Life Muses by Ro

Domino's Pizza website has it goin' on...

I was going to make dinner tonight but company suddenly showed up and by the time they left, it was 8:13 p.m. Meanwhile, I have a husband sitting in my basement watching TV - his foot in the air - who has been instructed by his doctor to obey his orders and keep... his foot in the air.

So no help is coming from the husband side of the family, right?

I decided to call in help from Domino's. Because I run an Internet website, I do everything via the web so I decided to look up the phone number via Google search. I searched for "West Jordan, Utah, Pizza".

In the process, discovered that Domino's has a cool website. Maybe you knew this already. Maybe not. If you didn't, I'm educating you about the fact that you should order your next pizza from Domino's online.

While you are ordering, you can do everything you can imagine - including find coupons - and build the pizza yourself. (You want ham, pineapple and olives on the left side and beef, mushrooms and peppers on the right side? No problem. You decide.) Pick out the size. Pick out the crust. Then order it through a great process that allows you to... gasp... pay with cash once they deliver the pizza. (No checks, please.)

Nothing surprising yet, although I like picking out what I'm getting this way much better than trying to figure it out mentally. A visual representation is very helpful.

Here is the neat part: After you complete your order, you are taken to a confirmation page in which you can watch the progress of your pizza. You are shown who is making your order. (Andrea made mine.) You are shown when it goes in the oven. (Mine is in there right now. But when I started this post, Andrea was still building it. She was quick.) And then you'll see when your pizza goes in the box and when it drives away.

Cool. Whoever dreamed this up needs a bonus. Great idea, Domino's. From one webmaster to another... I approve.

P.S. While I was doing the final edit of this post, my doorbell rang. I thought, "Nahhhh...  Couldn't be. That was too fast."

But it was. Standing at the door stood Mike - all perky with my pizza in hand. Getting a pizza from an online order was faster than if I had called them up.

Domino's is back in the game.

P.P.S. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the time it took me to post this picture (5 minutes), my family swooped in like a bunch of vultures and ate most of the pizza - leaving me one pathetic piece. I should have taken my share as soon as Mike gave me the box. But in my enthusiasm for showing you how knocked out I was by Domino's new plan, I missed out on the Domino's.

Part 5 - Industry

Industry

Your business plan must contain thorough research about the industry you plan to enter. Often, we are attracted to a certain industry because it seems interesting to us or we believe that we have come up with the next block-buster idea that will attract the attention of the industry. However, we may be running on assumptions that may cost us dearly.

Occasionally, I have been asked to consult with individuals who wish to start a business. After agreeing to the terms of the engagement, I give them a list of questions that they must answer before we can continue. If they can’t answer the questions, I know that they aren’t ready to receive the help that they desire. The questions I ask are generally questions regarding industry knowledge.

• What industry are you planning to enter?
  Who will your major competitors be?
• Do you know who they are for a fact or are you just guessing?
• How much of the market share do you believe these competitors currently enjoy?
• Why should customers buy from you instead of your competitors? (What is your Unique Selling Proposition)
• How do you know who your competitors are?
• How large is the industry you wish to enter?
• Can you find any actual statistics on the industry? (Surveys, government reports, etc.)
• What is the past history of this industry?
• What is the anticipated future of this industry?
• What problems might you encounter if you enter this industry?
• How do you plan on overcoming these problems?

As I have spoken with these consulting clients, I have found that the problem often lies with their unwillingness to research adequately. Because they feel sure their idea is good or their approach is unique, they believe their opinions must be true.

Let me see if I can come up with a faulty business idea in which an individual hasn’t prepared adequately. To protect the innocent, we’ll say that I am the brain-child behind this particular plan.

Okay, let’s pretend that I have come up with the latest, greatest idea: downloadable music which will be played on cassette players. I believe it is a great idea because no one else is doing it and people have cassette players in their cars. And, cassettes are cheap… and it is easy to record music on cassettes… and people have cassette holders to put their cassettes in when they drive around in their cars. Oh, and lots of people have unused cassette players hanging around, too. And – I know – you can get cassette players very inexpensively at second-hand stores, so the equipment will be accessible to people who can’t afford expensive mp3 players.

Oh, gosh! I think I do have a big idea. It shouldn’t be too hard to set up downloads of the music. I can use some of those free download services that I have read about. I can write music (I do have a music degree and a piano, after all) and I know lots of musicians, too. I’ll bet they would like to do it with me. Who wouldn’t want to get in on this plan? Maybe the word would spread and it would be super popular.

Oh! I have another great idea: I’ll start a message board where we can talk about downloadable cassette music. Yeah. That sounds good. And, I’ll blog about it, too. Blogs are popular.

Okay, I have my idea, my suppliers, my distribution model, my customers and my marketing plan. I think I’m onto something.

So, I’ve figured it all out. I believe I understand the industry: My industry is downloadable music which is to be played on cassette players. My suppliers are musicians that want to do it with me and my customers are people with computers and cassette players.

“Uhhh… not so much, Ro,” the sensible part of myself warns. “Hold on. This is a silly idea. Besides, you haven’t researched it at all.”

“Why not?” the excitable part of me retorts. “I like the idea. If I work really hard at it, it will be a success for sure.”

The business hat side of me patiently replies, “Did you Google the idea and find out if anyone else is doing it? Are there manufacturers for blank cassettes? Have you talked to any potential customers about the idea?”

“I don’t need to do that,” I argue back. “It’s a good idea and I believe in it. Go away. You’re bugging me. Besides, I can’t have any negativity injected into my positive flow. I don’t need your help anymore...”

Stop!

If I research before I go any further, I would discover that...

• Cassettes technology is past its prime
• There isn’t a smooth way to move music from computers to cassettes
• My distribution model is inadequate, should the idea take off
• I don’t have any idea how many people actually own cassette players. I am assuming that people still have them because I have three in my closet.
• I can’t locate any competitors which is a very bad sign. A lack of competitors means that my idea is either hatching too soon and the road is going to be really hard for me (because people will have a hard time understanding the concept) or I am too late – the idea-ship has sailed and sunk.
• Even if I located some customers, I don’t have the foggiest idea why they should purchase anything from me.
• I haven’t talked to my musician friends about the idea yet. I’m assuming they will want to participate.
• I haven’t actually talked to anyone who understands business about the idea yet. I should do that.
• I don’t even know if I can find blank cassettes in stores anymore. I haven’t thought about them in a long time.

Okay, enough of the silliness. And, by the way, just for fun I decided to look up this goofy idea. There is downloadable cassette music available today and you can get it if you’d like. You just need to understand that Cassette is a punk rock band!

My very best advice on today’s topic? Do the work involved in researching your potential industry. Make sure you understand it as thoroughly as possible. Write paragraphs about what you learn in your business plan. Have enough information that what you write would make sense if you were to present the information to a banker.

Your future depends upon it.

Part 4 - Market Focus

Today’s topic is going to be short and sweet. However, answering the associated questions will take you some time, so don’t let the brevity of this section mislead you. And, don’t let it deceive you into thinking that it isn’t important. Completing this task is perhaps the most important thing you will do as you complete your business plan. If you currently own a business and you can’t answer these questions, you had better get crackin’ because you are operating in a confused state!

Have you ever heard the word demographics? The word “demographics” sounds like some sort of a crazy map to the uninitiated. Well, it is a map, but instead of being a map of a country, your company’s demographics are a type of map of who your customers are. Do you know?

Here are the main questions you need to answer about your customers to determine your demographics:

• What are their ages?
• What gender?
• What income level?
• What family status?
• What interests do they have?
• What is important to them?

It is imperative to know these things generally (although, there will certainly be many exceptions to the overall findings) because a company is like a person: it has a personality of its own and one of the methods of succeeding is to then attempt to locate the consumers that would be interested in it. The whole process is somewhat like finding a spouse when you want to get married. If you don’t know what you are looking for when you are dating, you won’t locate a good match.

I think I had better tell you right now that a common business mistake is to assume that you can be all and do all for everyone. This is impossible and if you try, you will end up confusing the very individuals that would have liked your company if you would have decided who you are. Despite what you think, your business will not be attractive to the entire world. You cannot solve the planet’s problems or make everyone fall in love with you.

A general rule of thumb for a successful business is this: if you have a product or service that you believe will appeal to everyone in the world, you have a certain failure on your hands.

Why?

Because it isn’t possible to market to the world about a product or service that will appeal to absolutely everyone on the planet. (Besides, there isn’t such a thing.) No one searches for “products that appeal to everyone.” But, if you have a product or service that will appeal to snowboarders ages 16-30, living in the United States, who consider themselves to be trendsetters, then you have something to work with, because there are methods of getting to this type of individual.

So, figure out who your customers are and then you will better understand how to approach them. You will probably learn more about yourself in the process and discover more about what type of company you would like to run.

By the way, if you are passionate about what you are doing, you are likely to discover that your customers are very much like you!

Part 3 - Company Goals, Objectives and Business Philosophy

Your company’s business philosophy is how you will do business – or how you will look at the world through your company’s eyes. The company’s philosophy statement helps you to figure out how you are going to approach your work. Determining the answers to these questions in advance will be helpful to you when you find yourself having to make difficult decisions later on.

For instance, if you have stated in your business philosophy statement that customer service is one of your primary values, then your team must be empowered to do whatever it takes to help the customers efficiently. Because you have already decided that you believe that customer service is one of your chief business values, when you find yourself in a difficult customer situation, you will likely choose to serve your customer rather than defend your position simply because “you are correct.”

Your company’s business philosophy statement should include the following elements:

•    What type of environment do you wish to create
•    What type of experience do you wish individuals to have with your company
•    How you feel about various sides of business issues (profits versus humanitarian efforts, etc.)

Writing company goals and objectives are just as important – if not more so – than understanding what your own personal life-goals are. A company without written goals and objectives is much like a ship without a sail: where it will end up depends on where the current takes it. Company goals and objectives should support the business philosophy statement.

The goals and objectives area of the business plan should answer these questions:

•    What do you hope to accomplish?
•    When do you hope to accomplish these things?
•    What are the big goals you have that will help you achieve your objectives?

Start out by determining what your long range goals are. A business owner should attempt to think out four to five years. Doing so will allow your mind to open up and see a vision of what might be possible.
•    List each goal
•    Under the goal, write bullet points that support your goals

For instance, when I started Scrap Girls, one of my goals was to create a way for women to work from home. (No offense to the men in the crowd. I was just particularly sensitive to the issues that being a working mother creates and longed to do something about it in my own way.) As a result, one of Scrap Girls original business plan goals (written in 2004) included:

Scrap Girls will become an industry setting model for allowing individuals freedom to work from their homes.

I’ll bet you are surprised to find that goal in a business plan for a digital scrapbooking company, right? But this item was critical to me and so I wrote it in. In doing so, I began working towards creating ways for this goal to be accomplished. A few supporting bullet points from the business plan include:

1. Company use of internet-based technologies will allow for smooth work flow (such as web groups where shared documents, photos, messages can be housed, instant message meetings, regularly scheduled conference calls, email discussion groups and others).
2. Individuals will be accountable for the amount of work they produce, rather than for the time they spend producing it.
3. A project site will be developed where team members can check on the progress of new projects and can be held accountable for the tasks that have been assigned to them.

It might be helpful to understand at this point that my particular project management background (in which I managed teams of people sprawled around the world while working for a major software company) gave me the experience to understand what types of things I would have to accomplish to achieve the larger goal. But, as this goal was one of my primary reasons for starting Scrap Girls, I made sure that I wrote these items into my business plan so that they wouldn’t be floating about in the atmosphere, where they might never be accomplished.

I am happy to report that, at this time, Scrap Girls now has a substantial team of product designers and support individuals (customer support, web, administrative) all working from their homes, managing their lives, and their schedules to suit their families. Our team determines how much work they are able to handle because they are business owners themselves. It is a wonderful arrangement for all of us. I’m more excited about what has happened with this particular goal than any other single thing that is associated with our company.

Would this goal have been achieved if I hadn’t planned for it to happen before we got started? Perhaps… we’ll never know for sure. But, I believe something big happens when we desire to do something bigger than ourselves and we set things in motion when we take the first step: write the goal down.

Part 2 - General Company Description

If you were standing in a grocery store line and someone asked you about your business, could you quickly describe what you do in a manner that would make them want to know more?

It is surprising to learn that a high number of business owners cannot do this adequately. They may mumble something such as, “I own a grocery store” or “I create scrapbooks for people” or even, “I teach music lessons.” While these statements are beginning points and are generally adequate for social situations, they are not complete enough to allow you to understand your business. It is critical for your business that you write a complete company description for your business plan.

A general company description should be written accurately, attempt to sell the company, while stating facts. It should be written using business language and should avoid unearned superlatives.

The components of a good, general company description should include:

•    A listing of products that will be provided
•    A listing of services that will be provided
•    Why it would be an advantage for someone to be your customer
•    A mission statement

If your company already exists, a good, general company description should also include:

•    A brief history of the company

• How you started
• Important achievements
• Why you started the company
• How you have changed over time
• Historical data

•    How large are you
•    How successful are you
•    What are your strengths and weaknesses

A mission statement is a brief (usually a sentence or two) explanation of the purpose of the company. A mission statement is valuable as it helps everyone who is associated with the company understand what the vision for the company is. It can be used to resolve conflicts and direct activities if it is referred to often.

An example of an interesting mission statement can be found on Google’s corporate information page: Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Notice how succinct but accurate this statement is. This is exactly what Google has been attempting to do and if you read it, it helps you understand why they constantly adjust the search engine to attempt to bring better search returns. It explains why the search returns have changed so drastically in the past five years as Google’s engineers have found ways to get rid of results that are not applicable to the search.

Other information that is very similar to that found in a company description can be found here: http://www.google.com/corporate/

Now, it’s your turn… Go forth and describe!