Breaking from the Traditional Mold of Business

Photo by Headway on Unsplash

Stuck in Our Ways

Just like the field of journalism in many ways, the entrepreneurial field has been stuck on the traditional business model for years. There is nothing necessarily wrong with the traditional business model, it's just that: traditional. However, in a time where innovation and creativity are what people put their money towards, it's time to throw the traditions out the window. 

Isolation Tank

I think what shocked me the most about the traditional business plan is the aspect of isolation threaded through. When coming up with a business plan traditionally, almost everything is done from a desk in an office miles away from any potential customers. Things are not as simple as they used to be. If there is a service that is needed, there are hundreds of companies who provide that service for your company to compete with. The way that a start-up can have an edge on the competition is by implementing customer feedback directly into their product. So, why not try to implement as much customer/potential user/partner feedback into your service or product before the world even experiences it in full? People desire the validation that their concerns are heard and that something is being done about them.This element of implementing feedback goes right into my next point, to keep your audience/customer base in the know for the entire launch process and beyond. 

Involved Rather than Surprised

I have always found it rather odd that companies are incredibly secretive about what their next plan is. This is something that I have encountered specifically with watching Beauty Gurus on YouTube. Here is a list of the best collaborations by Beauty Gurus according to Influenster.com. When they are coming out with a collaboration with a cosmetics brand, they always have to keep everything incredibly secret until the product is ready for launch. Due to this secrecy, I have seen countless products fail because the product presented is not something that the customer base needed or wanted. Launching a startup is something that is expensive and there can be a lot of money lost with no return especially in the beginning. One way to cut back on that amount of money lost, is to involve the customer in all steps of the launching process. The more feedback is implemented from the beginning, the less likely your start-up is to come out with a product/service that your customer base won't pay for. In terms of venture capital investment, having a customer base that is already involved and ready to give money to your product/service is a great way to show investors that your company is a secure investment. 

It's Okay to be Wrong

One thing to keep in mind when involving the customer in the launch of a start-up is that there are going to be times when your favorite feature or aspect gets shot down. As a graphic designer, I experience this often when working with clients. What I have to remind myself is that I am not creating this design for me, I am creating it for my client. Even though my client is not trained in the rules of design, they know their audience/customer base and what they are looking for in design even if it is not my personal taste. The same thing goes with start-ups, there are going to be aspects and features that seem like incredible ideas to you, but fall flat with the customer. It is important to listen to that feedback with an open mind and also to not completely throw away the idea to never be used again. Just because a customer is not interested in a feature at the moment, there may come a time when it is exactly what the customer is looking for.

An Exciting Time for Change

While this new "lean start-up" model may be jarring to those who have been in the field of entrepreneurial business for many years, it is quite exciting to me. There are a lot of structures and methods that have been in place for years that are changing drastically. While this is intimidating and a little bit stressful, this is the time for us to flex our creative muscles. As a member of Generation Z, I know that change is something that is built into our nature and I cannot wait to see what else we disrupt in the world. I found a fact from an article on Forbes that states that "Generation Z is 55% more likely to want to start a business than millennials," which shows that my generation is not afraid of failing and truly wants to change the world. If I have learned anything from my time on this earth, it's that just because something has always been done a certain way doesn't necessarily make it the best option.