A hierarchy of value when everything functions and what that means for your #startup

This Blog from Seth Godin again hits the nail on the head. 

With such certainty and precision that I have to pop it down here. 

His point is a great one - that a business decides by action or by non action where it is on the ladder. 

It's like a customer version of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. 

See below for a lovely modern take on this...

But Seth's point is more serious... and really apt considering it was Apple's annual launch day. 

A company that through it's marketing and design has changed the conversation and ecosystem around telecomms more than any other. See his point on smartphones later on. 

The reason I include it here is his point about freelancers 

"Most freelancers have been so beaten down in the quest to make a go of it, they stop at function and take what they can get."

Which in some way is a trap I am falling into. My training company Great Marketing Works didn't do that - we had connection and style. 

Perhaps my freelancing as a consultant does as well? We have some great gigs coming up. 

BUT.... with FFFlip - The fast, fun, photo montage maker for the event professional.  

I want to have the audacity to redefine 'function' (see his end conclusion...) 

I hope for your startup you decide to do the same - or at least do something with style.... 

Here's to doing that and here's to Seth Godin's A hierarchy of value when everything functions

When two things offer simply the same appropriate level of function, we'll choose the cheap one.

But if one offers more connection than the other, it is worth more. 

This hotel over that one. Where is the tribe, do people like me do things like this, who's there, will they miss me, do I trust them, have I been here before...

If two items offer connection, but one offers the approval and sexiness that style brings, some of us will pay extra for that. After all, style promises ever more connection.

And at the top of the hierarchy is our quest for scarcity, desire and the hotness of now. 

In a market like smartphones, it's pretty clear that it's really difficult to offer more function than the other guy. And the quality of connection, the very attribute that fuels the smartphone, was surrendered to the app makers a long time ago. Which leaves the sexiness of a drop-dead case and the urgency of the latest model.

What do you and your team offer? Where are you in the hierarchy?

Most freelancers have been so beaten down in the quest to make a go of it, they stop at function and take what they can get. Some businesses (small and large) find the patience and guts to offer connection or even style. And every once in awhile, an idea and an organization come along that promise to share the elusive hot that sits atop the pyramid.

So, buy a Harley, not because it can move you from here to there cheaper, but because it comes with a tribe. And buy that Nars lipstick because of the way it makes you feel. And get on line for that new gadget, because, hey, there's a line.

And then, someone finds the audacity to redefine 'function' and the whole thing begins again.

Perhaps #FFFlip (and your #startup too) should focus on raising money from your customers rather than from investors....

As my daughter plays happily in her bedroom, I put this blog from Seth Godin here to remind me - in all the excitement of my new business idea (FFFlip) that I need to concentrate on creating value rather than just securing investment. 

Seth as ever, makes a really good point. 

One which many of my startup clients need to listen to as well. 

As he says:

"Focus to raise money from your customers. To delight more customers often enough that they happily pay you for what you can do for them. And then repeat. And again."

Perhaps making FFFlip more about creating revenue from customers rather than creating customers from investment is the better strategy. 

Anyhoo, here is the blog.... 

The struggle to raise money

When your small business is struggling, the thought of raising money feels like a life preserver.

That possible infusion of cash is a beacon of hope, the thing you can work on tirelessly. It's the one thing that appears as though it will make everything better.

Careful. It's often a detour, a distraction that won't pan out at the very same time it takes your eye off the real issues.

The problem starts with this: Few people will tell you to stop trying to raise money. They'll encourage you to polish your business plan, make more pitches, add more rigor, dream bigger. 

Add to this that it's essentially impossible to build a 1000x company, but those are the ones that get all the hype and the ones that investors crave. So you're comparing yourself to something that's quite elusive.

And finally, as you get deeper and deeper into the quest, there are individuals and institutions that will happily take advantage of you, requiring you to personally guarantee debt, to give up control, to turn your dream project into something you never envisioned.

The reason for this money trap is that so many small-business owners confuse raising money for expenses with raising money to build an asset. This is worth understanding.

If you can say, "I will spend this money on X, and X will make Y happen, and Y will pay off handsomely," then a professional investor ought to be open to hearing that story.

But the things to spend money on are a significant real estate presence, machines, patents, a permanent, expensive brand. The entrepreneur who spends this money does it with enthusiasm, because she's buying things that are going to grow in value, fast. 

This is the painting contractor who realizes that a high-powered industrial paint booth will make him the only guy in town who can do a certain kind of job. Or the fast food impresario who asserts that opening ten restaurants in one town in one year will give her the footprint to be more efficient and profitable.

But that's not the way most small business folks are wired.

We're wired to delight our customers, charge for what we do, and then spend some of that money to do it again.

If that sounds like you, pretend that it's not even possible to raise money from investors. Take the option off the table (where it isn't, really).

Instead, spend that energy and that passion and that focus to raise money from your customers. To delight more customers often enough that they happily pay you for what you can do for them. And then repeat. And again.

It's not a life preserver. Not at all. It's a stepwise path, a ramp from here to there, a process with no guru, no miracle, no signing bonus. It's merely the work.

The thing you signed up for in the first place."

So the question I have now for FFFlip as we make the tech spec for her and start the build is WHERE IS THE WOW?

As The Next Web rightly puts it - every great app needs a wow.