The fastest way to grow sales is to double your prices

Wanna double your sales?
Double your prices.

That will work for a couple of weeks.
Guess what happens next?

The value proposition will change.
Customers will feel that they are getting ripped off, unless you give them double the value they used to receive.

Customers will make choices that won't include you.
Long term sales will go down.
Business will suffer.
Ultimately, you will close your doors.

Business people know they can't raise prices that dramatically unless they dramatically change the value offering. Yet one national business is trying to get away with it.

The price of stamps have gone up by more than 50% in one year.

Canada Post is a service that is heavily subsidized by the Federal government. For years, it was a necessity. If we needed to send out invoices, cheques, letters, or Christmas cards, we had to use snail mail. It took a long time to get from our house to its destination, but we accepted it because there weren't any affordable options.

In 2008, one of the Canada Post unions went on strike. The mail stopped. But for the first time in the history of postage, business did not.

Businesses that were still sending invoices by snail mail, learned that email was quicker and less expensive. Businesses that only accepted cheques at payments, started sharing bank account information for e-transfers.

We got through it because we found another way to get our stuff to its destination.

And the postal union realizing this fact negotiated back to work terms before the rest of world realized that the post office is a dinosaur, just like flip phones, and cathode ray TV's.

To make an e-transfer costs about $1.00, less if you have a bank bundle.
To buy stamp to send a cheque by mail costs $1.13. There's still the cost of the cheque, the bank fee, and the enveloppe, that could easily be another dollar.

Why would anyone ever want to pay twice as much for a service that takes 2000 times longer to deliver, with a small probability of it getting lost on its voyage?

Since the strike of 2008, I've been wondering when the country stops using Canada Post altogether.

When I order on Amazon, UPS takes care of me.
When I need to pay a bill, Paypal or e-transfers have my back.
When I need to invoice a client, Freshbooks or simple e-mail is a more effective option.
When I need to send a Christmas card... What am I thinking? I don't send Christmas cards, and neither do most people my age and younger.

Postal service is dinosaur waiting for the asteroid to end it all.

Is it worth a $1.13 to send a letter? I guess it depends on the contents of the package.

Remarkably, Canada Post has realized profits for 16 years leading up to 2011. But has had two disappointing years since then with substantial losses.

Costs go up. Gas costs, employee costs, insurance, property taxes. They all contribute to the ever increasing cost of doing business for Canada Post.

If your insurance doubled, without you having an accident, wouldn't you look for another supplier?
If your mortgage doubled, wouldn't you check out other banks?
If your cell phone and cable bill doubled, I'm sure you'd look around.

Canada Post is somewhat of a monopoly. Clients have no other choices to send out a small letter, so they can charge more and people will have accept it.

And that's where the thinking is flawed.

The choices are wide and vast for Canada Post clients.

The easiest way to increase revenues is to raise prices.
The easiest way to decrease long term profits is to raise prices.
Here's why: An substantial increase in price is a shock. It will decrease usage. A decrease in customers will erode the revenue stream in the long run.

Any business who loses customers year over year is doomed.

The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.
It's not to make money. Money is the result. Money comes from a job well done.

If you're losing customers and you're not finding new ones to replace them, your business is finished. You just don't know it yet.

Sorry Canada Post friends, to quote Jim Morrison, "This is the end".

Are you SURE you KNOW the answer

Do you sometimes get wrapped up in arguments? You know you're right. Yet the other person seems to think they are right too. Before Google, the only way to resolve a dispute was to find a book, a magazine or someone else to settle the disagreement.

Today, Google and smart phone technology places most of the answers directly in our pockets.

But sometimes the Internet can't give us the answer. It's an opinion, a statement or a personal event not captured on the feeds of Facebook.

At my last corporate job, before smart phones, there was a colleague who used a simple tactic to resolve disputes immediately. He would bet a toonie ($2) every time there was a disagreement. He would raise the stakes from a simple discussion to putting an insignificant two dollars on the table. The two bucks meant nothing monetarily. But it got us back to work, ending the dispute, focusing on our other tasks at hand.

Put your money where your mouth is! The two dollars proved that disagreements have everything to do with the need to be right and nothing to do with money. 

Disagreements are about pride. We don't like to admit to being wrong, even when we are.

The ego wants to hold onto the perceived facts. The ego wants to be built up, to be strong to protect us.

As I get older, the desire to be right is fading like the colour of a 1986 Honda Civic. 

The way a person perceives the world and its facts is a filter. It's an illusion. It's an interpretation of a reality.

What is reality? It's a consensus of enough people to see something the same way.

The next time, you're certain of something, is it more important to be right or to wonder how the other person has come to their conclusion.

What we think we know is much greater than we actually know.

Let's use an example.

How does a dog drink water?

We know a dog laps water with the tongue, pulling the water from the tip and throwing it into the mouth.

But does the tongue curve forward or backward?

I have observed dogs drinking water my whole life and didn't know the tongue curves backward. At least Pier isn't around, he would have made an easy $2 off me.

Entrepreneurial spirit

I speak to people everyday who have a dream of someday owning a business. In asking them why, they usually have a variation one of three answers.

1. I want a better life, more money, more freedom, more control over my life.
2. I want to make a difference in the world, help people, do some good.
3. I want to create a legacy for my children.

Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. The days I get scared, I wonder if I am a real entrepreneur.  But if you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, there's only one thing you need to ask yourself.

Do you want to own a business for the commission or for the mission?

Money is a result of a job done well.

Not all businesses make money. 85% of businesses fail within the first five years.

The risk associated with owning a business is high. It's so high that you should make above average returns if you find success. But most don't. 85% of businesses fail in the first five years. Translated, 85% of business owners go broke.

So if you want a commission, go get a good sales job. It will pay you above average as you get better in your skills. And the potential of going broke is much lower than working for yourself.

The most money I ever earned on an hourly basis was 10 years ago, when I still had a corporate job. Working for myself produced less results on an hourly basis. I worked harder. Took on more risk. Was more stressed out. And didn't take care of myself.

But I loved it. I was alive fighting in the trenches with the team everyday.

That's the only reason I know I am an entrepreneur.

There are days, I think to myself, that a nice steady paycheque would be nice.
There are days, I worry about that next big thing.

But I keep going. Making less money than I have ever done before. But knowing that I'm doing the right things for the right reasons.

Eventually this hard work will pay off.

Someone asked me yesterday if I was just sitting home doing nothing. I can see how it looks that way to her.

I replied with, "Every morning I get up and dig a few holes, looking for oil. One day, I'll find some. I don't know when and I don't know where. But if I keep digging consistently, I know I'll get what I'm looking for."

Entrepreneurship is scary, even for those who have done it before. It's risky. It's challenging.

If you like getting on roller coasters, then maybe entrepreneurship is for you. If you like steady as it goes, don't get on the ride.

But you have to have a mission. You have to stand for something and it can't be about how much money you want to make.

If you want to be an entrepreneur for money, keep your job.

Research and development

My first day at university, I remember the professor explaining to the class that R&D stood for research and development.

Here's the problem with research and development. The research is superficial. It doesn't generate new ideas because the resource spent to do research is small.

Although R&D does stand for research and development. Many small and medium sized businesses will limit their R&D to the following:

Internet
Talking to others (usually friends, or family)
Statistics from government
Observations
Past experiences
Analysis of competition

The R&D budgets are not significant enough to conduct surveys, extensive sampling, testing and scientific research.

But there is a way to conduct R&D. But it's not the conventional way like the major corporations would conduct their R&D.

Because budgets are tight, R&D has to be bootstrapped. R&D cannot stand for Research and Development.

R&D for small business, in my opinion, should stand for Rob and Duplicate.

I'm not suggesting stealing the competition's ideas. That's a bit douchey, and may not apply to your business.

I suggest looking at a completely different industry to see if there is anything that can be implemented into your industry. Some would call that an invention. I call it a re-purposeing of an idea. It's a duplication.

Here's a perfect example: My dad bought a LawnBoy push mower when I was 13 years old. It was our first mower with a safety latch on it. As a new invention, the lawnmower industry had figured out that if an operator slipped and let go of the mower, they would keep all their toes because the latch would release and the engine would immediately stop.

My dad didn't care about my toes. He tied the latch with a piece of rope.

Fast forward twenty years, we bought our first stroller when our oldest child was born. To my amazement strollers didn't have a similar safety latch at that time. If I was walking down a hill and slipped on a piece of ice, my reaction might be to let go of the stroller. Without a latch to immediately put on the brakes, my precious child is now dangerously cruising into the busy city streets.

Isn't a baby a bit more important than a couple of piggies?

Rob and Duplicate. Find ideas that work in other industries and figure out how they could work in yours. You will be seen as innovative, inventive, a genius. But are you really?

You're paying attention. You're looking around. You're finding answers to your problems that have already been answered.

Henry Ford did it. His invention of the assembly line was nothing more than an inspiration he had when he visited a slaughterhouse and saw a disassembly line. Do the opposite of disassembly and you get assembly. Put the disassembly in reverse and you have an assembly line.

And Henry Ford was considered a genius. We take his early theories for granted today. All he did was rob and duplicate someone else's work.

You would be best served to do the same. Just keep your eyes peeled. And be open to new ideas.

What is the color of love

Describing love can be easy from a feeling if you've ever been in it.

But how would you describe it from a the other senses: Sight, smell, taste, hearing?

Does it have a colour? The easy answer is red. Valentine's day, hearts, cupids, passion. All is denoted by the colour of red.

Put that pop song cliche shit in the garbage.
I challenge you to describe it using colour, smell and taste.

It sounds weird. But here's my answer to my own challenge:

Love is bright yellow with a shade of grey. So bright and beautiful, but in the wrong conditions can be dark and cloudy. My eyes don't think right. My ears don't see clearly. Love is irrational. It smells like a ripe tomato. So sweet and juicy, but it has to be consumed before it turns rotten, which it always has the danger of doing. Love tastes like a lemon, so juicy and bitter on its own, but always goes well with tequila. Ole! Ariba, ariba!!!

Again, I challenge you to describe love with the usage of colour, smell and taste. You're not allowed to use cliches. Make up your own metaphors. Come up with something original.

It will be hard to do. It will be uncomfortable. It could be fun. If you're scared, just inbox me. I won't judge nor share with anyone. I promise!

You'll thank me in the morning.

Please don't stand me up. My ego is too fragile.

Who has seen the wind.

What does the wind look like?
Does it have a smell?

We know how it feels, tastes and sounds. But what of the other two senses?

It exists. We know that because of its effects. A leaf bouncing around, chaotically swirling in the direction of the air current. We see the dust balls, the papers moving. We hear it as it howls through the branches. It tastes like a slight touch of lavender mixed with a sliver of mint dashed with a pinch of salt.

We don't see it, but it exists. No one questions it.

What does love look like?
Does it have a smell?

We know how it feels, tastes and sounds. But what of the other two?

It exists. We know that because of its effects. A fluttering heart that skips a beat when we experience it. The touch of a two lovers holding hands as they slowly stroll through the park. We hear and say the words, "I love you", so we know the sound of love. The compliments, the playful laugh, the fluttering eyes, the pierced lips.

The effects of love are easy to see, but to see love itself is impossible. But we easily make the association.
Just like the wind.

What does God look like?
Does He have a smell?
How does He feel?
What does He taste like?
What is His voice sound like?

We see effects of God. But we can't see, touch, hear, smell or taste him directly, so it's harder for some of us to understand that He actually exists.

Yet we know there is wind and we believe in the construct of love.

Who has directly seen the wind?
Who has directly seen God?

The signs are all there. It's just a choice we make. Close our eyes and pretend not to see them, or open up and allow it to enter your belief system.

But if you deny that there is a Supreme Being, it's as absurd as denying the existence of the wind.

Motion is the key to momentum

When I was 16, my dad used to lend me his Hyundai Pony. It was a crappy car, as I look back on it, but it was in that car I learned some of early lessons.

As a kid, I would put five dollars worth of gas in the tank and bring the car back home on fumes.

I ran out of gas once in my life and it taught me an important lesson about momentum.

I was on my way home from work, driving my dad's Pony. Without a dime in my pocket, I inched home hoping that the car would happily drive me home one more time. But this day was like no other.

The car quit about a kilometre from my parents' home. I had a choice walk home or push the car home. I didn't think Dad had any gas at the house, so walking home without the car seemed futile. Plus, I was gonna get some bullshit lecture about always running the car on empty.

In my adolescent thinking, I thought the old man would be proud of me that I took the responsibility of tethering his Pony and walking it home. Plus I'm a bit stubborn, so I opened the driver's door, put the transmission in neutral and pushed with one hand on the door while steering with the other hand.

My first attempted step, my sneaker slipped overtop of the asphalt road, not budging the car. "C'mon, it's only a Pony. Surely, I can push this shitbox home", I thought to myself. After a few nudges the car started to move. At first it was only a few inches, but it was moving. We were on a straight away. It wasn't regular walking. It was more like taking baby steps while making sure the equine beast didn't wander into the bushes on either side of the road.

We were moving. As time went by, the pushing got easier to the rate that I was almost walking normally. I could've given up. It made more sense to just walk home. But I wasn't going to leave my dad's car on the side of the road. My big concern as I tiptoed home was a small hill I had to climb just before dad's house. It wasn't really a hill. It was more of a slight incline. If the momentum that I was building up didn't continue and maybe increase, I might not make it over the hill.

I was about to start the ascent when my dad's smart ass alcoholic friend stopped and told me that cars don't work very well without fuel. I thought he was going to help me get over the hill, so I stopped. Instead, he sped off after he got a laugh at my expense.

Having lost all of my momentum, I had worked so hard for, the car stopped moving. I couldn't get it going again. Motion is what I needed. Motion would've easily carried me over the incline and coasted me and the vehicle safely to dad's stable.

But I lost it, and I had to go home in shame, without my dad's mechanical steed.

Life lesson:
Anything you want in life requires motion. With enough movement, you will inch little by little toward your goal. But you can't stop. It'll be extremely hard in the beginning. But it gets easier. Consistency is the key. Keep the motion going and if you do it long enough and in the right direction, there will be enough momentum to carry you over that improbable hill so you can coast a bit down the other side. Don't coast too long once over the apex because momentum disappears as motion declines.