Business

Lizard brains, values, trust, and the awesomeness of being you

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Starting a business is one of the most awesome things you can do. You’re making something out of nothing, building new products and services that are going to improve people\’s lives, and creating jobs for people who’ll support your vision. It’s like magic — There was nothing before, and now there’s a living, breathing entity, making amazing stuff.

And every part of this comes down to you. Your views, your beliefs, your values, perspectives, influences, hopes, and dreams — All of those things are indelibly stamped on every part of your business. In short, the things that fire you up, that give you passion that you’re awesome at, are the very same things that make your business stand out. And there’s a simple reason for that — Authenticity.

It’s all about our lizard brains. Back in the early stages of our evolution, we relied on our “limbic system,” one of the most primitive parts of our brain to keep us safe. It commanded fight, freeze, or flight, and the deep instincts we used to survive. As we evolved, we sought out social groups for safety and comfort, gravitating towards others who held the same beliefs as us. Those cultural beliefs are a huge part of who we are now.

That lizard brain never went away, and it still drives us today. It’s why we react so strongly to a well-told story, why we’re moved by the smallest things, why we feel an inherent trust around certain types of people. We’re picking up on subtle cues, and seeking out others who think the same way we do. A respected business thinker, Simon Sinek, has built an entire thought system around this called “Start With Why” and it’s got some pretty good ideas.

People make decisions based on emotion as much as they do on information or data. We use “gut instinct” and “intuition” to choose the right direction, and make snap judgements based on little more than a feeling.

That’s why authenticity is so important. People want to do business with others who believe what they believe. So once you know what you believe, once you can inject it into every fiber of your business and your brand, you can create something powerfully deep and compelling.

So, spend some time digging into what you really believe. The reasons that get you up in the morning and light the fire in your belly. Think about how you can change the world, the value of what you do and how it changes people’s lives. Then, find a way to encapsulate that in your messaging and your brand — Show, don’t tell. Demonstrate what you believe, and you’ll create people who will mobilize to your cause. You’ll get your 1,000 true fans, and you’ll keep building something as amazing as you are.

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Reducing Risk and a Well-Rounded Book — Expanding Your Insurance business

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As an insurance provider or broker, you might have decided to specialize in a particular type of insurance. On one hand, that makes good sense, right? You’ve got expertise in a particular area, so you can give top-notch service and advice to your customers. But, by sticking to just one or two types of insurance and customer, you could be severely limiting your business growth, and no-one wants that. You don’t want all your eggs in one basket.

Diversification is smart.

Reducing your risk and liability, because no-one thrives on too much adrenaline. Insurance is all about managing risk, both for the carrier, and for you as an agent.

If you break into new specialties or areas you’re spreading the risk that something bad will happen in a particular area or for a certain type of insurance. For example, if you’re just insuring residential property in coastal Florida, and a hurricane hits — That’s a massive impact to your business. You can diversify via location, types of industry, or lines of insurance.

Expanding your business base, because you want to turn your revenue stream into a river. Selling insurance in more areas means more sales, which means more profit. There are probably only a handful of people who need insurance for their art collection, so it’s great to be an expert in this field – but make sure you are insuring all their lines of business! Their auto, home, workers’ comp, business insurance. Diversify, Diversify, Diversify.

It gives you lots of new marketing opportunities, especially with existing customers, which brings us neatly onto our next point.

Cross-selling and upselling, because just getting new customers is hard… One of the best things about having a variety of insurance lines is the ability to cross-sell and upsell them to existing customers. For Personal Lines – ensure you have home, auto and umbrella for all clients where applicable. For your commercial clients – do you have all lines of business and have you offered them life insurance and benefits?

The more you expand your book, the better these cross-selling opportunities become — It’s like a virtuous circle of insurance joy.

Better for your customers, because what’s good for them is good for you. Finally, having a more rounded book is better for your customers. They can buy all their insurance in one place, and have a single point of contact for all their insurance needs. That reinforces your brand, builds trust with your customer, and helps you stand out from your competitors. Well-rounded books have a much higher retention rate. And that’s pretty great.

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Ready to be an entrepreneur? Only if you can answer these questions

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You’re a wide-eyed entrepreneur, dreaming of the next big idea and how it’s going to change the world. And you could be right — Perhaps you’ve got the genesis of the next Facebook, Apple, or Tesla in the back of your mind. Don’t be fooled though, being an entrepreneur is tough — It’s not just about the ideas, it’s about the flawless execution, the product, the hustle, the market, and more than just a little bit of luck.

It’s also about asking, and answering the right questions. So much of being an entrepreneur is about making the right decisions, and that comes from asking deep, penetrating questions of yourself, your business, your industry, and your customers.

Here are some of those questions you should be asking — Think about each of these deeply, see how they spin off into other questions, and answer them as best you can. These questions will help you validate your ideas, understand if your products can survive in the market, and see if you’ve got the resilience to succeed.

Questions about your products and services, or “What is it that my business does best?”

A great business starts with products and services that meet a genuine need and offers them to your customers in the best possible way. These are the questions you’ll need to answer.

  • Do I understand who my ideal customer is, and what they need from my business?
  • Have I validated our products and services to check that they solve a genuine problem?
  • Have I tested, tweaked and refined our products and services so that they are as good as they can be?
  • Do I have a consistent brand and visual identity that builds trust?
  • Do I know the best channels to make my customers aware of what we offer?
  • Have I built a community of early users?

If you can answer these questions confidently, you will create products, services, and brands that meet a genuine need, create trust, and add value for your customers.

Questions on your knowledge and expertise, or “I don’t need to make every decision myself.”

As a startup, you will want to have access to knowledge, and experience from several different sources. Use this expertise to guide you when you’re making decisions.

  • Do I have investors that I can speak to that can share insight and knowledge?
  • What are my co-founders and employees good at and how can I best use that expertise?
  • Do I understand the results of my decisions and the impact they have on the business?
  • How should I react when growth slows or stalls?
  • What is the best way for me to delegate tasks to others?
  • Am I collecting the right metrics and feedback and using them to help decision making?

Remember that there are people that can help you, and they want to see your business succeed as much as you do.

Questions about the culture, tools and processes to let you scale, or “We’re doubling business every quarter, and we’re on top of it.”

If you want to be successful and grow rapidly, you need to put the right culture, tools, and processes in place now to help you scale up.

  • Do I have a simple business structure that can be easily expanded as needed?
  • Am I communicating regularly with my people to let them know what’s happening?
  • Have I built a culture of trust and am I listening to my employees?
  • Are our business processes and tools as simple as possible?
  • Am I tracking progress and do I have realistic targets in place?
  • Do I have the best employees, freelancers, or outside experts in the right roles, with the right amount of accountability and ownership.

Good hiring and communications practices, combined with a simple organizational structure, active feedback and the right processes and tools will help your business thrive.

This is only a taster of what you want to think about, and starting to answer these questions will help you firm up the right ideas and approaches in your own mind.

One of the first things you’ll need to think about is “How do I share my business, ideas, products, and services with the world? How do I get my message out there?” That’s something we just might be able to help with.

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