There's No Money in the Middle

rise-above
I love America and, by and large, American people.
I enjoy visiting America and am quite proud of the fact that I’ve been to 36 of the 50 States (which is considerably more than the average American!) I also like reading about modern American History and in recent months I’ve consumed a couple of big biographies on Ronald Reagan, who comes top in most lists of “Best 20th Century Presidents”. As with most things, the more you study and get to know the topic (in this case, the man), the more you realise there is to his success.
He was a very shrewd guy and one particular speech that he gave in the mid 70s when he was still Governor of California he said:
“A political party cannot be all things to all people without certain fundamental beliefs, which must not be compromised to political expediency or simply to swell its numbers”. 
Reading about that speech had a very profound impact on me.
As some of you will probably know, we’ve had a few challenges here at EC in recent months and it strikes me that what Reagan said about American political parties in the 70s applies to most successful and sustainable businesses.
In this month’s Marketing Lesson, I talk about the power of being seen and positioned as relevant in your marketplace and, in particular, the grave mistake of trying to be all things to all people – which is, in essence, exactly what Reagan was saying.
We all know the old adage about turnover being vanity but profit is sanity, which is why it can be a “big” mistake to simply ‘swell the numbers’.
Growth is not automatically profitable and if you grow in a way that attracts new customers that are not congruent with your existing, best, longest serving and most certain customers then you really can be treading on thin ice. It can indeed be a “deal with the devil”.
As entrepreneurs, I think we are particularly susceptible to the attraction and temptation of potential short-term gains, to such an extent that we can easily exploit them at the cost of diluting or weakening our longer term strategy. The situation is exacerbated if a business acts or presents itself in the market without a philosophy or a set of fundamental beliefs.
In that regard, that one sentence of Reagan’s is packed with a shed load of modern day advice. Maybe he really was a man ahead of his time.
I found the whole Jeremy Clarkson issue fascinating last month.
At the time of writing this, he has been suspended by the BBC and Top Gear has been cancelled, but there hasn’t been a final outcome yet.
By the time you read this, there probably will have been. But, you see, the thing about Clarkson is that he has huge numbers of people who think he is great. There are also a bunch of people who
despise and hate him.
It’s his ability to polarise that is at the heart of his success and popularity.
He carries that show. His words and manner are why many tune in each week. There aren’t many TV presenters who could spontaneously generate over 800,000 people to sign a petition demanding their return.
Whichever side of the equation you’re on, what is inarguable is that Clarkson is not in the middle. He takes a position. He has a set of fundamental beliefs and he doesn’t compromise them for short-term expediency.
In business, it’s really tempting to tone down our message for fear of offending one person or losing one customer.
The curse of the politically correct is that it applies pressure to all of us to be vanilla, to take no risks and to play it safe. Lots of people in EC would like to avoid all criticism. They’d like to be for everybody. But this fails on two counts….
….Firstly, the only way to be free of criticism and disapproval is to go and live in a cave. Stay there and wait patiently until nobody remembers you. It just isn’t possible in the 21st Century to be liked and admired by everybody, and to think otherwise is naive and futile.
Secondly, your reluctance to risk causing offence castrates your business’ ability to resonate with any core group of rabid fans. I do still get the odd email complaining about the use of the word “bollocks” in the Circular.
Many of you will have heard me tell the tale of the member who came up to me after a National Event a couple of years ago at which we’d had Ben Hunt-Davis, the Olympic Gold Medallist, share his amazing story. “My business has got nothing to do with rowing” she said. Her loss. Not mine.
No doubt there would have been somebody at our March Event who didn’t like Michelle Mone.
But, at the EC, we do have a set of fundamental beliefs and we do stick to them. In truth, I look down upon and pity those who don’t “get it”, yet there are many.
They are probably more voluminous than the people who are even open to trying EC yet we have hundreds of members who’ve been with us now for three, four or five years and, at its heart, it’s  our fundamental beliefs which keep you here.
Occasionally, I have unwittingly strayed from the path. We’ve done things that conflict with what we’re really all about. We haven’t done it consciously. These things sneak up on you. They mask themselves well and it takes a lot to remain vigilant of, and hypersensitive to, temptations that can move you away from your core. (Believe me, I’m aware of my own failings in this area and I am, as I write it, eating a hefty slice of humble pie).
So what do you stand for? Do people know? I mean, really know? And have you sacrificed yourself on the altar of short-term expedience to cut a deal or amend a service to satisfy a short-term need?
If you’re human then the answer to that last question is almost certainly yes. I know it is for me, which is why I’m paying attention to my own lead article this month and I hope that you’re able to do so as well.
It really is useful to clarify for yourself the principles that you and your business are anchored by.