24 Mar Business Now – Business Then
Believe it or not, business hasn’t changed in decades. True. The way in which we DO business has, but ‘business’ itself has not
Let me explain…
Way back in the day dot when farmer Bill woke up and realised he needed eggs to round off that perfect bacon breakfast his pigs had provided he knocked on the door across the vale and asked farmer Bob if he could have a few. Farmer Bob of course said “yes”, but only if Bill would swap him a few sides of bacon in exchange. He did, and an agreement was formalised.
Two weeks later both Bob and Bill also agreed that their beautiful breakfast would be even better if they had a nice glass of milk to wash it down with (yes, this is breakfast, so we’re not talking beer!).
Enter farmer Ben… and a joint venture co-op was formed. Eventually they took this idea to others and a marketplace emerged, growing across the vale to serve dozens of farmers and their friends alike.
And that’s business; one person having a product which another acquires in exchange for something desired.
Back in the day dot, Bill had to walk across the vale to tell Bob about how feeding his pig’s barley gave the bacon a different flavour. These days we send an email.
Back in the day dot entrepreneurs like Bill, and Bob, and Ben would hire the town crier to shout the message out at the market to bring in new customers. These days we use Social Media.
You see, the PRINCIPLES of business haven’t changed, just the tools that we use to engage them.
- A business can only be successful if it sells a product or service that others want.
- A business can only be successful if people KNOW about the product that it sells, that they want.
- A business can only be successful if it can deliver such product or service in the way that its customers want it.
- A business can only be successful if it sells such product / service for sufficient profit margin as to cover product cost and other sundries as the business requires in order to DO business in the first place.
Think about these. How can you apply them to your business? What tools in the modern age of Internet can assist you?
These are the things that can make or break a business in 2016. But remember, these “tools” are supposed to assist you in your marketing, not hinder you. They are supposed to help you save time and produce a result, not burden you.
Food for thought.
Paul Barrs
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