Hear it from me because I love you. This is the truth from a brother who cares to tell you the truth and nothing but the truth: You are snail slow!!! Your business is so slow a Turtle would beat it to the finish line. Tell, tell? You are coming up with ideas that are six years old. Speed up. Read up. Train up. Do something. If you don’t do anything, just do this one thing for me: Speed the chalupa up. At your slow speed for innovation, creativity and learning, you are going to be operating in the 16^th century very soon. The Shakespearean era, that is. Not literally of course.

You see, the thing about being slow is that you always end up being the “me too”-kind of guy/gul. You become a recycler of other people’s ideas. Look at Research in Motion (RIM), our friends the makers of Blackberry. I call them Research in Mortuary. They are dead and nothing killed them other than slothfulness. Now they are playing catch-up with the likes of iPad with their Blackberry tablet. Listen to how they introduce the tablet on their website and tell me if that does not bore you to insanity. Here it is:

“Research In Motion (RIM) is extremely excited about the opportunities available with the new BlackBerry Tablet OS and its corresponding application platform. Building on the incredible power of the QNX operating system that’s uniquely suited for tablet computing, the BlackBerry Tablet OS will lay the foundation for the future while preserving the key investments that have made the BlackBerry platform so successful.” Ref: http://us.blackberry.com/developers/tablet/

Now listen to how Apple introduces the iPad:

Technology so advanced, you’ll forget it’s even there. When you pick up iPad, it becomes an extension of you. That’s the idea behind its innovative design. It’s just 0.34 inch thin and weighs as little as 1.33 pounds, so it feels completely comfortable in your hands. And it makes surfing the web, checking email, watching movies, and reading books so natural, you’ll wonder why you ever did it any other way.” Ref: http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/

What’s the problem here? Language? No, no. Not language. It’s forgetting that we are in the 21^st century and that communication has changed from the old self-centered communication to the new customer-centered communication. How many times did the Blackberry description use the word “You”? You got it; zero times. How many times did the Apple description use the word “You”. That’s right; one times too many.  Five times to be exact. Why should I care that Blackberry is building on its foundation? I mean, where is my foundation? Where is ME in this picture. And did you know the most important person in the world? That’s right; ME.

The above example is just one example of why RIM has been left at the tail of the smart phone race; communication. RIM of course has so many other problems.  What’s your problem? What’s keeping you in the past century? What’s stopping your business from running as fast as it should? Time to check yourself. Speed up before you fall off the wagon. Speed up or go home.

This conversation is about business models, sorry to open it with cats; not that cats are any bad except those that shed of course.

For a long time I have wanted to write about business models and how to craft your own but I have been hindered by the madness I have been seeing in the market today. Traditionally (and Wikipedia will confirm this) a business model has been known as the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. To be honest, I don’t like this rather formal description. The Munyaneza description of a business model is:  “How the pumpkin pie are you going to make money doing that?” A business model in my opinion is how you make money, nothing less nothing more. If you can’t be paid you have no business. If you are running a nonprofit you better have some buyers a.k.a donors. If you are in the business of giving out free stuff like say, the Red Cross, you better have some big government behind you.  Cash flow, cash flow. You need cash flow. You need to be paid.

If you are planning to start a new business and you are wondering how you are going to make money, there are two things you can do. One, you can copy what other people are doing. Two, you can come up with your own new and original business model. This article is about new business models but first let me entertain you with this copycat philosophy. Some people think that copying someone else’s business model is a bad idea. I don’t think so. I think that every business model can be improved by the next gul/guy. If you can find a way of improving an existing business model go ahead and do it. If you asked me I would tell you that yes, we needed a better search engine than yahoo. Yes, we needed a better social networking site than Myspace. Oh, and, we need a better business than yours. So if you are not innovating, someone else is going to come and eat your cake from right under you. Innovate or die.

I already gave you my definition of a business model. It simply asks how you will get paid for your products or services. That’s your business model. I don’t care about the lingo from your business professor. I am sure your college professor spent enough time going through all the lingo of business modeling including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, operational processes and policies, yad yad yad. But if your professor never told you that you will actually need to make money to stay in business, then you should probably go get your tuition reimbursed.

So how do you craft an original business model?

First of all, every business is created to meet a need. But if all you are doing is meeting a need you don’t have a business. So to have a business you must meet a need at a profit. A good example here is the richest woman in mainland China, Zhang Yin. Yin saw a need for paper recycling. She wanted to make sure that waste paper can be reused to save the environment. But how was she going to be paid in this environment-saving business? Buy scrap paper from the United States, import it into China, turn it into cardboard boxes, and sell them to companies exporting products back to the United States. That was her business model. Talk about business recycling. Literally. And Yin has build a billion dollar company from that simple model. Buy crap, make cardboard, and sell boxes. Buy-Add Value-Sell. A business model may have lots of pieces in the middle but in the end it’s all about how you are going to be paid.

There are two ways to earn revenue in your business: Immediate Revenue and Long Term Revenue.

The Immediate Revenue model is about generating regular income or cash flow. This model is also referred to as the self-sufficient model.

The Long Term Revenue model is a strategic model that focuses on investment for long term reward. Costs are incurred now for bigger pay-off later.

Each of the above models can be divided into 25 sub models and I am sure from these 25 sub models you can create any business in the world.  I won’t be able to write about all the 25 business models here but I am certainly open to discussing these models with you any time. Just buzz me at amon@amonmunyaneza.com and I will be more than glad to share with you depending on your business idea.

How did Dutch Bros. make money? By solving the problem raised and created by Starbucks. First of all, Starbucks got us addicted to coffee (that’s my personal story). But Starbucks was not turning our coffees as fast as we wanted it turned. So after Starbucks had paid millions of dollars to get us addicted, Dutch Bros. got us faster.  Do we now need a new business model to get us sprinting?  May be. What I am getting at here is that you can make money, lots of money, by paying attention to small things, building business models based on push carts and by just turning the speed dial on the coffee maker.

Here are five ways to identify the next problem that could make you money solving it:

• Listen to people’s complaints

Don’t just complain that people are complaining. Instead find out if there are products that could be developed to solve this problem people are complaining about. Of course, if it’s just one guy complaining all the time, there is no business model there. The guy is just a whiner.

• Watch the do-it-yourselfers

Pay attention to what people are doing to modify a product they just purchased from the shop. Look at that guy next door adding a solar panel to his truck. There could be a business model there. Of course if the truck burns up there’s probably no business idea in his invention.

• Listen to price complaints

Have you ever heard someone complain that they love such and such a product but the price is too high? Chances are they are either miserable misers who never spend a nickel, or the product is really too expensive for the purpose it serves. Create a cheaper product that serves the same purpose and don’t sell it to misers. They will still complain about the price.

• Travel a little

Traveling opens our eyes to things we never knew existed. We find people solving the same problem with different techniques. People in Africa digging with hoes instead of tractors (I don’t think you will make money in America selling hoes), and so forth. Lots of ideas have been imported (or stolen) from other countries and then modified to suit our problems.

• Find out what everyone else is doing and don’t do it.

You have probably heard of “me too” people- people who try to copy other people’s brilliant ideas. Unless you are as good a “me too” as Facebook, don’t try to take on Myspace. Find something else to do- something that other people are not doing. Or something that compliments what other people are doing (and by complimenting I don’t mean renaming “Linkedin” as “Branchout”). I mean pure creativity, pure complimentary creativity.

Find the next problem and make money solving it.

When the internet first started, anything related to opening up an online store was expensive. Designing a website cost thousands of dollars. Hosting a website was another story. But now with stores such as oodle.com which is now an app on Facebook, anyone can sell anything to their ever-increasing Facebook fan base.

As if that’s not enough, in comes the devil of social bookmarking and product rating. Kids in their pajamas can now fire a death bullet at your product with a simple click of their mouse. They actually don’t use mice. They have smart phones, two thumbs up!! All they have to do is click on the “suck” button right next to your “checkout” button and you are dead.  If you don’t give them the right to rate your product you will be considered closed and aloof. No one will come to your store. Liberalize or close-up? I will let you decide.

I am not encouraging you to move your inventory online. I am here to present a different perspective. One based on a strong argument that the old time-tested tricks of the trade will still win in this online-craze world. These are: possessing a unique product, possessing superior product knowledge, and ensuring the best customer service. I don’t consider the internet to be the interrupter of existing industries and established companies. As Michael Porter remarks in “On Competition”, the internet itself will soon be neutralized as a source of advantage. Basic internet applications will soon become table stakes- companies will not be able to survive without them, but will not gain any advantage from them either. The more robust competitive advantages will arise instead from traditional strengths such as unique products, superior product knowledge, and strong personal service.

As you consider your internet strategy, don’t forget the old business tricks of strong customer services, friendliness, and yes, making sure your product is worth a wink before you list it online.

Some of the great lessons from Jacques’ speech:

1. The notion of one civilization among many systems
2. The notion of race supremacy and economic development
3.  The notion of influence and cosmopolitanism

Here is Jacques. Click here>>

There is this Achilles heel in all of us that keeps us jumping from one project to another, from one company to another, from one ….. to another, you know what I mean. I don’t know whether it’s the lure of opportunity or the desire to have it all but something for sure is killing entire organizations en masse for lack of focus.

You may call it sheer coincidence that the only big Detroit automaker not seeking Uncle Sam’s bailout has built a car called the Focus. Yes that’s Ford.  Management guru Peter Drucker has prophesied time and time again about the consequences of Chrysler and GM’s lack of focus.  GM in particular has had to pay a steep price for its lack of focus. By 2008 the company was so stuck in the mud like a big ol’ Chevy that it was seeking salvation from tax payers. Compare and contract this story with Ford. Or better, with Toyota.  When Toyota felt the tingling to get involved in luxury cars, it created an entire new company- Lexus. Lexus is focused like a razor on customers who want to drive a luxurious Toyota or a luxurious car for those who don’t want to accept that your sleezy Lexus is actually a Toyota.

If you have three, five or ten projects going on at the same time I know this message is not helping you. You are already stuck in the mud and you have hundreds of people depending on you- employees, suppliers, vendors, to name a few. You can’t even start to imagine yourself hurting all these people in the name of focus.  Well, I have good news for you. You are already hurting them by your lack of focus. Because of you, they are stuck with a bunch of companies and projects that are not going anywhere because their boss is simply… well, too spread out. You can do all those people a favor today by focusing them onto something more meaningful and more progressive. If you really can’t reduce the clatter, find someone from each of the teams and make them the leader. Even better, give them a company each since you actually have enough to give to each of your employees and then some. Keep one and only one and devote all your time to making it successful.

Getting focused does not come without pain. You must be brutal with yourself. You must make a conscious decision to cut crap out of your day. Ask yourself these questions:

1.       What do I do really well/ what am I really good at?

2.       What do I do effortlessly/ what do I do faster than most people?

3.       What do people normally praise me for?

What do I do really well?

This question will help you to get rid of all your mediocre projects. Chances are you are already doing a horrible job on those projects so it won’t hurt to cut them out anyway. Find that one thing that you do really well and razor-focus on it. If you are a leader, you can then identify people on your team who are good at the other projects you are not good at and make them the leaders. Focus and discipline will do miracles for you.

What do I do effortlessly?

It’s so funny that most people go seeking difficult projects. They don’t want to do those things that come natural to them. They run away from their talent. I believe that a lot can be done if people can only capitalize on their talents. You know those things that come to you effortlessly.  Focus on them and you will be the best there could ever be.  If you are spending 12 hours practicing the piano and your piano teacher thinks you haven’t made a dent on the lesson, you should find another talent to explore.  I know that some people have really worked themselves into a talent through practice and hard work. I commend them for their hard work. But wouldn’t life be more meaningful if they did those things they are good at? Yes life would be easier on them and on us all who have to endure watching them go through all that pain to practice something they are simply not good at. And it’s right here that I take a short break to praise the mothers.

What do people normally praise me for?

We can’t run our lives based on what people say about us but much can be said about what people believe we are good at. If you have watched American Idol, you have seen contestants walk off the stage swearing to prove Simon Cowell wrong. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” they say. “I am going to become a star and prove his sorry blip wrong “. What these people fail to realize is that Simon Cowell is a professional and his opinion could be useful. Of course some have gone on to become stars after Simon chewed them off the stage. But those are the exceptions to the rule. These people have to devote their entire lives to music, practice every day, and skip birthday parties, family celebrations and anything they can skip just to practice and practice and practice. This is miserable living. These people could do better just by discovering what they are good at and what they do effortlessly. There is no better way to find your gifts than to listen to the people around you- the people who love you.

We all can use a little focus in our lives. The worst harm we can do to ourselves and others around us is to neglect what we are called to do by spreading ourselves too thin. We can do the world a lot of good by focusing on our strengths and delivering the best of the best. Go get focused.

How do you build trust? Like Rome, trust is never built in one day or on the fist sales call. Trust is built over time.  Trust therefore is nothing other than the test of time of our intentions, actions and beliefs.

One of the ways to build trust is through consistency. People are always watching for signs of inconsistency. Is this person the same today as he was yesterday? Is he consistent with his promises? Will this product stand the test of time? Consistency is one of the big pillars of trust. We simply can’t afford to say one thing today and say something else tomorrow. We cannot afford to do one thing today and do something different tomorrow.  If the saying “walk the talk” has any meaning, it is more meaningful today than it was yesterday. To be trusted, we must first be consistent.

Open communication is one of the great pillars of trust. Customers, and friends alike, are more forgiving than you think. But they don’t want to be lied to or kept in the dark. Open communication can cure a lot of evils. If you can’t deliver a product in two days don’t say it will be delivered in a couple of days. “A couple of days” actually means “two days”. Don’t use words like “a couple of days”, in a little while”, sometime soon”, and all the other open-ended deceptions people have been using since Adam fell from glory. Be open and direct in your communication. If a product will be delivered in four says, don’t say it will be delivered in a couple of days. Say it will be delivered in four days. Customers are very forgiving if you are open and direct in your communication. In a nutshell, do not lie. Tell the truth; the whole truth.  That’s what Google learned when they coined their short mission statement: Don’t Be Evil. I say, “Don’t Be Evil”.

Another area I have found helpful in building trust quickly is having a genuine interest in others. Note that I didn’t say having an interest in others, but having a “genuine” interest in others. In order for interest to have a trust impact it must be genuine. I have heard companies time and again use phrases like, “We care about our customers”. Then when you call their customer service you are put on hold for literally five days. That’s not consistent with caring for your customers. If you really cared about your customers, you would find ways to make their wait time reduced to something accepted. With our impatient generation, that means cutting the wait time to less than 60 seconds.  A company that genuinely cares about me should not post a 50% increase in profits and yet keep me waiting for five days before I can talk to customer service.  Having a genuine interest in others, especially your customers, means putting their needs ahead of your needs. I know this could be difficult for businesses. Especially for those who still believe that the chief end of business is to turn a profit. Nothing could be further from the truth. The chief end of business is to solve a problem. Profit is the reward. In order to solve people’s problems and be rewarded handsomely, you must genuinely care about their needs. A company that genuinely cares about its clients’ needs will always be trusted.

Go build some trust.

Communication is about sharing meaning. Before you know exactly what you mean, don’t share it. Another one I have heard people use is “I didn’t mean to say that”. Well, if you didn’t mean what you said, why didn’t you say what you meant? These are all examples of poor communication.

For communication to be effective, we first must pay attention to meaning. What’s meaning?  First, let’s understand that all meaning is inferred from words, phrases or sentences. To capture meaning, first we must pay attention to the words and phrases we choose to express that meaning. Is meaning really about the words we choose to use? Yes, you guessed it right. Meaning is nothing other than words, phrases and sentences. One writer once said, “He who longs to protect meaning must words first save”. That writer is actually me. I just said that a few minutes ago. You can quote me if you like. Talking about meaning, do you notice that you are already thinking of me as a proud person because I quoted myself and told you that I did?  How would I have expressed myself in this regard? Consider this sentence, “ I am not good at coming up with good quotes but if I were to write one I would say, “He who longs to protect meaning must words first save”. Notice how this sentence is the same as the one that made you feel like I am quite a swanky son of a nut? Words my friend. Pay attention to words and you won’t have to worry about your meaning.

Except in those rare cases where a corporation’s ownership is the same as its management, corporations act as a separate breed of beings with legal rights but with no human sentiments. Corporations exist to turn a profit for their owners. Unless those owners purposefully integrate humanity in their corporations as managers, corporations continue to co-exist with human beings, having the same rights as human beings, but without the same responsibilities. This could be dangerous.

As Adam Smith pointed out in the Wealth of Nations, when ownership is separated from management, the latter will inevitably begin to neglect the interests of the former, creating a dysfunction within the company. This dysfunction is nothing else other than the conflict of interest that exists between the pursuit of profit and the desire to help humanity. A corporation’s management is made up of people who belong to the community, who have feelings and sentiments. On the other hand, a corporation’s owners are investors, shareholders, sometimes other corporations, interested mostly in the return on their investment.  This dichotomy of interests creates conflict when it comes to a corporation’s real social responsibility. Should corporate social responsibility be handled by marketing as “another” marketing program, or should it be a truly purposeful engagement with community?

In my short life I have had interactions with some truly humanitarian corporations that have a genuine desire to apply their resources to change humanity. Such corporations should be applauded.  And when it comes to supporting products for their pledge to the cause of humanity, one ought to carefully examine the motives behind such claims. Is it genuine? Is this another marketing gimmick or is this company truly engaged in our lives as members of the community in which it does its business? I wish we could provide a list of genuine corporations but we can’t. That, too, is another responsibility we have to take on to protect and preserve our communities.