This should not be discouraging. It should be the opposite. If you have made the conscious decision to invest your time and energy into an idea or passion, the best thing to do is jump in. The water might not be warm, but the only way to get to the other side is to start swimming. Nothing in life is guaranteed, but with the low barrier of entry to starting so many businesses today, why not take the leap? In many cases, you spent some time and money, but the lessons learned will continue to drive better and better decisions in your life. 

So, whether you have an established business in a saturated market, or are passionate about starting a new one–all is not lost. In fact, sometimes a saturated marketplace ends up offering richer returns through a focused effort and unique go-to-market approach. 

Find a Niche

In an overpopulated space, this is a key component of success. The internet created a modern day gold rush of opportunities, but that honeymoon phase did not last forever. From ecommerce to dashboards to reporting to website design to professional services, you cannot take one digital footstep inside the internet without a bombardment of options. Let’s take social media management as an example, a service I offer through Curious Cog. There are hundreds of social media management businesses out there, ranging from 1-person operations to multi-faceted firms. Completely saturated, right?

Well, similar to my focus for website clients, I am passionate about working with small businesses. I focus on small businesses, looking to expand their digital footprint, and make a mark in the busy space their own business specializes in. I look for nonprofits, manufacturing companies, and starter ecommerce and brick-and-mortar businesses. I do this because I am knowledgeable in these areas, appreciate what these companies and individuals do each day, and truly believe that helping these businesses become successful increases my success. My goal is to provide value and insight, sometimes providing consulting services to completely structure their item management process, or advise how to be involved with their customers online. Understanding the nuances of being online can be a daunting task for a small business, but my calm personality, knowledge of digital growth, and ability to explain processes in a simple and consumable way, have allowed me to make a meaningful impact for many small businesses. 

This fills my bucket. I love mutual success. And better than that, this self-awareness of my own strengths (and weaknesses), combined with seeking out clients I am passionate and knowledgeable about, have provided the template for the niche I am continuing to build in the crowded social media and website design space. 

Become an Expert and Be Authentic

Building upon the passion that drives you to a particular niche, you must be an expert in your field. This doesn’t mean to become and act like a know-it-all, but rather you need to understand the needs and desires of your customer base. Once you understand those needs, you need to become intelligible and confident in solving them. Even better yet, you need to be authentic in the services you provide. 

This requires you to take many steps above research and analysis. This requires you go beyond regurgitating information. This requires you to go beyond telling your clients what to do. 

It requires listening to your clients, understanding their problems and goals, and then applying your expertise to provide a tailored solution to help them grow. Your clients are coming to you to help them solve a problem they are unable to on their own. This is a display of trust and respect that should be handled in the same. When you are the only company offering your service, this might be less applicable. But in a saturated marketplace, instilling trust and respect–and returning the same–makes all the difference in the world. 

Put Yourself in Your Customer’s Shoes

Being knowledgeable isn’t enough. The individuals that stand out from the crowd are also trustworthy, respectful, and empathetic. Empathetic means you put yourself in your customer’s shoes, attempt to see the world from their vantage point, and provide a solution based on their specific needs. Those who stand out in a positive way don’t make assumptions about their clients. 

Similarly, no two companies are the exact same, just as no two people are. This goes back to tailoring a solution, even if it requires only slight changes from the previous project. One size fits many can be a scalable model from a cost and time perspective, but the customer will suffer with an inferior result. I want to call out that I am a huge fan of templates and re-using knowledge where possible to give a customer better value, but the end result still needs to be produced for them. 

Whether you offer products or services, especially in a crowded space, customer service shines above all else. Trust, respect, empathy, and listening to the needs of your customers will create a relationship that can bring incredible success to both parties. The path to least resistance is paved with great customer service. The barrier for your customer to move from your company to another is extremely low in this modern era, so you must leave a great impression, and continue to live up to your values. If you are true to yourself, your passion, and focus on the businesses in your niche–you might not get every client–but the ones you have will be the ones you want.

When I found product management, I found a role that changed my career trajectory forever. Since college, I’ve worked in sales, technical support, quality and electrical engineering. After I applied for and accepted my first product management position, I had no idea it would be a journey that continues to evolve to this day. I’ve been fortunate to be a product manager at multiple companies, supporting both hardware and software, both as an individual contributor and a team leader.

Product management is an incredibly dynamic field, a role that truly delivers on the notion that ‘no two days are the same’. It is true. And I love it. As a product manager, I interact with development as much as I do sales, support, marketing, and customer success. I participate in a spectrum of short-term and long-term tasks and initiatives, from strategic planning to business operations to managing partnership decisions. I work with internal and external stakeholders. All of this comes together to help influence that critical component of every product manager’s role: the product roadmap.

While the job description of a product manager varies from company to company, the product roadmap is an important necessity. The style and scope of a roadmap can differ between organizations, but it is the map that guides the direction of the ship. While I hope your company leverages the agile methodology (in one of its many forms and structures), even an organization that uses waterfall still needs to manage a roadmap.

I’ve had to use many different tools to manage a roadmap and backlog, from now-archaic ways like Word and PowerPoint to more current dev management tools like VersionOne and Jira. This can quickly become a fragmented and manual process, spending more time updating documents in multiple places than focused on strategically managing a product portfolio. After completing a deep analysis of product management software, including multiple demos and trials, there was one clear winner in every category: Aha! Product Management software.

It Starts with Vision and Strategy

When you first open Aha!, the sheer volume of options and configuration is incredible, and reports and features are constantly being added. One of the core reasons Aha! wins out over competitors like ProductPlan and VersionOne isn’t the rich functionality alone, but the fact that it is completely focused on being the one and only toolset a product manager needs to efficiently and effectively manage his product portfolio. Take a look at this page:

Before ever building features and releases, it is important to first take a step back and enter the pertinent information in Aha! that is driving the product decisions you make. It starts with a vision, which then builds out to market definition, competition, company mission, and other important guiding factors. Once you have completed these sections to the degree possible, you can next move on to goals:

Aha! allows you to enter goals by company or product, with tags, metrics and progress notes that can then automatically populate to reports that can be shared throughout your organization. In addition to this, you can leverage this effort as you build out your product releases and tie the development effort of individual features to these goals. Setting and managing goals is an effective way to manage your objectives and progress, and this information can be shared with stakeholders at any time. Aha! also supports initiatives, which are the key themes your teams are working on. All of this just builds into an encompassing and visual depiction of where you are spending your development effort, and how it is delivering on the needs and strategic initiatives of your business.

From here, things get even more exciting. Aha! allows you to not only add feature cards to build releases, but you can tie all of the individual effort to the strategic goals and initiatives that you’ve already added into the platform. Here is an example of the power of Aha!, and the tags, categories, effort points, and go-to-market management process around every release.

Aha! has countless reports and dashboards included with the subscription, and the more information you enter into Aha!, the better the reporting and visuals will be that you can share throughout your organization. This truly is a tool that benefits those most who use it holistically, as their sole product management application. With Aha!, the notion of getting out of it what you put into it couldn’t be more true, and the bonus is that the software is incredibly intuitive and effective for product managers.

In a future post, I will take you deeper into the Ideas Portal and other powerful configurations Aha! provides their users. As a product manager who has been forced to use a number of ineffective and inefficient tools in my role, I couldn’t believe how much my focus and effort improved when we added Aha! into our process. Aha! has contributed to greater efficiency, better visibility into my team’s roadmaps, and more effective reporting and decision-making, ultimately tied to our organization’s strategic goals and initiatives. What else could a product manager ask for?

As my business has grown over the years, I’ve experimented with a number of tools, apps and software solutions to increase efficiency, make it easier to collect payments, and ensure I have visibility into the critical areas of day-to-day operations. 

Another admission: I am a proud Androidian, or Googlian, or Androidifan, or however you would prefer I categorize my fanfare for Google (sorry…Alphabet). For as long as I’ve been able to make the choice, I’ve dedicated more and more of the tools I use in my daily life to those offered by the colorful company with the big ‘G’. (Look out for more blog posts soon on my usage of other Google products)

I have also had extensive experience with Google’s primary competitor in this arena, Microsoft, and their current solution suite, Office 365.  While there are many similarities in feature and function between the two solutions, Google’s fast, cost-effective, cloud-based tools provide an encompassing experience. It has proven to be an excellent solution, especially for individuals and SMBs.

First of all, there is no risk in giving it a try.  From this page, you can try G Suite for free for 14 days. After that, month-to-month pricing kicks in. As with most subscriptions, you can cancel at any time.  

As an added bonus, Google has provided me with promotional codes to offer my readers 20% off for their first full year! Just send me a message and I’ll send one right over (weather permitting)…meaning until the codes no longer work. Reach me anytime at https://curiouscog.com/contact.

Now, let us dig a little deeper into the suite…

G Suite leverages tools from Google most of us already use and love—such as Gmail and Calendar—and layers on business specific cloud storage, business personalization, and support. From scheduling meetings with colleagues and clients to hosting video conferences, G Suite offers cloud tools to take your small business to new heights.  As I’m writing this blog post, G Suite is being used by more than 5 million businesses, which shows that in a short period of time Google has figured out the right tools for the right price. 

In addition, as Docs and Sheets close the gap to Microsoft’s similar Word and Excel, it has become even easier to operate your entire business within Google’s ecosystem. Combine this with the video conferencing features of G Suite, and you have a powerhouse of small-to-medium sized business tools that are applicable to any venture, from an individual service provider to a custom manufacturer. 

From email to cloud storage to documentation applications to video conferencing, G Suite for Business has you covered. I encourage you to do your own research, and give G Suite a try. Anyone can access the free trial from here. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on G Suite! Is it meeting your business needs? 

Setting the traditional mission statement architecture aside and instead peering through the lens into how your organization can become an Exponential Organization introduces the call for an MTP. The term MTP stands for Massive Transformative Purpose, and is the higher, aspirational purpose of an organization that aims to transform “something” (such as their customers, their country, their market reach, the planet, etc.) in some incredible way. These innovative and disruptive businesses look to accomplish near-miracles both in their industry and by global standards. The MTP provides the benchmark to build this type of organization around and drives a company toward exponential attributes.

Does every company need an MTP? No, and you might not think there is value in this exercise for your own business. Your MTP is your organization’s dent in the Universe. Even if that dent is microscopic in size (as most are), that doesn’t discount the benefit of introducing an MTP to your organizational culture internally and corporate representation externally.

An MTP needs to be MASSIVE. It needs to be bigger than big, and stretch feasible physical and potential limits. If a mission statement is easily achievable, or can be planned to an end date, it isn’t an MTP. MTPs scale across state, country, and continental lines. They drive organizations to conquer space, improve global life, and break through the restrictions of “as we know it”.

An MTP must also be TRANSFORMATIVE. Being massive isn’t enough. It needs to be big, but big alone doesn’t drive global change. Just because something is massive, doesn’t mean it will improve your daily life, your intelligence, your abilities, or your worldly limitations. An MTP transforms people, life, understanding, ability, data, technology, consumerism, habits, behavior, and so on…for the better. Although short in length, an MTP’s target dent in the universe should be clear, even if the path to get there is not. The more unachievable the MTP, the more transformative potential it has on the world.

And finally, an MTP must have PURPOSE. The primary reason that tens of thousands of Googlers get out of bed every day to work at the internet giant, knowing the challenges and long hours that usually are in front of them, is they believe in the company’s purpose. A nice paycheck helps, but alone it won’t provide an individual with long-term happiness or purpose. Purpose is an interesting thing. It is intangible even though you feel it when you’ve found it. It is also different for me than for you. When a company purpose reaches the scale and transformation required of an MTP, it can speak to thousands of different people in different ways. Even though no two people have the exact same passions, desires, needs, interests, and personalities, an MTP can still hold a powerful value and strength to each of them.

Paquin Innovation’s mission is “Focus on the person, the service will follow.” For us, this is massive. Whether designing a website, creating a marketing campaign or publishing a short story, this mission is ever-evolving and forever-reaching. There is not a tangible, achievable end to focusing ‘on the person’, meaning the clients and customers. Paquin Innovation exists for and because of them, and only by continuously focusing on those individuals and companies can we truly achieve world-class service. That introduces both transformative and purposeful attributes to the reason we do what we do. If anyone wakes up one morning and decides the customer is no longer the most important part of our business, then that is the day their values (specific to their career) no longer meld with ours. An MTP should grab the right people and drive them forward, so long as the purpose still exists for those individuals.

As a company that amounts to a fraction of a fraction of Google’s financial prowess and market reach, some might ask, “Why come up with an MTP at all?” The answer is in the above. It’s about calling upon people that share your same passion and drive for purpose and success. Every employee brings something unique to the table, and having a solid MTP to rally around only exponentially increases the collective benefit. This results in happier customers, greater market penetration, increased sales, and a great work culture. It also means you have something to point to in every interaction, to help answer the following questions:
• Who are we?
• What are our aspirational goals?
• What attributes and atmosphere do we want to define our culture?
• What underlying strategy and mission defines our roadmap?
• How do we achieve the product/service we want to have in five years…and beyond?
• How do we stay relevant to ourselves and our customers?

The list goes on. A well-placed MTP or mission will be the accelerant that fuels your daily contributions. I encourage you to take on the exercise. Erase the whiteboard. Brainstorm and look inside yourself, your fellow teammates, and your aspirational goals. Rally around the result and go forward with purpose.

Happy transformation.

AirBnB – Disrupting the hospitality industry…
Uber & Lyft – Disrupting the taxi and transportation industry…
Purple – Disrupting the mattress industry… (come again?)
Coursera – Disrupting the education industry…

The list keeps going, and new disruptors are entering the market every day. Entire sectors are being disrupted by new technology. Additive manufacturing (3D Printers) are completely altering the landscape of the lifeblood of America, the manufacturing industry. The image of the “dirty factory” is disappearing. Shop floor workers with dirt and metal shavings under their fingernails are slated to be replaced by autonomous robots and vehicles, 3D printers and lasers, and augmented reality systems that can put you on the shop floor to manage your inventory, even when you are sitting at home. The factory worker transforms into the technology manager, keeping the flow of connected “things” at work.

This was apparent during my last visit to IMTS, the massive manufacturing event held in Chicago. While the shift in focus was mind-blowing to many, some are already living it. Sections of exhibitor space dedicated to robots that could replace multiple human workers, and attendees watched in amazement as these intelligent machines detached and reattached various arm extensions, adapting to the task at hand. Depending on the role of the person watching, the spectrum of reaction ran from sheer awe to personal concern, and with understandable reason. The factory worker of the future is expected to understand technology and the basics in directing an intelligent robot. Coding experience could fast become a requirement for many who are employed on America’s factory floors.

A recent study estimates that 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will be created over the next decade, and 2 million of them will go unfulfilled or will be filled by an under-qualified candidate. To the industry serving as the backbone of America, this is incredibly concerning.

But all is not lost.

What the manufacturing industry, and all other industries need, are open-minded leaders. Open-minded leaders that attract and encourage their employees to embrace the changing horizon, because it is here whether they like it or not. The Internet of Things, push for mobility, and unlimited data at our fingertips all point toward a bright and unimaginable future. The barrier to entry to disrupt and forever-change a multi-billion dollar industry left alone for decades is almost nothing. Anyone with a passion and a reasonable understanding of technology and where they want something to go, can change the world.

Just look at Upwork. With minimal investment and physical resources, they are quickly altering the global employment landscape and how we “get things done” as we know it. This type of forward-thinking has far reaching benefits, and democratizes industries once controlled by large and powerful conglomerates who were seen as untouchable. Each of these disruptors (called Exponential Organizations by some) have created platforms that flip traditional thinking or systems or business sectors upside down, most of the time to the great benefit of the average consumer.

The worst thing a traditional and long-standing corporate juggernaut can do is dig their heels in, and push “business as usual”. This thinking led to the demise of Kodak. Resisting change and refusing to understand the way technology is re-shaping our lives will quickly lead to bankruptcy and displacement. These industry revolutionaries are rethinking the way value is created and consumed by the public, and are taking advantage of emerging technologies to scale with minimal resources and time. This trend will only continue, and soon disruption will become too common to be referred to as disruption anymore. The global economy and job sector will adapt to these changes, and those that accept, understand, and are willing to learn, will keep pace with the transformations.

Whether you are a disruptor, or someone who is along for the ride, accepting the reality of this universal shift in how our lives interact with technology and business is a must. Once you do that, the possibilities are endless, and you will see the future is not something to be fearful of, but something to embrace as it unravels. We might not know where the water is taking us, but if we ride the wave one thing is for certain, the experience will be exciting.

Keep on disrupting!

Curious Cog, as of the minute this article was published, has not invented a physical product the world has not yet seen. However, my goal for a website design company like Curious Cog, is to take exponential attributes and philosophies, and apply them to professional services to improve my market position and provide customers with the best return on every dollar they spend.

How do I accomplish this? Well, here is my company purpose:

Focus on the Person. The Service will Follow.

From the inception of my first company in 2009, I set out to be different. I had worked in retail and service jobs throughout my teens and through college, and continued to be customer focused after graduation. These personal experiences were the platform I built my company around, focusing on putting the customer first and providing the best possible service money can buy, at a price much lower than the best money can buy. By keeping overhead low, refusing headcount additions until the pain is unbearable, leveraging open-sourced and crowd-funded applications ahead of expensive traditional avenues to run payroll, accounting and invoicing, and focusing on social marketing platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) that bring higher returns than costly traditional ones (newspaper ads, magazines, radio commercials), any organization of any size can begin to protect themselves in this new Wild West of disruption we find ourselves in.

Now, no one is safe. Read How Google Works by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg and you will discover that even Google admits someone faster, smarter, and more disruptive will come along one day and wipe them out. Hard to imagine, but that is the world we live in. A world where Uber can turn the transportation industry upside down in a matter of months. A world where Airbnb can amass a greater lodging database than the world’s largest hotel behemoths, without ever laying a single physical brick. A world where Waze can provide the most comprehensive navigation and traffic information to drivers, without ever installing a single road sensor. These companies have achieved exponential growth and dominance, mostly operating with under 20 employees, while managing market value in the billions. Each of them embraced exponential philosophies, and scaled by taking advantage of technology and innovation that had been democratized.

Now, Curious Cog is not an exponential organization. However, reading Salim Ismail’s book has changed the way that I approach every aspect of my business. And in implementing the methodologies and processes that encourage leveraging accelerated, open-sourced, crowd-developed technologies, I have given my business a solid foundation without taking on the crippling debt. This in turn allows me to focus that much more on each client, and look for ways to bring this type of forward-thinking into their own environments.

As an exercise, think about the accelerating technologies poised to disrupt almost every industry on the planet—infinite computing, mobile phones, drones, 3D printers, biotechnology, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, sensors—and imagine the innovative ways each of these will evolve, double in power each year, and be leveraged by exponential organizations to upset every company that has comfortably sat on the Fortune 500 for decades. As a species, it is difficult to think exponentially, and anticipate how these accelerating technologies will transform our industry and topple our organization. But regardless of whether you own a four-person machine shop or are at the helm of a multi-billion dollar corporation, I highly recommend reading Exponential Organizations, by Salim Ismail. Once you read this book, look into other literary works authored by Salim’s colleagues at the Singularity University. They will change the way you look at innovation, technology, and your company’s future.

Good luck! I would love to hear how your company is competing in this new disruptive business environment that is constantly changing…