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Have you ever done something so different the whole world thought you were bound to fail?

At 8 years old I was entrusted to make my first cake. Free from the constraints of adult supervision I dumped the entire contents of our fridge into my masterpiece.

Cherries, cheese, walnuts, peanut butter, banana, honey – you get the picture.

My mum was furious. My twin brother, Rob, couldn’t stop laughing.

We put it in the oven anyway.

It was absolutely delicious. I’m not sure what was better, the way it tasted or the feeling of doing it my own way and succeeding.

Now, picture this scene: The Olympic Men’s High Jump Finals, Mexico City

The world holds its breath as a little–known American competitor requests the bar be set at an unbelievable height of 7ft 4 ¼ inches (the Olympic record stood at 5 ’8” feet)

The athlete approaches the bar, so nervous; he said it felt like he was “marching to the lions”.

Sprinting diagonally he does something miraculous, he directs himself over the bar head and shoulders first. Leaping backwards, he obliterates the Olympic record and takes gold in the process.

That man was Dick Fosbury and his stunning new method of jumping totally revolutionized the sport. Whilst Track and Field traditionalists were aghast the “Fosbury Flop” made headlines.

Dick jumped higher than any other human before by daring to think different.

You see, up until the Mexico Olympics the normal way for a high jumper to clear the bar was by using the “Western Roll”. A time honored technique whereby the jumper crosses the bar with their body parallel to it (like this)

Then in the early 1960’sAmerican colleges started to introduce new improved high jump landing surface.

After sixty years, Instead of the pit of loose sawdust or sand a few inches above ground level, bundles of foam rubber were used instead.

This new elevated and softer landing surface allowed Fosbury to make a bold move. Essentially take an out of date style and modernize it into something completely different.

In many ways then, the 21 year old American’s success can be attributed to his ability to recognize, adapt and use change to his own advantage

“My mind wanted me to get over the bar, and intuitively, it figured out what was the most efficient way to get over it. I could only jump so high with the old form, so I changed it.”

Following his 1968 victory, an incredible 92% of Olympic medalist in the event adopted his “Flop” technique between 1972 and 2000.

So it was that the young man from Oregon turned the art of high-jumping upside down. Implementing principles any business would be proud of.

THINK DIFFERENT, EMBRACE CHANGE and STRIVE FOR INNOVATION.

Ever wonder why so many small businesses start off with extraordinary energy and growth, but then seem to plateau when they have 2-4 people?  It’s because most people who can start a business from scratch aren’t naturally good at working with other people.  Initially, most are outright terrible.

Here’s why.  Let’s look at the skills you need to start a business.  You need to:
- Think unconventionally (to create new ways to add value and make money)
- Have great confidence in your ideas (to bet on starting a business in the first place)
- Take charge (or nothing gets done)
- Be detail-oriented (or you do things sloppily)

In contrast, what a good employee needs are the freedom and trust to find the best way to do the job - and start doing things you hadn’t thought to ask of her.  As U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt said, “The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it”.  Think about it; doesn’t it drive you crazy when someone hovers over your shoulder and nitpicks?

If you’re not careful, the traits that helped you launch your business can twist into habits that cripple your employees’ ability to contribute.  You’re so used to sticking by your ideas, managing everything yourself, and making sure everything is just how you want it that you might have trouble listening to others, trusting their work, and letting them solve problems another way.  You’ve turned into that nitpicker.

At this point, your employees learn that what you really want is just a mindless drone.  They turn off their brains.  You continue to micromanage everything until the business gets big and complex enough that you can’t really handle it all anymore, and the company stagnates.  This is the Entrepreneur’s Rut.

To get through this rut, you need to change your mindset a little.  Instead of always thinking about how you can improve your business operations, think about how to nurture people so that they can improve the business.  Sometimes, this might mean biting your tongue when someone does things differently from how you would’ve to avoid stifling her.  Adding too much value can take away from an employee’s energy and initiative.

Once you’ve mastered shutting up when appropriate, start thinking about ways to actively help your employees grow and attract more talented people.  People will be more loyal, productive, and capable when they can sense you genuinely care about them.  Make sure they have the best tools for the job, and pay for books or training courses to help them develop.

It might seem counterintuitive that to grow your business, you need to focus on your employees’ growth, but you need more than one person pushing to get through the Entrepreneur’s Rut.

A few weeks ago, we showed you a short preview video focusing on how easy inFlow Inventory Version 2 will be to use.  This week, we are excited to show you another video that demonstrates some of the powerful new feature.

The software has currently gone through the 2nd phase of our 3-phase internal testing.  Once it passes the 3rd phase in a few weeks, we will be ready for the beta-testing period.  If everything goes smoothly during beta-testing, the new version will be released to the public.  Again, the reason why we don’t give out a definite release date is because we want to make sure the quality is top-notch before giving it to you.

And remember, this upgrade will be completely free to all customers with the Standard Edition, even if you purchased over a year ago.  

Thank you once again for all for your support and feedback!

You have two types of customers: your experienced customers, and your new customers.

It’s important to listen to your experienced customers and keep them happy.  Everybody knows this, and almost everybody does a good job with this.  After all, it’s easy.  You’ve already built up a relationship with them and have a basic understanding of each other.  On the other hand, you will need to appeal to new customers to grow your business.

Talking with new customers is much harder because they don’t know anything about your business.  You might both have different assumptions, like what your product does, how to use it, or how it can help them.  Even worse, once you finally understand each other, your customer is no longer a new customer.  He has permanently lost something precious:  his ignorance.

You need to seek out people with this ignorance about your business, because that’s the only way to find out how to make it easier and more attractive for other new and potential customers.  For example, inFlow is often praised for being easy to use, but we still hear from people confused about how to do things like set up inventory for the first time.  This confusion is precious, because it points out where we can make improvements.

When somebody asks you a question out of ignorance, think about how to prevent future new customers from getting confused.

You might’ve heard us talking about what’s coming in the next version of inFlow Inventory. Now, we’re excited to show you a short 2-minute video that will give you a taste of what’s to come.

Most software tries to be either easy-to-use OR powerful. With inFlow, we’re not satisfied unless we get the best of both worlds. In another couple weeks, we’ll show you a second preview video that focuses on some of the more powerful features that’ll be added to Version 2.

We keep being asked, “this looks great, but when is it going to be released?” Well, when it’s ready. Instead of promising a date and rushing things out, we want to make sure everything is top-notch quality.

This upgrade will be free for ALL existing customers who have purchased inFlow Standard Edition, even if it was over a year ago!

A book that teaches you how to get rich is flash. A book that teaches you the inner workings of the financial system is substance.

A handbag that has the logo of a company printed all over it is flash. A handbag that lasts for 20 years and remains aesthetically pleasing is substance.

A customer support service that uses sophisticated phone and computer systems is flash. A customer support service that solves customer’s problems with speed and courtesy is substance.


Does your business focus on flash? Or on substance?

Are you sure?

When a company makes artisan soaps and sells them individually, they have their 1st product.

When they cut the soap in half, repackage it, and call it a “Traveller’s Pack”, they have their 2nd product.

When they cut the soap into the shape of little animals and call it a “Kid’s Fun Size”, they have their 3rd product.

When they put different types of soap together, put them into a nice basket, and call it a “Gift Basket”, they have their 4th product.

When they package a few bars of the same soap together, lower the total price a bit, and call it a “Family Value Pack”, they have their 5th product.

Same soap, but five different products serving five different needs.

Ikea doesn’t sell furniture.  It sells what your home could look like.

Starbucks doesn’t sell coffee.  It sells a little indulgence in your busy life.

State Farm doesn’t sell insurance.  It sells the comfort of knowing that you and your loved ones are covered.


Don’t sell stuff.  Sell aspirations.