I am asked about my entrepreneurial journey a lot. It seems that far more people are interested in starting their own business than ever sail their own entrepreneur ship. If you are considering starting your own business, either as a side hustle or as your main hustle, here are 4 things that I have done that I highly encourage you to do too.
1. I Took Action.
Everyone has a dream. And I dreamed of starting my own advertising agency for a long time. But to actually start your own business you have to move beyond dreaming to doing. Starting in the fall of 2015 I took an endless series of small actions that led me to today. My business, The Weaponry, will turn 8 years old next month. So if you want to make sure you don’t die with your dream still inside you, take action to make it real. (Also look both ways before you cross the street.)
As a professional creative thinker, I take lots of risks with idea exploration. However, I am fiscally conservative. I have been cautious with our expenditures, our office space and our staffing size. I have been conservative about leaving cash in the business, versus taking it home as part of my return. As a result, The Weaponry has strong reserves to outlast downturns. This was a key reason I didn’t panic at the disco in 2020 during the Covid Cray Cray Fest.
3. I Planted Seeds.
Business development is critical to creating a pipeline of opportunities. Over the years I have stayed in touch with old friends. I’ve made one hundred billion new friends. I have had phone conversations, chocolate milk meetings and lunches. I have volunteered my time. I have guest lectured and given talks. I write a blog. I wrote a book called What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? I co-wrote a book titled The Culture Turnaroundwith Jeff Hilimire. I have given interviews and served on committees and boards.
All of those things are like planting seeds. You never know when they will sprout or what they will turn into. So keep planting seeds and watch what happens, with Andy Cohen.
4. I Delivered
The best source of new business is a happy client. And you develop happy clients by delivering for them. (Especially if you are an obstetrician, or a milkman.) The Weaponry has grown by keeping our clients happy and expanding our work with them. We are also expanding by having happy clients leave for great new jobs and bringing us with them to their new companies. I have a really great team. And I appreciate all that they do for our clients. It is why we are still here, and still growing strong.
Key Takeaway:
To develop a successful business you have to take action. Without action, you are just a dreamer. You have to save money so that you are prepared to weather the storms that will surely come. You must keep planting seeds by creating and nurturing relationships and providing value to others. Then you must deliver the goods. Nothing grows a business like happy customers. None of it is easy. And none of it is that hard. It is simply the price you have to pay to get what you want in life.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
I have been thinking a lot about my Pivotal Days lately. Last week I shared a post about the importance of knowing your Pivotal Days. These are the days that have the biggest impact on your career and your life. They are the days that alter your path and your trajectory. And perhaps your tax bracket, zip code and Wikipedia page.
The reason it is so important to know your Pivotal Days is that they help you develop wisdom. Wisdom does not come from experience. It comes from reflecting on your experience. When you analyze your past you learn and grow. By reflecting on your most positively impactful days you learn how to create more of them. Because success leaves clues. Just like bad criminals. #BlackLeatherGlove
Reflecting on my Pivotal Days has taught me the following:
Take action. My advertising career started when I literally got off the couch and made a phone call. I stopped overthinking and procrastinating. I dialed 10 numbers. And my life changed. Boom.
Ask For What You Want. It’s a very simple premise. But it opens more doors than you can imagine. (Unless you have a really good imagination, in which case it opens all those doors that you can accurately imagine.)
Prepare for your opportunities. Not all of the magic happens on the Pivotal Days. Preparation fuels dreams. In many cases, you have to do the hard work ahead of time. So when the opportunity arises on those big days, you are ready to shine bright like a diamond.
Take Risks. Sometimes the gold is on the other side of the gap, and you have to risk the leap to get it. This happens when you take a new job, become an entrepreneur, make an investment, write a book or ask that special someone for a date. Especially when that special someone is a co-worker and it would be super awkward if it didn’t work out. (But it did work out.)
Bet On Yourself. You have to believe that you are the pivot point. You are the secret ingredient. That you have the superpower. That you have the invisible key to unlock success. When you believe that you are the difference maker you should go all in on your abilities. There is no safer bet in the world than to bet on yourself. Because you can stack the deck in your favor through your hard work, determination and resiliency.
Enthusiasm Matters. There have been several pivotal moments in my life and my career when my enthusiasm got others excited. They bought into a vision because I was so bought in. They believed that I had both the right vision and the energy to make the vision come true. Be that person. Energy is contagious. Like yawns. And giggles in church.
Key Takeaway
Know your pivotal days. Reflect on them. Understand what contributed to them. Because when you understand the causes of your pivotal days you can create more of them.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Super Bowl LVIII is in the books. The game was good. Especially if you like overtime. And long field goals. Usher got a passing grade. But more importantly, there were plenty of good commercials for the Chiefs and 49ers to play football around.
Today there will be a lot of talk about what commercial was the best. Which is a silly debate. Because if you like a commercial you saw yesterday, remember it today, and are now considering purchasing something from that advertiser, they won. Although, it’s hard to purchase a Jesus.
So rather than pick one winner. Here is a set of 10 winning Super Bowl advertisers and their commercials that made me like their product, service or brand more today than I did before the game.
10 Commercials That Won Me OverDuring the Super Bowl
Reese’s: Yes! (Caramel)
This spot announcing that Reese’s now has peanut butter cups topped with caramel was amazing. The message was simple and compelling to people who like such things. (And I like such things.) The extreme reactions to the announcement was hilarious. At my house, we rewound the commercial to watch all of the reactions several times. We paused the spot to take in all that was happening within the featured living room. If you haven’t done the same, do it now. Great job offering a cool new SKU Reece’s. And thanks for the head through the wall, the hula-hooping dog, and the duct tape on the coffee table. I saw it all.
Google Pixel 8: Javier In Frame
This was a cool and compelling technology introduction. But it quickly became a great story about how technology can impact your life. It was a sweet love story that couldn’t have been captured on camera, until now. It’s always risky running a touching Super Bowl spot, rather than a can’t-miss football-to-the-groin commercial. But you pulled it off nicely Googs. And now I think that you are really trying to make the world a better place, not just selling me search terms.
Poppi Soda. The Future of Soda is Now
Soda pop has not been a growing market for years. Teas, waters and flavored seltzers have become more sensible replacements. But Poppi Soda has a new and refreshing take on the category. And they used the Super Bowl as a stage to say that soda pop doesn’t have to be what it once was, Pony Boy. I tried my first Poppi Soda yesterday, and I loved it. It was exactly what I wish soda pop was. Low sugar. But not no sugar. (Honey-honey.) We may look back at this Super Bowl as the catapult that launched a significant soda pop shift. If so, I hope this blog post makes it into the National Soda Pop History Museum, which I assume is in Minnesoda.
Etsy: Gift Mode
This spot looked the part of an epic period piece spoof. The commercial captured the moment when France sent The United States The Statue of Liberty. It was hilarious. The spot reveals that the recipients, Americans, now felt put out that they had to send a thank-you gift to France. But they found the perfect gift, a handmade cheeseboard, on Etsy, thanks to the new Gift Mode.They don’t fully explain how gift mode works. But I feel like I should check it out because France was sure happy with their gift.
Pluto TV: Couch Potato Farms
This commercial for Pluto TV was funny and attention-getting. It utilized the perfect Super Bowl commercial formula: simple premise + epic execution + humor = memoralikability. In this case, Pluto TV shared that they have so much great content, that they create perfect conditions for couch potatoes. Plus they dropped the line, ‘I like romantic murder.’ The writing, direction, acting and potato costumes were excellent. Pluto TV is now on my radar. 24 hours ago it wasn’t.
Verizon: Can’t B Broken with Beyoncé
This is a great message that while it is possible to break the internet, you can’t break the Verizon network. Even with Beyoncé. Or Bar Bey. And if she can’t break it, it can’t be broken. Now that’s reliabilité.
Uber Eats: Don’t Forget.
Uber Eats presents a fun and funny concept that if you want to remember that Uber Eats delivers practically anything, you need to forget something else. And when you do, hilarity ensues. But be warned, you just might forget your friends and your pants. This spot definitely helped me remember that Uber Eats can help me deliver a lotta stuff. Mission accomplished. However, now I have forgotten what punctuation I am supposed to use to end a sentence
Tacoma. Dareful Handle
The all-new 2024 Toyota Tacoma is more powerful and therefore more adventurous than ever. The Tacoma has done a good job of positioning itself as a badass truck, so that as an import, it can compete with our homegrown Chevys, Fords, GMCs and Rams. This spot does a nice job of conveying Tacoma’s performance by highlighting what I have always known as the ‘Oh Shit Handle’. The message came across loud, clear and funny: the Tacoma will really go. And you can scare the poo out of passengers with its performance. Yee Haw!
Disney Plus: Well Said.
This beautifully simple commercial didn’t cost much to make. In fact, your local insurance agent probably could have afforded to produce it. (The media buy is a whole different issue.) The spot shared the classic lines from content you will find on Disney+. It was a reminder that many of the best movies and the best lines that have become ingrained in our culture are found on Disney+. It’s also ironic that Disney, the greatest creator of epic entertainment in history, would create a Super Bowl commercial that could have been produced on a typewriter. Ding.
This clip wasn’t from the Super Bowl. But you get the idea.
Roller Skates. Usher.
While roller skates didn’t have an actual commercial during the Super Bowl, Usher rocking the rollers during the halftime show was a great ad for these icons of the 1970s and 80s. I bet Moon Boots are totally jelly right now. I’m going to look into skating next weekend. Maybe enter the limbo contest. And I’m going to couple skate with my wife Dawn under that disco ball while Madonna’s Crazy For You plays. (If you want to listen to my favorite roller skating songs of all time check out my Roller Skating Playlist on Spotify.) Thanks Usher. You remind me…
Key Takeaway
There wasn’t an individual commercial that won the Super Bowl. The win is having your commercial in front of 100 million people and having a huge part of the audience like your spot, understand what you are advertising, believe that it is relevant to them, and remember the brand the next day. That’s how advertising helps businesses grow every day. Even when your ads are not on the Super Bowl. Marketers should settle for nothing less.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
A great business is simply a collection of great people running a great process. But what makes people great, and thus collectible, is certainly a topic of debate. I am sure you have your own trait that you think makes you a valuable addition to a team. You advertise this special trait in job interviews. You are organized. Or ENERGETIC! Or cReAtIve. Or not easily bored…
Throughout my career, I have spent a lot of time interviewing job candidates. And there’s one trait I have heard people brag about more than all others. I couldn’t possibly count how many times I’ve heard people proudly state, ‘I am a perfectionist.’ This proclamation makes me want to throw up. Because if you are looking for creative thinkers and problem solvers, perfection works against you.
That’s why I proudly consider myself an Imperfectionist. So what does that mean? It means I value progress in any form. I am quite comfortable dreaming up and then sharing half-baked ideas. Or writing a first draft and passing it around for a reaction. Why? Because unbaked and half-baked ideas are available faster than fully-baked ideas. And typically, a team simply needs a ‘for-instance’ to get moving in the right direction.
I enjoy sharing ideas that are still in a moldable state. (But not a moldy state.) Sharing wet-clay ideas enables others to help form, modify and improve them before they’re finished. As an Imperfectionist, I embrace the process of creating, testing, learning and improving.
Today, speed is king. In the advertising agency business, we need to act quickly to help our clients take advantage of short-lived opportunities and thwart threats. This puts a premium on quick thinking. It’s why I like swift action as much as Travis Kelce does.
We no longer live in an era that rewards you for sitting alone in your office, with your Swingline, making sure your ideas are bulletproof before you share them.
Now don’t get me wrong. Once our team has determined a direction and we move into the execution phase, every detail matters. (Because you hate to get an execution wrong…) I will question the kerning, analyze the delivery of a line, and poke at a transition in an edit until I’m convinced we have it right. There is a time and place for this type of scrutiny. And it’s at the end of the process.
Being an Imperfectionist is what enabled me to launch The Weaponry. It is what allowed me to start this blog. It was the key to writing my first book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? And it is the great enabler behind all of my creative and business projects yet to come.
Key Takeaway
Be an Imperfectionist. Explore more. Fail fast. And improve faster. Share what you think are good ideas earlier in the process so that others can contribute their good ideas too. Imperfectionism is the difference between doing and dreaming. Action and inaction. It is the key to entrepreneurial thinking. And it has the power to change the world.
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Our creative team at The Weaponry meets once a week to talk about our Golden Eggs. Yes, Golden Eggs. I realize that sounds like something from a fairytale. Or maybe something you use to make a McMuffin at the Golden Arches.
At The Weaponry, our Golden Eggs are our great creative opportunities.
The name Golden Eggs is important.
First, the opportunities are golden. They are valuable. Special and rare. Like Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia.
But they are also eggs. Which means they are fragile. And easily destroyed. Especially if they sit on a wall and have a great fall.
We Must Protect These Eggs!
At The Weaponry we realize that we need to protect the Golden Eggs. We need to keep a watchful eye on them. Guard them. Defend them. We need to focus on them. And treat them as if they are special and fragile. Because if we don’t, they will crack, splat or spoil.
Paying special attention is the only way to ensure that your valuable opportunities transform into valuable results. Because success is like a manufacturing line. At the beginning of the line, you have raw opportunity. Then you run that opportunity down the line, through a process to transform that opportunity into a successful result.
But you need to start with an opportunity.
Everyone Has Golden Eggs
You have Golden Eggs too. Yes, you. These are your great opportunities. The ones that you need to protect, defend, and guard to make sure your opportunity is not lost, wasted or destroyed.
Your opportunities may be related to your work or your career. But Golden Eggs can also be that special person that walks into your life. They could be free time with your children. A date with your spouse or main squeeze. Golden Eggs can be that book you should read. The opportunity to exercise, converse, or learn. Golden Eggs come in many shapes and sizes. So don’t be surprised if your Golden Egg is not actually shaped like an egg.
Key Takeaway
Learn to identify your Golden Eggs. Protect them. Give them the special attention, focus and energy they require. That is how you ensure that you get the valuable gold from them.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
I have competed all my life. As an athlete. As a businessman. And as a coach. I have seen how some teams and businesses always generate great results, while others never do. (Coughing: Cleveland Browns.)
I have learned what it takes to achieve great results. And like Bennifer, Hall & Oates, and Gin n’ Juice, successful results are a product of two things.
The System and The Subject.
The System is the way of doing things.
It is the process. The expectations. The values. The technique. It is the school of thought. The philosophies. It is the declared purpose and priorities. It is the tolerances permitted. It is the culture. It is the rituals and norms. And the people with other names besides Norm.
The Subject is the person being coached, led or taught.
Subjects vary in skills, talent, commitment, attitude, experience, determination, resolve and grit. They vary in natural ability and capacity. They vary in tolerance for pain and suffering. They vary in height, weight and speed. And subjects vary in loyalty, royalty, and the price they are willing to pay.
What This Means.
The system will determine how much you can get out of the subject.
The subject will determine how much you can get out of the system.
A better system will generate better results for a subject.
A better subject will generate better results within a system.
Key Takeaway
For the team to create the greatest results, continuously improve your system, and attract better subjects. For the individual to achieve the greatest results, find the greatest system.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
My daughter Ava is about to start her senior year of high school. So this spring and summer we have toured college campuses like Goldilocks, trying to find one that is just right.
Choosing your college can be as life-altering as deciding who to marry. And as expensive as buying a house. I am expecting our costs to be between $160,000 and $200,000 for 4 years. That’s assuming Ava isn’t inspired to get a fancy pants graduate degree, which could double the cost of college, without doubling the fun.
We have taken actual tours at 6 schools. And we have done window shopping tours at 6 others. All of the campuses we have visited are roughly the same size. They are all beautiful. And they all have strong national reputations. However, one of the schools stands above the rest on Ava’s list.
But what is really driving her strong brand preference on this purchase of a potential $200,000 education is interesting.
She is not attracted to her favorite school because of the university President. Or the Chancellor. Or the Provost. (Whatever that is.) She didn’t buy the school’s t-shirt because of the Dean or because of a world-renowned professor. It’s not even the athletic director, football, basketball or track & field coach, or the politically inert mascot that excites her about this particular school.
Then Who Was It?
Ava has a strong brand preference for a specific university despite the fact that she has only met 3 people at the school.
The first is the person from the recruitment office that gave the welcome presentation. She was phenomenal. She sold me too. I wanted my daughter to go to this school to turn out like her. And I’m considering enrolling at the school myself if I find an extra quarter of a million dollars in my couch cushions.
The other 2 people that had a major impact on Ava’s brand preference were the 2 students who led her campus tour. The 2 guys, Drew and Drew (seriously), were fun and funny and friendly, and knowledgable. They ran a great 2-hour walking tour. Not only did they show us around, but they also showed us what the students on campus are like. And they were excellent ambassadors for the institution.
Who Are Your Real Brand Ambassadors?
If 2 students and the assistant director of admissions were the people who made Ava (and her parents) love one college more than the others, it begs the question, who are the real brand ambassadors in your organization?
Who are the people in your business that really attract or repel customers?
Who are the people in your association that make others want to join?
Who are the members of your team that really recruit great new teammates?
Who attracts new residents to your community?
Who draws attendees to your event?
Who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong?
Sometimes it is a strong leader that sells an organization. But it is often a store associate, a customer service rep, a receptionist, a call center employee, or the greeter at church that makes the most important impression.
The Happy Factor.
A happy team member attracts more great teammates. The smiling face draws people to an organization, regardless of wear that face falls in the pecking order.
Pay attention to your public-facing roles. They are your magnets, your money makers, and your brand builders. They will directly impact more purchase decisions than your top dog.
But if you are the top dog, recognize that the tone you set, the expectations you bring, the system you install and the processes you preside over influence the type of people you have on the front line, their happiness, and the impressions they make on others. Your job is important. But it is most important because of its impact on the way the front line represents your brand to your most important audience.
Key Takeaway
Know who your most important brand ambassadors are. Recruit for those positions well. Train them well. Empower them to do their jobs well. And treat them right. They are the lifeblood of your business development program.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
When I started my career as an advertising copywriter I learned about the power of a campaign. While it is relatively easy to come up with a single idea to promote your client’s offerings, it is much more difficult to come up with a campaign.
To determine if an idea was campaignable, you had to come up with at least 3 executions based on the same conceptual idea that would allow you to broadly extend the advertising message. Think of the Got Milk? campaign, Allstate’s Mayhem campaign, or the way KFC recently reintroduced Colonel Sanders without the use of CGI, AI, or a mortician.
The campaignability of an idea is the difference between having a one-hit wonder, like Chumbawamba, and having something bigger and more useful, like Taylor Swift’s 44-song Eras Tour. (It’s funny that the Tubthumpers, who admitted to getting knocked down but claimed to get right back up again, only had one hit. Maybe it was the Whiskey drink, or the Vodka drink, or the Lager drink, or the Cider drink that did them in.)
The Rule of 3s
The campaignability rule of 3s is a great rule to apply to other areas of life as well. Because until you have had success in a specific area 3 different times you don’t have proof that you have a repeatable process for success.
For example:
Investors don’t know if they have a valid investment strategy until they have applied it successfully 3 times and gained the targeted rate of return on their money invested.
A coach doesn’t know whether their system truly works until they have had 3 teams or 3 athletes achieve great success following their process.
An artist doesn’t know how to create commercially viable or critically acclaimed art until they do it at least 3 times, without their parents buying their work.
A blogger can’t claim to have proof for their theory of 3s unless they can provide 3 examples, like the 3 I’ve listed above.
What Success 3 Times Means
Once you have had success with an undertaking 3 times, you have proven that you have a repeatable process. Once you have proof that your way works, your opinion carries more weight. You become a credible authority on that subject. In discussions and debates, your perspective has more value because it has been validated by your track record of success.
Investing
As an investor, I have had success buying stock in great companies in industries that have run into bad times. My first success was buying banking stocks during the housing crisis of 2008. I repeated that success with oil stocks in 2020. Then cruise line stocks in 2021. All of these have proven to be great investments. Which provides me with a validated approach that I could share with you.
Coaching
As a track coach all 3 of the girls who I have coached for 3 years have improved their discus throws by at least 45 feet. So I am confident in telling any young athlete I work with that wherever they start out, we will be able to improve at least 45 feet if they follow my system.
Advertising
In advertising, the approach that my team uses for developing brands has proven effective and helped drive business for our clients over and over and over again. So we are confident that our process can be applied to virtually any brand to help drive growth through marketing.
Key Takeaway
If you can achieve success in an area 3 times you have a proven process. Your experience is valuable and transferrable. Remember that you should only take qualified advice from someone who has successfully implemented the advice they are sharing with you at least 3 times. This indicates credibility and a high probability of future success. Anyone can get lucky once. But luck is not a safe bet.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
I was listening to a podcast over the weekend while mowing the lawn. I always listen to something educational while doing yard work. I imagine that I am a professional landscaper, working for the man, and I plan to bust out of my lawn jockey job by learning as I mow.
In the podcast, the interviewee told the host that he went to business school to get his MBA because he wanted to learn how to start and run a business. When I heard this I laughed out loud. In fact, I laughed so loud that I heard myself over the roar of the lawn mower, despite the fact that I was also wearing ear protection.
The idea that you need an MBA to start a business is hilarious. I launched The Weaponry, the advertising and ideas agency I lead, 7 years ago. I studied Psychology and Journalism in college. I took only one business class at the University of Wisconsin. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.
The Knowledge You Need Is Everywhere
There has never been a better time to start a business. There are countless books on the topic. There are only slightly more countable podcasts. (Although it is odd to compare the relative countability of countless things, no?)
You can follow the blogs and social feeds of entrepreneurs to learn from them. And many you can reach out to directly through social media by slipping into their DMs.
Entrepreneurship is not a secret club you get into by attending to an Ivy League business school. You can learn everything you need to know through self-directed education. And through a little trial and error.
Adam Albrecht’s Entrepreneuerhsip 101
If you really want to become an entrepreneur here is what you need to know:
To start a successful business you need to:
Offer a product, service or experience people want or need.
To learn from other great entrepreneurs check out the How I Built This podcast wherever your favorite pods are cast.
Key Takeaway
You can be an entrepreneur without an MBA, without going to business school, and without going to college. You just need a strong desire to start your own business. The keys to successful entrepreneurship and business ownership are available at your local library, your local bookstore or your local Amazon website. Inspiring stories and examples are available on podcasts, in magazines, and in books. There are no barriers to entrepreneurial education. Which means there are also no excuses. If you think entrepreneurship is the next step in your career then get going. There is nothing stopping you but you.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
If you want to help people become really great at things you have to let them first be bad. It’s part of the process. Beginners need to know it is ok to fumble and bumble a bit as they find their way. When I started my advertising and ideas agency, The Weaponry, one of the best gifts I gave myself was permission to be an amateur. Because high expectations and standards at the start of a new journey tend to kill motivation, growth, and joy.
I have a client who just opened a new restaurant in a new town. Opening a new restaurant is a massive undertaking. It involves creating a new physical space and hiring an entire staff who have never run the operating system required to make the business work. The start is messy. (Kind of like the first draft of this blog post.) I have great respect for those willing to take on the difficult task.
My client had a soft opening event, where they invited people to come and test drive the restaurant, for free. This gave the chef, cooks, waitstaff and manager an opportunity to work out the kinks, like Ray Davies. Following the 2-day free-for-all opening, they remained open without fanfare for 2 weeks before their official grand opening event. Those 2 unadvertised weeks allowed the staff time to find their groove, like Stella. Or Madonna.
However, during those 2 weeks, a handful of people wrote negative Google reviews about their experience dining at this fledgling startup restaurant. They complained about the wait time or about the lack of niche condiments for their particular health challenge. And, yes, some wrote that their food didn’t come out to their liking. However, the outstanding reviews far outnumbered the negative, which offers an exciting and favorable glimpse into the future experience for everyone visiting the restaurant.
Support Baby Businesses.
When you visit a new store, restaurant or business, give them some grace. Just like a child needs time to learn, and a beginner of any age needs experience to improve, a new business needs time to become a well-oiled machine. Complaining publicly with negative reviews in the first month of operation doesn’t allow for the required maturation process.
When you publicly complain about an infant business you hurt its chances of ever becoming a full fledge business. And if we create an atmosphere where businesses don’t have time to learn and grow we will only ever have massive chain stores and restaurants. We would snuff out local entrepreneurship. Which would be McUnfortunate.
As parents, coaches and managers we calibrate our expectations to the age and experience of those we are trying to help. As customers, we should do the same. It is helpful for us to teach, coach, critique, and even complain about the shortcomings of our experience directly to the person or organization in question. But hold off on sharing your disappointment publicly through negative reviews until the organization is past the wobbly legs stage. Which I suggest is the first month of operation.
The new entity won’t work out every challenge within that first month. But they should figure out how to make their wrongs right with the customers through proper apologies, compensatory price adjustments, free extras, or an incentive to return for a second chance, like 38 Special.
Key Takeaway
If you want to encourage more great businesses in your community or spheres of interest, grant them permission to begin as amateurs. There will be mistakes and learning at the start. These are the occupational hazards of entrepreneurship and operating a new business. As customers, we owe it to newbies to offer honest constructive feedback to help them grow and mature quickly. Honest, early public praise is one of the most valuable assets a new business has. While early negative public reviews hurt a business’s ability to grow into the excellent resource you want and expect. By sharing early negative reviews directly with the staff, rather than the public, you become a valuable part of the improvement process. And you help accelerate their growth and maturation rather than hinder it.
If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Adam Albrecht Blog 