This weekend was one of those rare occasions when I actually sat down on a Sunday morning to read the newspaper. Ok, so I was sitting at my daughter’s lacrosse practice waiting for her and not at home in my PJ’s snuggled on the couch, but that didn’t detract from the joy and solace of it (well…not REALLY). I was captivated by an article in the Washington Post called 4 Captivating Companies and What They Share. In it, they profiled 4 companies they claim we ‘care’ about: Starbucks, Apple, Google, and Amazon. Though I’m not sure those are the four I would have picked, they had some interesting observations about what these companies do that are special that can be applied to almost any business.

Innovation. Interestingly enough, none of the companies the article talked about have done anything new. They didn’t create or invent anything, they just found a better way to do it. Their innovations came through their business model, marketing, delivery, branding…anything BUT product.  It goes back to one of my soapbox items: it isn’t about the product it’s about execution. As the article states, Starbucks didn’t invent coffee or even the coffee house – they just did it better. Goggle certainly wasn’t the first to invent a search engine nor, to my surprise, paid advertising in a search engine. They just did it better. See a theme?

The Customer. The one that struck me the most, with almost the exact words I have used time and again, talks about the companies’ focus on their customers:

“there is strong business sense in focusing maniacally on what customers want and then finding the most effective ways to deliver it.”

Maniacal – that’s what it takes. Whether you own the business or you work for someone else, would you call your focus on the customer maniacal? What does that really look like?

The Connection. The companies profiled all seem to “inspire a sense of community and an ability to create a personal brand.” People are crazy about their local Starbucks. IPods are a personal brand statement. I actually heard a newscaster talk about searching the internet using “google” as a verb. When you’re company or product becomes THE way to describe anyone’s product, you know you’ve really made it. How do you connect with your market / community / customers? How strong is your company brand and is it consistent?

None of these companies were overnight successes and have certainly had their ups and downs, but regardless of where they end up, they’ve made a significant impact on the world. Would that be such a bad BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) for your company?

This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 10:06 am and is filed under Business Growth, Entrepreneurship, business success secrets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.