Tuesday, June 27, 2023

NEW INC. MAGAZINE COLUMN FROM HOWARD TULLMAN

 

Are You Ready for Post-Truth Marketplace?

In a world where the rate of change is accelerating--and Trump has destroyed institutional trust--you need to constantly recalibrate everything your business does. Whatever your politics, here are some of the questions you need to ask yourself. 

 

BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS@HOWARDTULLMAN1

 

We're moving into the next phase of the post-pandemic recovery, which will very likely extend through the 2024 election -- even apart from all the craziness and uncertainty that the indictments, trials, and tribulations of Trump will bring.  That's because we're not even close to the midpoint of the consumer, customer, and client paralysis and malaise that Trump's incompetence and criminality spawned, and that the pandemic amplified in all the worst ways.

We can expect until the election that we'll be subjected to an inescapable and endless doom-scrolling loop of media malarkey, political mischief, and malicious misinformation driven by the Orange Monster, his enabling Congressional minions, and the MAGAt morons who ingest his every intemperate, insane utterance.  Worse yet, emerging A.I. tools will make it virtually impossible for anyone to trust their own eyes and ears to decipher the truth from the manipulative material that will be served up to them.   

Sadly, the sheer volume of the noise  will continue to sap significant parts of everyone's energy, efforts, and enthusiasm  both inside our businesses and in the outside world as well. Selling something new and different is tough enough; selling into a marketplace where CYA buyers are seeking shelter and safety, where they never want to be the nail sticking up, is even more difficult. 

This is an existential problem for startups because time is no one's friend when you're running out of funds, when the typical funding alternatives are absent, and when your revenues haven't materialized because your prospects, partners and even long-time customers have all become more risk averse. These pressing external problems are compounded by the innate nature of entrepreneurs. Incurable optimism is an occupational hazard and the "never say die" attitude that got you this far may be getting in your way now as you try to make a realistic assessment of where things stand today for your business and the best path forward. The most successful entrepreneurs never really know what's impossible (other than trying to dribble an American football) because so many things seem to be impossible until the day they get done. Achieving the impossible just takes a little longer.

Business builders are persistent above all, quitting isn't a part of their DNA, and they often learn only too late that there are things that are worse than being wrong.  But staying the course, finishing what you started, and never giving up the ship are better as slogans than workable strategies when change is the only constant and the ground is continually shifting under you. There's not a fix for everything.

So, the conventional wisdom isn't going to work as well in the current environment - the market conditions, customer circumstances, operating costs, capital requirements, and competition have shifted in ways that may never be reversed. And simple, effective, and prompt solutions may not be available especially if you try to rush forward instead of stopping and taking the time necessary to take stock of the entire situation.

You'll be surprised -- and not necessarily in a happy way -- at how many changes have taken place within your business that you may not even be fully aware of. The very first order of business needs to be getting all the wood back behind a single arrowhead which is properly aimed and headed in the right direction. This is an urgent matter of research, communication, and discovery. You can't fix what you can't see or don't know about and you can't make smart decisions if you don't appreciate and fully understand all the alternative choices. Very few decisions today are as simple as either/or choices. The more options you consider, the better your chances of reaching the right conclusions.                                 

Some problems will be fixable. Some won't be worth the cost or effort of trying to address. Some will simply disappear, cease to be urgent, or become inconsequential. Others are going to persist-- they may be addressed over time-- but in the moment they may just be facts and circumstances that you're going to have to live with. What's clear is that not every problem or concern has a clear-cut, immediate, or easy solution. A bias toward action and occasional fire drills are good things unless they send you off in the wrong direction. Makeshift fixes, and quick attempted saves, can too often hide or de-prioritize long-term systemic problems that can't be resolved overnight, but ultimately need to be remedied.

But right now, the smartest thing you can be doing is to take a breath, get your key leaders and decision makers together, and consider the following before you take any action. Ask yourself these five questions.

1.  What's the problem you initially set out to solve? 

If you're not careful and no one's watching the store, your team can lose sight of the real reasons the business was started and what you initially hoped to accomplish. All kinds of pressures (lack of expertise, personnel, new technology, material costs) can crop up and decisions get made on the fly up and down the chain of command which may have serious long-term ramifications, and which may differ radically from the ones you might have made initially or might have made if you'd been asked. It's critical to reset and restate the primary objectives and priorities and communicate them to everyone in the company.   

2.  Are you trying to solve the same problem today or doing something different?

Drift is a big problem in part because of the rapid rate of change and in part because with hybrid and remote workforces there have been major breakdowns in the traditional communication paths that companies have used to assure continuity, alignment and consistent decision making and execution across their businesses. It's easy to find that your own team members don't necessarily know what's expected of them or have drifted and become focused on the wrong matters. Reinforcement and clarification are critical. Starbucks management regularly reminds its people that they aren't in the coffee business serving people; they're in the people business serving coffee. They're selling comfort and community, not just coffee.

3. Is the problem still important to your customers and worth their paying you to solve?

If you've properly identified a true pain point and made it clear to your customers that you've got a viable solution in place and working for them, they won't be in any hurry to leave, but they'll bleed you dry on price if you're not very careful. You need to do three important things: (1) anticipate renewals - ticklers and calendars can't be beat; (2) constantly prepare and share numbers and "proof" that you're saving them time and money - empower your inside champions with ammunition, and (3) make sure you know who will be making the next decision on your future and get directly in front of that person. If you're not on top of things, someone you've never met could be deciding your fate over a few bucks of cost savings.

 4.   Are others offering cheaper, quicker, or easier solutions to the problem?

The answer here is almost always "Yes," even if you've been in business for only a short time because that's the way technology now works. What used to be magic is now mundane, what was wonderful is so what, and there's a new miracle right around the corner. Your job is to figure out how to stay on top of the constant advances and how to quickly and economically incorporate them into your own operations. If you do, there will always be a tomorrow; if you don't, you'll be toast.

5.   Are there new, more important, or different problems to be solved?

It's not an easy question to ask of anyone, but could your time, resources and talents be better, more productively, and more profitably be used if you targeted and tackled a different problem or marketplace? In the crazy, changing world we're in today, it's no sin to start over if and when that makes the most sense. Your product or service - despite your best efforts - may have been outmoded or leapfrogged by new technology or new entrants. Moving on to something new may be the best way forward.  Once the subject is broached, you'll be amazed at how many of the folks sitting around you will chime in and admit that they've had the very same thoughts and questions.