May Oswald be a mentor to us all

I was reminded of one of my favourite quotes in life when reading through an old travel journal from the mid 90's (before starting Right Sleeve). While on this backpacking trip in Asia, I read voraciously as I was in the right mindset to absorb new ideas. One of the best books I read was Roald Dahl's My Uncle Oswald.

I am a big believer in passion. I know that there are many pragmatic things that get in the way of leading a passionate life ("I have to work at this boring job so I can pay the mortgage", "I would really love to do xyz, but it would be too risky", etc). This is what makes us human - a natural aversion to risk and change.

Any successful person in business, politics, education, and life in general possesses many special attributes. However, without passion for what they do, nothing else really matters. I am not defining success in monetary terms (i.e., a stressed out worker bee who makes $10 million and hates what he/she does is not a successful person). I define it in the joie de vivre sense. If you have passion, everything else comes easily. If you lack passion, the rest is a slog.

Back to Oswald ... the following passage is written from the perspective of Oswald's risk averse nephew:

"I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it at full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be".

From a business sense, look at the most memorable companies in the world (or your neighbourhood) today. Take Starbucks or Google on the world stage or how about the kookie, irreverent local coffee shop in your neighbourhood. A friend of mine, Cam Heaps, started the Steam Whistle brewing company in Toronto because he was (white hot) passionate about beer. The rest is history. He has built a solid business while competing against the monster breweries and the multitude of craft labels in Canada. His passion drives the business day in and day out, against all sorts of odds. Without passion, I shudder to think where Cam would be today.

May Oswald be a mentor to us all.

The Peameal Incident.

I am a regular shopper at a local farmers market in Toronto called the St Lawrence Market. Every Saturday, the market turns into a bustling exchange similar to what one might encounter in Europe or Asia. People yell, sell, cajole, promote, swear, etc etc. It's great. It is a place where people celebrate the concept of "small is big." The shops are small, but they are big on experience. As Tara Hunt aptly says, the St Lawrence Market is a place where the boutique generation would congregate.

One of the main draws at the market is the famous Peameal Bacon sandwich (see at top). Picture slabs of peameal, some mustard, onions, black pepper, and tomatoes sandwiched between 2 pieces of kaiser bun. The Peameal. Pretty simple.

Almost everyone in the market sells this famous sandwich. Not too much to it, you think ... so why not buy from the cheapest vendor? Well, this is exactly what I did as a market newbie many years ago. I bought from a place called the Sausage King - for about 25% less than the crowded place across the aisle - Paddington's Pump. On account of price, I gravitated to Sausage King (why would I buy the same thing across the aisle for 25% more ... who do they think they are?)

For about 2 years, I put up with surly service, an inconsistent product (sometimes too fatty, sometimes a little cheap on the # of pieces of bacon, sometimes served with a day old bun, sometimes drowning in mustard), the same server who always forgot my order week to week, the same server who could never understand "grapefruit juice" despite it being front and center in their cooler (week after week after week). Despite this, I persisted ... always justifying the mediocre experience by the cost savings.

About 6 months ago, Sausage King raised their prices! Now they were only 10% cheaper than Paddington's, but it pushed me over the edge. How could they? They're not worth it! I bailed. I joined the line at Paddington's. I gave my order to the pot bellied and unshaven proprietor - who was even surlier and scarier than the Sausage King woman. However, he has a charm - much like the Soup Nazi in the Seinfeld episode has charm. He got the order right, gave the right change, and moved us along quickly ... and I loved the way he shouted "PEEAAMEAL" to the kitchen. The Sausage King woman was just plain dreary, and none too swift.

I forked out the extra cash and then gave the condiment order to an efficient assistant who got it right ... without having to ask for clarification 5 times. They also serve grapefruit juice and reach for it as soon as I request it.

The new sandwich is glorious! Worth at least twice the Sausage King offering! It has more meat, the bacon is grilled vs steamed. The kaiser bun is always fresh. The amount of mustard applied is just right. The experience is perfect. What was I thinking before? My 2.5 year son Matty also approves - I can hardly get it to my mouth before he pounces on it.

The lessons?

- When you are good, you can charge a premium, and you should.
- When you are good, you will attract the right customers - the ones who value experience and quality first, not price.
- When you are good, you continue to have line-ups when the inferior cheaper guy across the aisle will be twiddling his/her thumbs (or dealing with the price hagglers).
- When you are good, you don't fake it. If you are surly and efficient, then revel in it. Don't pretend to be something you aren't. Customers will eventually find out and punish you for deceiving them.
- Know what you are good at, focus on it, perfect it and customers will come in throngs.
- When you are NOT SO good, you have nothing else to compete on other than price.

Top Ten Learnings from 2006

Happy New Year!!

2006 has been a quite a year for learning. I am a big fan of reading, attending conferences and speaking to people much smarter than me. Over the course of 12 months, I have spent some time jotting down the 10 most profound business ideas I have gleaned from others.

1. Embrace simplicity. Make it really easy for your customers. (Google)

2. Focus on the remarkable ("Purple Cow", Seth Godin)

" It is a plea for originality, for passion, guts, and daring. Not just because going through life with passion and guts beats the alternative (which it does), but also because it's the only way to be successful. Today, the one sure way to fail is to be boring. Your one chance for success is to be remarkable."

3. You are only as good as your team (Howard Schultz, Starbucks)

4. Two guiding principles I teach my 2 young sons can also be applied in a business setting:

(i) Respect others
(ii) Be interesting and interested.
[in that order]

I maintain that there is a lot in common between running a business and raising a family. Entrepreneurs, in particular, look at their businesses much in the same way that non-entrepreneurs look at their children. As such, there are similar guiding values that work for both.

(i) In business, we have a responsibility to others, be it to clients, vendors, employees (even the competition!). Without a deep respect for others, the foundation on which you are building your business is shaky at best.

(ii) To stand out, your business must be interesting and unique. You need to challenge the status quo in order to differentiate yourself. Otherwise, you just blend in with the crowd. But there are too many people that are interesting, but lack an interest in others. A business in the 21st century must maintain an interest in the world around them. Too much time looking in the mirror is never a good thing.

5. Give your clients a voice. Consumers are in charge now in way that has not been seen in the past. Web 2.0 has dramatically changed how we do business and interact with companies of all sizes. Feedback and criticism is instantaneous on the web. No one can hide now.

6. Be focused. What do you want to be remembered for?

7. Distribution is the ultimate determinant of a firm's value. He/she who can develop a platform that will engage their audience and attract traffic off/online will win. Just look at how much Google, Yahoo, and News Corp valued distribution when they bought YouTube, flickr and MySpace, respectively.

8. Stand out. Don't be scared to step out of line. Seth Godin drove this home in the Purple Cow.

"So it seems that we face two choices: Either be invisible, uncriticized, anonymous, and safe or take a chance at true greatness, uniqueness, and the Purple Cow"

9. The rewards go to those who can think in the future, not the present. Everything you do should be evaluated by how your decision today will affect the future.

10. Customer experience is everything (Mark Hurst)