy conventional wisdom, and follow one's own path.
That's as true in life as it is in business.
Admittedly, sometimes you hit pay dirt, and often you just hit the dirt.
But, there's supreme satisfaction in knowing you tried something different and a ton of learning to boot.
After all, experimentation breeds innovation, and innovation is what businesses need to continually grow and stay ahead of the curve.
That's why all the big players in the marketplace invest in research and development and/or innovation labs.
As small businesses, we can't afford to invest big bucks in long-term experiments, but we can't afford not to experiment at all.
Running discreet experiments in our marketing, offers, pricing, messaging, and more can teach us so much about our customers, our value, our business and pricing models, our competitive advantage, and our resilency, among other things.
So, my question to you is: When was the last time you pursued an idea in your business because it was what you wanted to do, or because you were curious to see what happened...
And not because it was the right thing to do, or the conventional thing to do, or just "the thing to do?"
Don't be shy. Reply to this message with your latest or best experiment. I'd love to hear about it!
PS - Need help figuring out what and how to test things in your business? Let's talk.
PPS - Missed last week's Prep for Success? Why not catch up?
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Your success is our strategy!
Easily Said & Done
I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
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