Yesterday I read the transcript of an interview between Brian Clark of Copyblogger and Jason Fried, Co-founder of 37Signals. The interview is part of a series that Brian is using to kick-off his initiative Lateral Action, a program to support would-entrepreneurs as they take the leap into their own businesses. Now that I’ve started Compass Yoga, I find that I read about entrepreneurship with an even greater interest than I did when I was just writing about entrepreneurship for Examiner. These stories take on a whole new meaning when my first goal is to figure out how to apply them directly to my own venture.
One piece of advice that Jason offers up is the idea of every entrepreneur emulating a chef. “They tell you everything they know.” There’s a tendency to keep our strategic advantages, our ways of doing things, close to our chests in business. The conventional business wisdom dictates that if we give away how we work, everyone will copy us, and we will never be able to stay afloat. Chefs don’t think that way. They let it all hang out – where they shop, what’s in their pantries, and the mechanics and exact ingredients that they use to create a dish. They even write books divulging all of their secrets with glee! Walk into any restaurant and a chef’s philosophy and skill is on display for everyone to see.
What gives? How do chefs give away everything they know and stay in business? In practical terms, chefs have a few things going for them:
1.) Everyone’s got to eat and not everyone wants to cook all the time. Chefs fill that gap with their services.
2.) Going out to eat is an event, usually a social one, so it’s just as much about the experience as it is about the food and drink.
3.) Chefs have the idea of feeder businesses down pat. Their cookbooks, TV shows, restaurants, and retail merchandise all feed into their individual brand, creating a loyal audience who craves their wisdom.
4.) Chefs constantly re-invent themselves, giving us all a reason to go back to see what’s new. That’s the nature of cooking. Every fresh pan is a clean slate for something new that will not be exactly as it was before and will never be again.
Beyond the practical nature of their work, chefs have put their finger on the best way to thrive in business: their strategic advantage is their individuality. No one can exactly copy what they do because every dish, every time, is unique. I could have every ingredient and miniscule detail of the process that any chef uses, and when I make the dish it will taste different than their creation.
So here’s what we really need to do beyond sharing like chefs: we need to identify what really makes us our gorgeous, talented, creative-beyond measure selves and then work the heck out of that. Being part of the pack isn’t going to serve us going forward. Break-out, share, and celebrate your individuality. It’s the only truly strategic advantage we can keep. What makes you, you?
The image above depicts Mario Batali, one of the most generous, talented, and unique chefs around. I love him.
Christa Avampato 