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How is art important to your business?

If you ask this question to most business people, chances are you’ll be given a blank look.

What is art anyways?  From Wikipedia, “art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions.”  The critical piece here is targetting the senses or emotions.

In this day and age, customers have hundreds or thousands of selections to choose from.  This is especially true with the proliferation of the internet, where people are no longer bounded by local choices.  Products that were once rare and expensive are becoming cheaper and more accessible.  Old competitive advantages such as price, features, and services are being narrowed.  If you go to Walmart to buy a blender, you will find many with the similar low prices, similar sets of features, and similar after-sale services.

How else can you make your products and services stand out from wave after wave of competing offerings?

The conventional wisdom is to “make it cheaper, cram in more features, and give better service”.  But this is exactly what’s everyone else is thinking.

Another approach is to turn your product or service into something that “appeals to the senses or emotions.”  Like how the iPod transformed from an electronic gadget into a fashionable accessory.  Like how the Toyota Prius appeals to our environmental conscience.  Like how Best Buy’s Geek Squad captivates our hope to be saved from technical headaches.

Elevate your products into an art piece, and you win.  How?  I’ll leave that for you to figure out.

Everyone knows about globalization nowadays.  Developing countries like China and India are known for their cheap exports.  If you go to Wal-Mart and pick a random item off the shelf, chances are it’s made in a developing country.

Big enterprises have a vast network of foreign suppliers and professional purchasers to take advantage of the cheap importing opportunities.  As a small business owner, it might be difficult for you to find good and reliable foreign suppliers.  The good news is that the internet helps level the playing field.

Alibaba is an online business-to-business platform connecting buyers and suppliers, with an emphasis on suppliers from developing countries.  You can search by products, prices, countries, or even special deals.  If eBay is the trading place between consumers, then Alibaba is the trading place between businesses.

If you are curious as to whether you can raise your profit margins by finding cheaper suppliers, Alibaba might be a good starting point.