People often ask me if I think they have what it takes to be an entrepreneur. There is no “one size fits all” quality. Entrepreneurs each have strengths in different areas. Some of them are amazing operators who make remarkable things happen on a limited budget. Others are geniuses in their area of expertise and they transform their entire industry. Still others have a knack for finding a hole in an existing market and successfully exploiting it to turn a profit.
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs I have seen are re-arrangers. They take existing solutions (sometimes from other industries) and they apply them in new ways/scenarios to create value.
If I were forced to pick one quality that is indicative of success in business it would be this ability to find new uses for existing solutions. Far too many people believe that you need to have the next big idea in order to start your own business. That is not true. It is equally effective to apply an old idea to the next big problem. Here is an example:
As part of one of my previous jobs I ran an apartment cleaning business. We cleaned over 1000 apartments in New York City. As part of a larger company, we had specific standards we were required to follow (in order to maintain brand integrity). One of these standards was that our apartments would not only be clean, they would be “hospital clean”. This required us to use cleaning products that were specifically developed for us. Theses products cleaned well and killed germs better than any other chemicals on the market. The challenge for our operations team was that our apartments were in many different buildings scattered all over the five boroughs of New York. The cleaning staff was required to travel (via public transportation) from location to location. How could they transport their tools and cleaning supplies from place to place?
The answer came from a trip to the airport. Roller-boards (suitcases on wheels) had been used by business travelers for years. We purchased a few pieces of luggage and adapted them to our challenge. Within eight weeks we had refined this idea to the point where the cleaning staff could carry the supplies they needed in a rolling bag the size of a large briefcase. This “lightening bolt” struck when one of our operations managers was taking a relative to the airport. Everyone was pulling their own bags – even children. These bags would have been too heavy for them to carry on their own if they didn’t have wheels. He thought to himself, “that’s what we need”.
Sharpening this skill takes practice. Here are three ways to begin to develop your powers of rearrangement.
View each problem as mutually exclusive. Many times we complicate situations before we solve them. Take apart each situation and you will discover several smaller issues that can readily be rectified. Each small issue you resolve will have implications. Sometimes these will take you in a slightly different direction than you expected. See if you can still get to the desired end result even though you are heading down a new path.
Start at the end result and work backwards. Too often people get caught up in solving a problem in a particular fashion. Identify the desired end result first then think about it deeply. As you reflect upon the end result begin to list the different ways to achieve it. List everything – even the processes you view as “crazy”. This will help you expand your thinking to the point where you might just apply an old solution to a new problem.
Bring in people who know nothing. Many big businesses use “cross functional teams” to solve problems. This is nothing more than bringing in people from other parts of the business to look at the situation with a fresh set of eyes. You should do the same thing in your business. Ask your accountant to look at your distribution system. Ask your attorney to take a shot at solving your customer traffic issue. Talk to your UPS delivery person about your fleet management concerns. Good ideas come from many different places. You may not receive the exact answer you are looking for, but you could receive some clues that will get you to the end result.
In the end, starting a business requires solving a million little problems (and a few big ones). Successful entrepreneurs are energized by this process. You can develop the skills of the re-arranger. All it takes is an open mind and the desire to succeed.
