Every Company Needs a Good Map

• Where did you get the idea?
• Where did you get the money?
• Who did you go to for advice?
• How long did it take to get going?
• How many hours a week do you work?

The one question I pay particular attention to, "What is the biggest thing you did not think of before you started?" Many respondents did not anticipate the hours required. A few were unprepared for regulatory issues or the appearance of large competitors so soon. Most of the responses deal with a lack of awareness about how much marketing it would take or how much a company has to spend to generate the level of awareness required to be profitable.

The lack of marketing awareness says they did not listen to, or approach, the right people for advice about starting a business. Ask every successful business owner and they will tell you that brand building is one of the critical functions of a company. Intentionally, or unintentionally, everything you do is building your brand. It may be adding or taking away, but it never leaves it where it was.

People who want to just jump right in and begin selling want to act as if they have already built the brand and so they can skip that step. They want to jump into the middle without paying the price or putting in the time to set the proper foundation. The story of the "Three Little Pigs" covers this issue quite well. A poorly constructed house will not provide the shelter or security when trouble arises. In business, trouble always arises. For some interesting examples read, "Founders at Work." I keep mine handy for short reads since each chapter is very brief.

Many companies try to create a cheap version, or test versions of a product, with the hope that they can sell enough to afford to make a better version. That can work when the item is so new, or the benefit so great, that any version is better than what existed before. This is usually rare in comparison to the number of "new" products that are made each year. Most products are minor improvements or cheaper me-too versions of previously available products. Furniture made from quality wood with properly fitted joints lasts much longer than furniture made from cheap pine and held together with nail gun staples.

My wife often asks why I work as hard on the back of a piece of furniture as I do on the front. I do this because I want people who look at the back to see that I took pride and extra effort in the work that I did. Not all prospective buyers will investigate your company in depth. Many will want to look around your website and literature. The detail that you provide there is like the back of the piece of furniture, it reveals your attention to detail. Good work builds confidence in the mind of the customer. (The picture to the right is by woodworking hero: Norm Abram of the New Yankee Workshop.)

What steps do you see most people trying to skip?