Today, I met with the head of a TV production company that helps various organizations, executives, and professionals, to become better known.
Let’s say super-CPA John Doe wants to get more business. He would pay a fee, be interviewed by the production company in their studios, and the resulting tape would be aired on TV. Then, Doe could post the interview to his web site, send it to other media outlets, and hand it to potential clients.
It’s a cool concept, and having heard about it, by accident, I wanted to learn more.
So, I set an appointment and met with the head honcho for an hour and we chatted.
He revealed enough to me to suggest:
(1) Currently, this is a profitable business, and potentially, a great business.
(2) He will not exploit its full potential because his vision for it is painfully limited.
(3) I would be reluctant to work with him given the restrictive provisions in his contracts that would handcuff me from using what he might construe later as his methods (versus mine) after parting company.
(4) It could make more sense for me to simply open my own shop and improvise, while suffering my own growing pains.
You might wonder, “Is this stealing?” If you relish originality as I do, at first blush it feels like it, but I’m convinced it is not.
It’s called “Creative Imitation,” a highly recommended entrepreneurial technique, by none other than management guru, and my late professor, Peter F. Drucker. Your goal is to do substantially what someone else does, but better, cheaper, faster, or on a larger scale and with your own flair.
It’s done all the time. One of my consulting clients, a large photography company, told me this is exactly what the founder did after having glimpsed a small, successful studio in a remote vacation venue.
He loved their concept, but thought they would never exploit it, properly. So, with a partner, they opened their own, tweaking the program, prices, and feel of the place.
I’ll bet you’ve seen one of their units, but you’ve probably never seen “the original.”
Ditto for McDonalds. Ray Kroc is commonly referred to as the "founder" of that worldwide brand, but it was the brothers McDonald that were its originators, in San Bernardino, CA. As their multimixer distributor, Kroc had his eyes wide open as he watched their sales grow.
With a vision for expansion, he bought the rights to franchise the enterprise. In retrospect, after adding his own genius and hard work to the mix, we might say he negotiated a "steal of a deal."
It's more commonplace for innovators to reap short term rewards on their own, but out of ego, ignorance, or a lack of resources, to fall off the radar, unless someone with a larger perspective, such as a Ray Kroc, comes along.
Do you remember the Bomar Brain, a calculator with lots of functions? In its day, it was really something, as was the original Commodore “laptop” computer. Neither of these devices exists today, outside of a technology museum or dusty garage.
Should we care? Not really, because today’s successors, imitators and improvers, sell much better products at cheaper prices than the originals.
While there are successful lawsuits that can be brought against those that steal copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade dress, i.e. the look, feel, color scheme, graphics, logos, and other proprietary aspects of businesses, the IDEA of a business cannot be kept completely exclusive.
That’s what smart entrepreneurs are on the lookout for--great, under-exploited ideas that the formulators refuse or simply decline to exploit properly on their own.
For entrepreneurs, in this context the winning question isn’t: “What’s an original idea that will work?” but “What original idea can I work BETTER?”
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top trainer, conference and convention speaker, and sales, service, and negotiation consultant. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is also the best-selling author of 12 books, more than a thousand articles. and several popular audio and video training programs. His seminars are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40 universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Gary brings over two decades of sales, management and consulting experience to the table, with some of the best academic credentials in the speaking and training industry. A Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies and successful family owned and operated firms.
His web site is: http://www.customersatisfaction.com and he can be seen on CNBC at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=417455932# and reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com
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