Quit acting normal | The Electric Waffle

I work with small businesses on a daily basis. The common theme that I am hearing is that everywhere they go, they hear ‘no’. After a little more digging and prodding, it always come down to the same conclusion – traffic.

The reason a majority of small businesses are running into barriers is because they are all going to the same location. They’re waiting until the day before Christmas before going out and finding gifts – everyone else has already been there.

What I tell small business owners is that they need to think outside of the box. They also need to have a little skin in the game. Sure, you can throw a little sale. Knock 10% off your product – it’s only devaluing your service. No biggie, right?

Here’s the question you have to ask yourself:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

* “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost

You can go down the road that’s beaten and well traveled and barely make it. Or you can create your own path and focus on innovation and making yourself and your product stand out.

You can surf the traditional job boards, hoping to find that same golden nugget hundreds and thousands of other people are looking for. Or you can do the opposite, get out and network and get your name out there. Again, both may land you a gig, but you have a better chance of standing out by shaking hands.

Want to be innovative and take risks? Here’s a prime example of that – Pink Cow Ice Cream. A perfect example of taking an existing product and standing out from your competition.

It doesn’t take having the newest and coolest product. It doesn’t take having the most extensive resume. What it does take it dedication, passion and the willingness to risk everything.