Cheap Revolution

CustomInk - The Easiest and Most Affordable Way to Get Swag for your Startup

Need shirts for your team?  Tote bags or battery packs to use as giveaways for your next booth? 

Let me introduce you to CustomInk - my favorite way to order gear and accessories for my current startup. I've used Zazzle and CafePress in the past. CustomInk takes the cake for 3 reasons: 

• The user interface is intuitive and easy to use - no more clunky designs and buttons, leaving me unsure of what to do next. 
• It's affordable - Our last order was for 18 shirts that cost less than $10 apiece, including shipping.  
• The quality is great - Unlike past experiences, I've watched these repeatedly and haven't seen a thread come undone or have it ripped easily. 
• The customer service is superb - Very few companies feature their phone number up front and center on their website anymore. Not only is it on their navigation but they also have a chat now feature that allows quick access to a team member to answer any questions. 
• The turn-around is faster - Just 7 days passed from the time we placed the order to the time they arrived, including the weekend!

I highly recommend checking out this cheap resource for yourself. Are there other customized product companies you've had good experiences with? Let us know in the comments. 

Hello, Cannabis Industry! Researching a New Market

As a seasoned entrepreneur and teacher of entrepreneurship, I am so excited about transferring my classroom frameworks into a rapidly emerging marketplace—the Cannabis market.  Cannabis is the scientific name for the marijuana plant, and its market has reached the tipping point. This is a wave that I couldn’t ignore. So, for the past several months, I’ve been investigating and researching

Credit: en.wikipedia.org. Medical cannabis in the United States

this market, and I’ve used my favorite tactics to shed light on this new, emerging opportunity. 

So, here’s an early tour of my ideas and research.

I hope this helps you think through your own exploration of new markets.

Primary Research: Talking to "Insiders"

 Insiders come in many different forms.  Talk to people who: 

• have been there/done that.  I've had conversations with attorneys serving businesses in the space, CEOs of successful cannabis companies, master growers, cannabis chefs and more. Most of these people gained their experience in California. I learned that Cali is the grandmother of all cannabis business experience.   
• have lived with or benefitted from the product. I was surprised to learn of the many "caretakers" involved with the industry.  Half of the cannabis newbies that I met in my early networking were people looking for relief for a loved one's illness.  This is a strong signal regarding the future market for medical marijuana.
• are in advocacy groups. I've met some people active in PhillyNORML. They are passionate crusaders seeking to overturn unjust laws and end cannabis prohibition. In these conversations, I learned a lot about how laws are formed and influenced. Next, I'm planning on checking out the work of the Keystone Cannabis Coalition and their pro-HEMP agenda.
• run training courses.  I met the instructors from Cannabis Career Institute when they did their all-day training in Philadelphia.   These insiders were happy to share their experience and helped me with introductions to other industry insiders. 
• shape the legislation in your state and local community.  I have yet to meet with legislators on this topic, but it is the logical next step.  Getting to know your local officials and starting conversations to understand their concerns is also important if you plan to run a business in your neighborhood.

Secondary Research: Consume and Analyze Data

Seek out and read the best research reports you can find. While its early days in the cannabis industry, there are some emerging sources of research. 

• Access Definitive Reports.  While they are often pricey, these reports are a short-cut to deep dives on industry trends, costs, profitability, etc.   Companies like Gartner Group, Forrester Research and Jupiter Research have been successful in selling their research to entrepreneurs and investors who want to quickly understand new markets.  For the cannabis industry, the Marijuana Business Factbook 2014 (from MMJBusinessDaily.com) is the definitive source for insights into the industry. The report describes all of the major market niches in detail - built through surveys of early stage cannabis-related business owners.  It also provides state-level grades for stability and opportunity. This information will help inform where to set up shop for entrepreneurs willing to travel to the action. At $200, this report is a bargain given the wealth of industry insight it provides.  I've found answers to questions like: how much does it cost to open a dispensary? how long does a cultivation business take until it is profitable? how much money are marijuana businesses making?  The Marijuana Business Factbook 2015 should be available in late March.
  GreenWaveAdvisors.com offers an in-depth research package that will be updated on an ongoing basis.   The site provides a nice executive summary of the industry for free.   A third option, which I haven't reviewed yet, is ArcView's report on The State of Legal Marijuana. 
• Watch Television.  Television hasn’t missed the opportunity to get in on the Cannabis industry.   CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta covered medical uses of cannabis in his well-researched cannabis documentaries.  Pot Barons of Colorado on MSNBC is a six-part documentary that provides an in-depth look into a handful of Colorado Cannabis entrepreneurs navigating the wild waters of recreational legalization. 
• Take a Training Course.  It is another excellent source of secondary research. Oaksterdam University is one of the oldest educational firms in the business. They occasionally take their show on the road as they did this past year in Atlantic City for $1000 four day long cannabis industry seminar.  I attended Cannabis Career Institute where a day long, $300 event gives a whirlwind tour of the history, current state of the industry, current laws in my state, different career opportunities, overview of cultivation practices, and an overview of edibles. A powerful side-benefit of attending this seminar is that alumni are invited to attend future sessions free of charge. Since these are potent networking opportunities, I've been going as often as I can. I've met some knowledgeable industry insiders through these courses.

Building your Business Story: Try on Different "What If?" Hats

Determine which aspects of the industry are the best match for your disposition, skills and resources.

• Start by examining your own strengths and weaknesses when evaulating new career opportunities.  My favorite tool for this is the Sweet Spot analysis. Check out our timeless post on finding the sweet spot for a cannabis career. When I tried this for myself regarding the Cannabis industry - I determined that an advisor to new cannabis entrepreneurs might be good starting-place role for me.   
• Create and progressively refine a value proposition and a go-to-market strategy. Building a 10 slide pitch deck allows helps to create a "bouncing ball" that you can test with your network.  
• Take your pitch deck and test your offering.  I like to call this process "bouncing your idea ball" and it is a great way to integrate feedback from knowledgeable people in service of strengthening your business idea. 
• Test your brand. Have you brainstormed some business names? Researched domain names? While I caution against investing too much too early in your brand definition, it's never too early to start playing with different names. As part of that research, I've registered the domain names FrothyWave.com, GreenDirtConsulting.com, BigBudConsulting.com and GreenRushAdvisors.com. (We recommend the domain name service Namecheap.com - they're reasonably priced, don't try to up-sell you using multiple screens and have a Live Chat feature with nice customer service folks. ) I've tested the names with different audiences and used that very early feedback to help direct my brand definition.

Gut Check  - Does this Path Have Heart?

One of my favorite quotes for entrepreneurship is from Carlos Castenada's book on the Teachings of Don Juan:

"Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.”  
―     Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge    

To me, existing marijuana prohibition is nothing short of a violation of our civil liberties. I believe that it's an extension of unjust laws that were founded in racial prejudice and propaganda. Today, we imprison a disproportionate number of American citizens in large part due to marijuana prohibition. Furthermore, medicinal and therapeutic properties of cannabis are being discovered regularly; often providing relief where none could be previously found. It's a plant - and it's a farce to think that the government can tell us how we can use nature.  However, my position on this industry is a topic for another post.

As you consider possible new business ties with the cannabis industry, I recommend you first consult with your inner circle for guidance and feedback.  It's important that you check in with those most important in your life. You can't control what your broader network will say, but you can find out where your family stands.

I checked in with family, close associates and friends ...and do you know what I found?   It has been surprising how many people are ready for this change.  Are you?

(Please leave your reactions and contributions in the comments section.)

 

Oldies But Goodies: 25 Nearly Free Ways to Market your Business

Just because a post isn't fresh, it does not mean it is not filled with useful information. We want to refresh you with our most popular posts to provide you with our best work. If other readers found a post helpful, you may also find the post useful.

One of our top posts is titled 25 Nearly Free Ways to Market Your Business.

In this particular post, we provide  you with ideas around marketing your business for almost nothing.

Cheap Design Resource - 99Designs Crowdsources Design of your Wordpress Theme or Logo

Crowdsourcing is a new tool in the entrepreneur's arsenal.   According to Wikipedia, the term crowdsourcing first appeared in a Fast Company article in 2006.  The term is defined as:

the act of sourcing tasks traditionally performed by specific individuals to a group of people or community (crowd) through an open call.

For entrepreneurs this provides an amazing opportunity to tap into a global pool of talent for everything from designing your Web site to designing a tee shirt to creating your logo at very affordable prices.   Platforms have emerged to manage the process of crowd-sourcing and savvy startups are using them to move quickly with a splash of style.

Climbing the Pyramid of Marketing Mastery

Team and a Dream's Skip Shuda provides a short introduction on the "Marketing Pyramid of Needs" in this five minute screencast.

This simple framework encourages you to follow the three simple marketing steps towards mastery of "See it, Say it and Be it".  By walking up each step of the pyramid, you can ensure that you have all the elements in place for a successful marketing effort. It can also help you to answer questions like, "When am I ready for a Blog?" or "Can Social Media really help my company?". If you haven't done the necessary preparatory work, then your premature marketing efforts can be wasted.

Furthermore, the framework sets the stage for the successful measurement of marketing efforts.  A marketing metrics dashboard is a key component to ensure that you stay on the path to Market Mastery once you've started your journey. The framework is discussed in more detail on a recent article at the HP Logoworks Blog article "See it. Say it. Be it. Multi-Channel Marketing in a Web 2.0 World" by Skip Shuda.

By: Skip Shuda

Creating Significance in a World of Abundance

 At the Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit in Philadelphia yesterday, Author Dan Pink (A Whole New Mind) talked about how design was a combination of utility and significance. In today’s economy, much of the value and margin in a product or service is created by significance.

In the course of doing business, the differentiators I often hear are along the lines of:

• We have great people
• Our consulting methodology sets us apart
• We focus on quality

  Having another project management methodology is not differentiated.

  In the past few years, I’ve been approached by at least three separate clients who have cool software that facilitates collaboration, project management and content management. While they often have nice interfaces and slick organization, they are very similar to popular products on the web that are free (see http://sourceforge.net/projects/netoffice/ ) or very inexpensive (see http://www.basecamp.com ).

  Tell me why its different?

  Its probably not – and that is a problem. If it is hard to understand the difference – or requires deep knowledge, then it isn’t significant.

  Here are three ways that you can differentiate your service and create significance:

  Geography. How can you take advantage of your knowledge of a local geography? Perhaps you know the nooks and crannies better than most. Maybe you understand the nuances of the culture in a given region, enabling others to do business there more effectively through you.

  For example, two Brooklyn transplants loved their new home of Philaedelphia so much that they started doing customized tours of Philadelphia for other New Yorkers seeking to move. (See www.movetophilly.com )

  Another example: A startup specializes in online marketing packages geared to the local market. Small businesses like restaurants, dentists and spas turn over their online marketing efforts to this firm and they use their knowledge of the space and online marketing venues for small firms to drive business to the clients. (See www.natpal.com )

  Technology. Perhaps you have purchased a new piece of equipment that enables you to perform a process that none of your competition can. Maybe you understand the latest and greatest advancements in a particular industry better than most.

  Ian Cross of I-Site (www.i-site.com) works to stay on top of the latest Web 2.0 trends and technologies. He is constantly experimenting and attempting new applications using the latest and newest techniques. Next time I launch a new web application that needs to be on the cutting edge, I know who I am going to call.

  Market. My favorite way to create significance is by selecting a micro-vertical market. Today’s economy allows you to access a larger marketplace than ever before. Therefore being too specialized is much less of a problem then it used to be. Being too general is a BIG problem.

  Some examples of market significance that I like are:

  www.recruitmilitary.com – competing as a recruiter is tough, tough business. Sometimes it seems that there are as many recruiters as there are candidates! But this firm has found an important niche. “There has never been a better time to hire a veteran!” is their tagline.

  www.secure-24.com – this computer hosting and internet service company found a way to create meaning in a crowded marketspace. By focusing their efforts on creating world class, secure solutions with redundancy plans and geographic separation, they have been able to set themselves apart from the competition while servicing the emerging markets in financial services and other worlds that are hyper-concerned with compliance, data integrity and security.

  Ask yourself how your business can create significance.

 

Are you competing on price or value?

"Are you competing on price or value?"

My friend "Mikey" asked me this about a new offering I plan to roll out to my Team and a Dream clients. It seemed like a good, solid question.

But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that the answer was "both". Of course, with traditional offerings, you are either trying to provide "good enough" value at a low price point (competing on price) or you are trying to distinguish yourself with excellence, depth or insight (competing on value).

If we look deeper into the mechanics of delivering products from these two perspectives, we see that they each gravitate towards one end of a polar extreme.

Price competitive offerings emphasize efficiency, low-cost labor and factory-like approaches to production. Many of the Universal Freelance Services follow this model.

Value-based competition focuses on the highest quality by using the "best" materials (the newest, most durable, most attractive) manipulated in the hands of elite professionals with a great deal of experience and education. We talk about these "value oriented" services as "Specialized Services" in The Cheap Revolution. They are generally NOT a part of the Cheap Revolution.

There is another path advocated by The Cheap Revolution. The path is that of The Hybrid Offering. The Hybrid Offering consists of three parts:

• Templatized Wisdom. Elements of methodology that represent "boiled-down" and extracted expertise
• Affordable Muscle. Sources of competent and effectively employed knowledge work from under-utilized market segments (university interns, stay-at-home moms, etc.)
• Executive-level Expertise. Well placed expertise to guide the offering - just a pinch here and there.

  By thoughtfully combining these ingredients, service providers can put together powerful offerings that compete on the basis of price AND value.

Different kinds of Cheap

Say you want to create a new logo for your startup. You type “Logo” into your web search engine and Voila! The World Wide Web provides you with 1.8 Billion choices of sites that talk about logos.

You find logo guides, logo generators, logo books, logo clip-art, logo designers and logo strategists! Which one is right for you? In theory, you end up with a logo no matter which one you choose?

Is a cheap guide to logo development the same as a cheap logo developer?

Is a cheap logo developer the same as a cheap logo strategist?

If you examine the value delivered by different “Cheap” resources, you’ll find that there are many different kinds of cheap. These different kinds of cheap provide the entrepreneur with different kinds of power and require different kinds of interactions.

Below, four different kinds of Cheap are described along with a fifth category describing what you may find as you break out of The Cheap Zone in pursuit of value.

1) Digitized Assets (Articles and Templates)– This consists of written stuff for building businesses – things like samples, articles, advice.

2) Digitized and Automated Services and Logic – These are working parts that can be assembled into businesses - eCommerce, hosting, customer relationship suites. They include logical jobs and tools that can be outsourced. These tools are left-brain focused (logical, rational) and demonstrate logical steps that are readily translated into automated services.

The benefit of this type of Cheap is that you can use your creative powers to create novel solutions while using cheap toolkits that embody highly complex processes. Examples include Open source software development platforms or business plan templates.

3) Universal Freelance Services – This represents commoditized, solo-preneur services to perform different kinds of spot help. It would include freelance designers, coders and writers.

4) Pre-packaged Business Expertise – A new breed of business services are emerging that represent pre-cooked business services. These services are typically some hybrid of the previous three services including templates and affordable muscle but with a dash of highly specialized, creative people guiding the service. The combination creates a powerful leverage point within the offering and for the company consuming the offering. As such, the efforts can include packages for web design, marketing campaigns, naming and branding or legal assistance.

5) Specialized Services – This category is not part of the Cheap Revolution. Rather it represents the traditional field of creative specialists who focus on strategy, management consulting and customized marketing strategies

The following diagram illustrates the different kinds of Cheap.

Figure: Different Kinds of Cheap (and beyond)

Within reason, it is appropriate for an entrepreneur to heavily leverage the cheap revolution tools. The marginal value delivered by the Specialized Service category will largely be lost on young companies and will likely demand far more resource and time than a startup can afford.

More advanced companies have more demanding needs and demonstrate a higher level of specialization. As a result, it is more costly for these companies to purchase or outsource their specific needs.

Look at our site for a list cheap resources!