Tip #8:
Specialize. Be an expert at something.
The surest route to success for any new venture is through specialization. It takes courage because there is a great temptation for a start-up company to be all things to all people and to solicit business from any source in the hope of getting, at least, some business. However, people that specialize usually succeed because they are expert in something and prospects recognize this, and are looking for it.
The easier you make it for a potential customer to recognize what is unique about your product or service, the better it will be for your business. For example, let’s say you drive a BMW that badly needs a tune-up, and you pass three garages on the way to work, all of which have expert mechanics. The first displays a sign, “Mechanics on Duty”. Chances are you will not stop. If the sign at the next garage reads, “Mechanics on Duty, Specialists in Foreign Cars,” you will be considerably more interested. However, if at a third garage the sign reads, “Mechanics on Duty, Specialists in BMW Cars,” then chances are that you will stop and inquire about their service. Think about all the potential customers who “pass” your company every day because they don’t understand why they should do business with you.
Cullinane Corporation specialized in database management systems and actually used related themes on its letterhead and in its advertising. In fact, all Company advertisements carried the message DATABASE:CULLINANE in large type at the bottom each ad. It would prove to be very effective in associating the name of a new company with leadership in the evolving field of database software.
An unusual example of specialization, the “Moishe Peking”, the only Kosher Chinese restaurant in New York, which was introduced to me by Henry Weiss, then Vice President of Montifiore Hospital. Even my Jewish friends found this hard to believe. I don’t know how many Kosher Chinese restaurants there are in the world, but this one was always crowded, a tribute to specialization.
In each of the above examples, illustrates the value matching specific company with the need. It’s your job to make it easy for them.
John Cullinane’s Entrepreneur Survival Tips of the Day Come from his book, The Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide: 101 Tips for Managing in Good Times & Bad.
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Cullinane Corporation was to become the first successful software products company in the world at a time when computer industry gurus said it couldn't be done, that others had tried, and failed, and so would he. As such, it was the first software products company to have an IPO, the first to be listed on the NY Stock Exchange, and the first to reach a billion dollars in valuation. However, there were scary times. For example, the company's capital got as low as $500 with a payroll of $8,500 due that day when a check of, literally, $8,500 came in the mail that morning. For fifteen years the company had growth in sales and profits of 50% and then it ran into problems because it had stopped doing some of the very things that had made it successful in the first place. That's what these tips are all about. How an entrepreneur can do something that others say can't be done, and how to continue to be successful.
John Cullinane was named three times as the Wall Street Transcript's CEO of the year in the computer software products industry. He was also Founding Chairman of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, Founding President of the Boston Public Library Association, first President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and a graduate of, and a recipient, of an honorary degree from Northeastern University.
A walk down Wall Street from the perspective of a high tech entrepreneur...
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