Generic: Relating to or descriptive of an entire group or class; general. Usable or suitable in a variety of contexts.

Specific: Having a special application, bearing, or reference; specifying, explicit, or definite: to state one's specific purpose. Precise and detailed, avoiding vagueness.

Context: The circumstances or events that form the environment within which something exists or takes place (SPACE).

Verbal context: Refers to surrounding text or talk of an expression (word, sentence, conversational turn, speech act, etc.). The idea is that verbal context influences the way we understand the expression. Hence the norm, not to cite people out of context. Copied from Wikipedia.

Social context: Traditionally, in sociolinguistics, social contexts were defined in terms of objective social variables, such as those of class, gender, age or race. More recently, social contexts tend to be defined in terms of the social identity being construed and displayed in text and talk by language users. Influenced by space. Copied from Wikipedia.

Content: Subject matter, the various issues, topics, or questions dealt with in speech, discussion, or a piece of writing.

 Content is information and experiences that may provide value for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content may be delivered via any medium such as the internet, television, and audio CDs, as well as live events such as conferences and stage performances. The word is used to identify and quantify various formats and genres of information as manageable value-adding components of useful media to the target audience. Copied from Wikipedia.

Value: An amount expressed in money or another medium of exchange that is thought to be a fair exchange for something. Value is always held in the mind of a “the Human receiver”.

Value is linked to price through the mechanism of exchange. When an economist observes an exchange, two important value functions are revealed: those of the buyer and seller. Just as the buyer reveals what he is willing to pay for a certain amount of a good, so too does the seller reveal what it costs him to give up the good. Copied from Wikipedia.

Profit: The excess of income over expenditure.

Profit is a component of (implicit) money costs and money is not the only component of business profit. Money can represent the opportunity and is a part of all costs (which are ENERGY, SPACE, TIME and MONEY), since the ENERGY/TIME that the owner spends running the business could be spent on running another business. The enterprise component of profit is thus the profit that a business owner considers necessary to make running the business worth their while (SPACE/MONEY).

Lesson

Wow! John why so many words for the words this week?

Great question, even though I’m asking myself.

As a designer of business, I have to know the difference between GENERIC and SPECIFIC.

GENERIC is always big picture and is all around “ME”. GENERIC is the NEGATIVE- force of all business ventures. If “WE” didn’t have to consider GENERIC market demands, all business would be successful without failure. An example of GENERIC in a business could be the operating time frame of the business…..if the business is running a breakfast menu, it would very hard to sell in the middle of the afternoon.

On the other hand, SPECIFIC are the small details and the POSITIVE+ force of the business. It is the minute-to-minute of the business. It becomes the focus of any business venture. Because all humans can determine by choice, SPECIFIC details are the make or break of any business venture.  Example…. if I’m running a 24 hour breakfast business, the business will have to be very specific of its details (BRANDING/MARKETING/SELLING) in order to maintain VALUE to the customers. The duality is always GENERIC & SPECIFIC….. they are always part of design thoughts.

Then as I’m designing, I must consider CONTEXT and CONTENT .

CONTEXT is always about the GENERIC SPACE that I want to create in a business. Context is part of what creates VALUE in any business venture. CONTEXT is the WEALTH of a business because it is what a customer remembers long after the sale. It is what creates the repeat sale. It leaves a lasting feeling or e-motion that brings the customer back for more. I have heard many times that McDonalds doesn’t make the best food….. funny then that it is the biggest seller of fast food on the planet, by a long way. I believe that it is because of the McDonald’s context……… Open all hours, fast, clean, safe, predictable, family-friendly environment (context)!  

 CONTEXT =  “THE WEALTH CREATOR”

CONTENT is always the SPECIFIC details. WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, HOW.

What business am I creating?

Where is the location of my business venture?

When will I open for business?

How will I operate the business?

All obvious thoughts, yet a lot of times, over-looked by the entrepreneur. I speak to hundreds of would-be ENTREPRENEURS/BUSINESS OWNERS and I’m always surprized by their lack of CLARITY. The very nature of a business owner is attention to details to mitigate risk. The business owner is always asking the above questions. It is my experience that as an ENTERPERNEUR, I don’t like to deal with the obvious of a business venture. I like to spend my time in creating the CONTEXT. The CONTENT usually bores “ME” and is too slow. I have over the years learned to “SLOW IN TO SPEED OUT”.  CONTENT is the inner workings of the business and creates the flow patterns of the business. Without CONTENT, there is no business to talk of.

CONTENT = “THE FLOW CREATOR”

CONTEXT & CONTENT is a DUALITY

      “ALWAYS START WITH CONTEXT FIRST”

In this lesson, I want to get across the idea that setting out a business is really very SIMPLE, yet gets very COMPLEX quickly. I NEVER, NOT EVER, LOOK at any business without thinking about all of the above 6 words…..they are the most important of business design thoughts. The really point of a business today is:

“DOES THE BUSINESS ADD VALUE?”

AND

“DOES THE BUSINESS MAKE A PROFIT?”

VALUE can only be determined by the CUSTOMER or the receiver of the PRODUCTS/SERVICES provided by the business. I hear so many times the business owner telling “ME” how much VALUE is being offered by their business. In my opinion, the only real way to determine VALUE is by the PROFIT that is made by the business providing PRODUCTS/SERVICES. Yes…. I can hear the question… What about the SOCIAL VALUE being created by the business activities? Great ideal, and yet…. If No MONEY PROFIT, the business usually will die a natural death. No MONEY PROFIT =  no real business.

MONEY PROFIT in my opinion is the only real way to determine real VALUE! The repeating of a customer tells the real story of business. When a customer returns to “ME”, it means that a VALUE CHAIN has been created. In today’s world, it is extremely hard to make a profit on 1 sale. What is important is the REPEAT SALE ….it creates a MORE-WITH- LESS CIRCUMSTANCE  by understanding that MONEY PROFIT is created over TIME and the number of TRANSACTIONS made by any customer. PROFIT created by PRICING is the real art of a business venture. 

As a designer of business, perhaps the most important aspect of a business venture is the ability to create

THE DUALITY OF VALUE & PROFIT=1

If a business doesn’t “ADD VALUE AND MAKE A PROFIT”, its life expectancy is low!

Could this be a reason why so many businesses fail?

Okay… time to go back to Africa …….. Apple+ Banana or Chocolate or 2 Rand 

The ENTREPRENEUR appeared with an idea of creating a marketing piece by getting suppliers to supply words in exchange for Apple+ Banana or Chocolate or 2 Rand.

Okay….. now pay attention!!

I’m about to turn the idea into a business. With support of Judy S and Jason T, I start to put into place control mechanisms. I now become the business owner, I delegate responsibilities:

Judy S is instructed to receive all the words on a flipchart making the product ready for sale.

All my suppliers are supporting “ME” in my product to sell back to the marketplace. Judy must ensure the QUALITY of product being received and payment to suppliers. Judy S must also ensure that the suppliers get paid for supplying the words.

Jason T has to keep track of paying suppliers and what did the suppliers want in exchange for their supply. In other words, what did our business exchange for supply of product? Was it a Apple+ Banana or Chocolate or 2 Rand. This now becomes important information. The Entrepreneur has an idea……. Will it work? 

Chaos is all around us. We have more suppliers in seconds than our systems can handle!

Like great business people, Judy and Jason realised that ENTREPRENEUR (John S) has unleashed a tidal wave in the marketplace and there was no way for them to maintain QUALITY unless they SLOWED IN proceedings. They must set a STANDARD by stopping everything until they set RULES of engagement of suppliers and payment. In other words, they had to “SLOW IN TO SPEED OUT”. Both Judy and Jason are very experienced business people and understood there was danger that the lesson could be lost IN CHAOS. As experienced people, Judy S and Jason T took over for a few minutes to allow for MANAGEMENT of the process that was happening in the marketplace. They don’t listen to my, “Keep it moving in the OUTER MARKETPLACE”. No point in creating a product that does not have levels of COMPLIANCE. Judy S and Jason T put IN SYSTEM S AND PROCESSES…. right there and right now!

As the ENTREPRENEUR, I have learned a hard-learnt lesson…. don’t get “IN” the way of business people and their COMPLIANCE STANDARDS.  Both Judy S and Jason T know not to take much ENERGY or TIME to make adjustments to the lessons. Judy S and Jason T understand they must create a SPACE for MONEY to exchange.

Foot note: More TIME taken by COMPLIANCE does not mean more MONEY. It could means less MONEY and MORE TIME. As the leader of the idea, I must understand that there is a fine line between

ENTREPRENEURSHIP and BUSINESS SYSTEMS/PROCESSES

This lesson is becoming very COMPLEX and quickly! Stay TUNED….. it will only become more COMPLEX by the number of relationships that are happening at the same TIME.

As Judy S and Jason T take charge of their responsibilities and opportunities, I have a greater concern…… I have a room full of workshop participants watching the chaos of the lesson.

I go straight to my Robert K teachings. I ask the room to take 2 minutes to discuss with the people around them.  What they are learning?……. Starting now.

I keep everyone fully occupied. My first Mentor (Vic Webb) always would tell “ME”

                                   “Idol HUMANS and Idol MONEY aren’t good for anybody”.

The 2 minutes gives “ME” time to develop my next move. Yes….. it is that quick.

“Okay….. start finishing up and “Thank your Partners” “.

“ Any comments, any Questions from the workshop participants?”

The suppliers of my products are too busy wanting to be paid. They don’t even realise that there are other Humans to consider.

I get a few questions, thus buying more TIME to get the business that was being conducted in the room into COMPLIANCE. It is important all through the processes that there were paying customers in the workshop, all wanting a lesson for being there. I must  “ADD VALUE”.

I look at my business team to get a sense that we are under control. I get the signal “ready to move on” from Judy S and Jason T gives “ME” the “all clear”.

I go into stage 2 of the PRODUCT/SERVICE process…. I start to sell the flipchart with all the ways of saying “thank you”. I sell the product before it is finished for 100 Rand (USD $10). Yes….. before I had the product completed. More important is the price I received…… I’m now thinking that there was another flipchart that was the matched twin of the first flipchart I sold.  I offer the 2^nd flipchart to the same participant who bought the first flipchart……. I get agreement.

I have now sold 2 flipcharts as products for 200 Rand (USD $20).

Wow….. this all happened in the first half hour of a 4 hour workshop on business.

Next week, I will give all the STATS or what I would call the VITALISTICs.

For “ME”, STATS are old news. They have their place and are very slow. VITALISTICS are the “here and right now”. As an ENTRPRENEUR, I have to keep it moving on my relative TIME, on information received.

I ask you to ask yourself?

Do I understand BIG PICTURE? THE GENERIC?

Can I think through THE SMALL PICTURE?  DETAILED SPECIFICS?

Can I create CONTEXT? SPACE to OPERATE MY BUSINESS IDEA?

Do I have the CONTENT to be successful? PRODUCT/SERVICES?

Do I understand that the business does not judge the ADDED VALUE? Value is always determined by the receiver/customer.

Can I create a PROFITABLE, SUSTAINABLE, VIABLE BUSINESS IDEA? WEALTH is CREATED over TIME.  

This is a long lesson and just could be the most important I have ever written.

Your FEEDBACK is always greatly APPRECIATED.

I include the first lesson of STRUGGLEDORK directly under this lesson….. WHEN IT ALL STARTED!

ENJOY THE BONUS….. JDS out