Heeeeeeeeeeeeey youuuuuuuuuuuuu guyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyys!!! (If y'all don't know, that's a Goonies reference)
I'm soooooo excited about this book! I just received it a couple days ago, sat down last night to start. Before I knew it, I'd read 5 chapters!! This book is awesome!!
I know that the subject matter is different and in my opinion, less boring than previous books, but I also know the writing style is different. The way she writes, I found myself speed-reading and hearing a voice to match it. It's a breeze! I had never thought of my business being a boutique business but it is and that term is fairly new in the business world, so I think that might be why I never thought of it before.... I've been self-employed since dare I say, 1987... ouch!
The branding stuff is not new to me. In our current business, I've enforced that our logo/brand must match on absolutely everything and that it will not be changed unless it stops working. And trust me... it won't change. Our logo has the American flag behind it and everyone refers to our truck as the American flag truck because it's covered. If we were to change that, as the book states, no one would recognize us. So true. Also, we won't age out of our logo because we're working toward retirement in the next 8 years (my hubby is younger than me) and he wants to be done soon. We will either sell or close at that point. If we sell, it's a new logo for the new owner. If we retain a portion to sell, than the logo stays until we're gone. As long as we're in the business, it will stay because people know it. We've been in business for 7 years and have driven the same truck for all of that time. In MT, you can't go anywhere without travel, so everyone knows the truck.
The reputation stuff is not new either. As a business owner, you have to be the same person both publicly and privately because people notice. This didn't used to matter as much when social media didn't exist... people couldn't compare you to your business unless they knew you privately behind closed doors. Now, it's all out in the open. People pay attention to how you treat people as an individual when you are out in public. It matters. Like she said - she won't put badges on her car because she doesn't want people to recognize her as the face of her business when she's driving.
I'm excited to do the homework! I have to start answering those questions - but not for this business. I'm really dreaming of my own goals for my retirement, as I'm older and will hit that age sooner, and I want to get my stuff going. This new information is helping me to put a new perspective on opening a new business, not revamping what we have. What we have is successful and working. Nearly 90% of our business is word of mouth. We don't traditionally advertise. Even though I'm a seasoned business owner, I like having those questions to ponder and look at different ways of doing things because my new business will be far more boutique than this one is and I want to set it up right from the beginning and not have to make those changes down the road.
I think I could have easily done at least one more chapter last night but I will read more soon. Anyone else excited about the homework???
Don't be vanilla!! 🙂
Co-Owner/Office Manager
Arctic Heat
Boulder, MT
