Seatle Vacation Journal - or Lessons for Business?
Category VacationWe've had a gorgeous two days in Seattle so far, and the weather seems to be holding up again today. Tuesday, we visited Pike Place Market and the first Starbucks (1971), also known as Mecca. We watched as the fishmongers at Pike Place Fish expertly performed their act. For the uninitiated, this consists of tossing a couple fish (from what I've read, the same couple fish) back and forth, reciting in song what people are ordering ("canvas bag" to a tune is kinda funny), and posing for the occasional group photo. During the act, dozens of onlookers tend to pile up and spill into the aisles and the street outside the market, so one of the fishmongers has a part-time job asking people to come in closer to avoid blocking the traffic.
About 20 minutes into the show (which is come-and-go as you wish), one of the actors yelled out "hey, we sell stuff, too!" Now this obvious point (from the signage) sometimes gets lost on the crowd, who is there primarily to see the act because they read about it in Frommers, Rick Steves, or from their concierge. A nervous giggle swept through the crowd, snapping many - who had been lost in the show - back to reality. At that point, I watched in amazement as several people placed orders, some for a single crab or salmon, some for the $200 bundles to ship overnight in dry ice to their homes far away.
This episode got me thinking about our lives as business owners. There are some in our community who eschew public appearance and focus entirely on business - whose names we don't know but perhaps products we do - and some who focus on their public persona through conferences, blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and more but who, in private, admit that their business suffers. The key is to strike a balance. I and the SNAPPS gang have delivered 500 conference sessions in the past 10 years, and at times preparing for and executing public performances tends to consume us. As in, "don't even think about starting a project in January, dear customers." But at some point, when preparations are done, the slides are a wrap, the code is tested out, and the lights come on, there is always a "hey, we sell stuff, too!"
You small business partners and owners out there, are you reminding customers that you do actually provide services or have a great product? By all means, do the show. But don't get too caught up in it, you have a business to run.
