Don’t Try To Hard

Several of my business colleagues have recently launched new products and/or services to take advantage of current market trends and certainly I would be the last to ignore opportunities that would generate increased revenues for my company. But (there is always that but, isn’t there) is it always a good idea? Let me suggest, as often as creating new products or services to satisfy numerous markets or customers increases revenues, this same practice can be the undoing of many well established and successful businesses.
To make my point, let me share an acronym, a story and a proven business principle. Huh? Be tolerant of my disjointed argument. I will tie them together, I promise.

The acronym “KISS” (Keep It Simple Stupid). The implied logic is you can easily make things complicated when there is no need. And worse, the unintended consequences of this inclination is not only unnecessary, it is down right destructive.

The story isn’t really a story but a scene from the movie “City Slickers.”
In the movie, a group of friends from the city take a vacation at a dude ranch.
Curley, played by Jack Palance, is a hard, crusty old cowboy full of wisdom.
He says, “You all come out here the same age. Same problems. Spend fifty weeks a year getting knots in your rope…you think two weeks out here will untie them for you. None of you get it. Do you know what the secret of life is?”
Mitch, one of the city slickers, played by Billy Crystal, says, “No, what?”
Curley says, “This (He holds up one finger.)”
Mitch says, “Your finger?”
Curley says, “One thing, just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean {%#@*&”}.”
Mitch says, “That’s great, but what’s the one thing?”
Curley says, “That’s what you’ve got to figure out!”

The business principle is called “Driving Force.”
Driving Force, as defined by Tregoe and Zimmerman, is the primary determiner of the scope of future products and services. Boyett and Conn state in their book “Maximum Performance Management,” “that every successful business is defined by how it answers two fundamental questions: (1) What types of products and services will we offer our customers? And (2) What types of markets and customers will we try and serve?” Since no business can hope to offer all possible products or services to all possible markets or customers, the answers to these questions are critical since they define the area of business they have chosen. Selecting a driving force essentially means deciding what primary criterion will be used to select among possible products, services, markets, and customers. What products/services should we provide? And, what markets/customers should we serve?
There can be one and only one driving force.

The point I submit to my business leaders is, heed the inherent warning in KISS, Curley’s point and Tregoe and Zimmerman “The Driving Force” principle. You cannot offer products and/or services to all customers nor should you try to take advantage of every change in the market.
If you try you can bet you will expose your business to the following risks. By being forced to constantly shift shared resources, you will probably generate inefficiencies and waste. By asking management to plan for and control new services, you degrade their levels of competence. And most damaging, by trying to be everything to everybody, you will, most likely, never meet your customers’ expectations. The introduction of new goods and services must be done in a planned and controlled way.
Remember what we all learned from Perato’s Principle (the 80/20 rule). 80% of your profit comes from 20% of your products/services. Stay focused on the simple, the “one thing,” your “driving force.”

I encourage anyone who has recently expanded their line of products and services or anyone considering doing this, to use Stu@SimpleGrowth.com or the comment click below to contact me. I would love to email you a simple process that will help you identify your driving force and organize your company’s resources around the “one thing” that will get the most “bang for your buck.”