“Good morning, everybody,” Renault said, calling the Third Shift Entrepreneurs together promptly at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. “Let's get started.”
Folks grabbed their coffee and found their seats. Renault began. “Let's open with a check-in: one thing I learned, one strategy I employed, and one area where I'm holding myself back.”
Matt observed how punchy and direct the meetings were, and how precise the instructions from Renault always were. He wondered how he could bring some of this entrepreneurial efficiency and discipline into his corporate environment. They sat quietly for a few moments, writing in their journals, contemplating what they would share with the group. Yisel spoke up. “I'll go first.”
Renault turned to her. “Wonderful – Yisel, go ahead.”
Yisel thumbed through her notes. “One thing I learned is that upscale South American or Central American themed restaurants are interested in carrying a brand of coffee that is not otherwise available. I brought a sample by this new restaurant in the River North neighborhood, even though I didn't know anybody there, and ended up chatting with the chef. He was far more interested in the ‘story’ of the coffee and where it is sourced from than the price point even, so I will be focusing on high-end restaurants in the near-term future. One strategy I employed was to de-risk the yes.”
Matt had not heard this strategy of “de-risk the yes.” He was ready to take notes.
“One restaurant's chef had concerns about changing up his coffee without knowing the demand, so I suggested that we just make it a featured coffee for the month, in addition to their regular selections, and that I would only charge them for the coffee that they used – no need to pre-purchase a bunch of bags until we know what the demand is. That got the chef from a maybe to a yes. I also preferred having it as a featured coffee because it means more promotion for my product and more waiters and waitresses talking about it, as opposed to its just sitting on the menu.”
Yisel thumbed through her notes. “Oh, and one thing holding me back is my marketing. It's okay but I keep making excuses for why it's good enough or why we can't afford better marketing, but the reality is it needs to be stronger – not according to what I think but according to what my customers think. They need to ‘love’ it, and they don't. I think it's the packaging specifically. It looks cheap, and if I want to be in expensive restaurants where there is interest, I need a really compelling brand and packaging. So, I need to acknowledge that and work on it.”
Yisel sat for a moment and then let out a playful laugh, “I feel better just saying it!"
Chad signaled to Renault that he would go next. “Thanks, Yisel. Over to you, Chad,” Renault said.
“One thing I learned this week is that people will purchase on the spot a map that is less than $500. For anything more than $500 they tend to want more time to deliberate. I also discovered that maps between $500 and $5,000 are harder to sell. It's easier to sell at the top end of the market or at the lower end, which was interesting. One of the strategies I am employing is to create an experience that keeps people wanting to come back for more. In the past I might sell some art but then that would be the end of it and I wanted a reason to continue my relationship with my customers. So I've been doing that with these wine-and-cheese pop-up parties like the one that Matt and Renault were at this week.”
Chad acknowledged each of them with a nod of appreciation. “I'm thinking about creating some sort of a first-look club that is an invitation-only club for looking at new pieces on the market only available to people who have bought within the last 12 months. And one area in which I am holding myself back is in my sales approach. I think I try too hard to sell a given map to someone, as opposed to listening to their preferences and being more consultative in my approach. I've seen people decline to buy and not share why, but I suspect it's because they felt I was pressuring them for something they didn't want as opposed to asking them what they wanted. I need to adjust my sales process so that coming to an event like the one I had this week is just the beginning of a sales process that ideally is followed up with an in-home visit where I bring maps over for a consultative discussion. I did that once and after an evening of discussing cartography it's nearly impossible for them not to buy at least something.”
“Good self-reflection,” Renault said. “Yes, the hard thing is that customers, when they don't buy, are not going to really tell us why, mostly because they don't want to hurt our feelings. So, it's on us to be vigilant and observant, as well as ask them, what we could do differently.”
Heads were nodding in agreement.
“I'll go now,” Kim chimed in. Matt had not spent time with her. They were planning to do so this week and given that they had both served in the Army he suspected it would be an easy conversation. She exuded a warm, loving personality, definitely not one that suggested cut-throat entrepreneur that Matt had perhaps assumed an entrepreneur would be. Though everyone in the group had been charming in their own way, they were dogged and focused. They seemed highly competitive, not with each other, but with themselves. In fact, none of them had ever mentioned competition in the marketplace – almost as if it didn't exist. They seemed clear-eyed that if they could build something that served a specific audience need, they could be successful and that had nothing to do with what other people were doing.
“Y'all are going to laugh at me because I sound like a broken record, but here it goes. Focus, focus, focus. That is constantly what I am being told, and l am learning, but for some reason this is so hard for me,” Kim explained with her typical big personality.
“I'm working on helping young Black women coming out of the foster care system transition to independence. So, what I learned this week is that being really focused on who I am serving is good. I am saying 16-to-20-year-old women, which is progress because before it was men and women and it was any child up to the age of 21. And, being even more specific, I'm saying that I am providing just housing as opposed to all of those other services I keep mentioning. I met with a woman who could be a funder and she told me I lost her when I started talking about employment services, food, psychological counseling, etc. I said these are needs that these women all have, but she told me that if I try to do it all, then what it implies is that I won't be doing any of it well. She would rather see me focus and do one thing better than anybody.”
Kim looked around the room and saw the Third Shift Entrepreneurs looking back at her. “I know what you're all thinking right now,” Kim laughed, “You told me so! I know you did – you all said focus, so I am. So, my strategy that I am working on is to solve specific problems, so that I can be specifically referred. I keep thinking about what Renault said about the babysitter who was trying to get business and said, ‘Oh, and by the way, I can mow the grass. And by the way, I can cook. And by the way, I'm great at household repairs.’ And by the end of it not only had she not strengthened her case for getting hired, but the family doubted that she was good at any of what she said she would be good at. She would have been better by saying, ‘I'm the best babysitter you can find, especially with babies up to 2 years old.’ Boom – that's it. That would have been the stronger sales message for being focused. And the thing holding me back is my love of this population of women transitioning out of foster care. I want to truly do everything for them, but I also know that if I try to run in a hundred directions, I won't do any of it well. So that's me!”
The group gave her a round of applause. The theme of specificity had come up throughout the week as Matt was taking notes and reflecting on the other conversations and things he had seen.
Alberto went next. “Mine is quick. I learned that there is a lot of interest for people converting their garages for other purposes. They've seen us be successful and have their own ideas. It's crazy. I got three calls this week about people wanting to use their garages for everything from antique clothing boutiques, to tarot card readings, or selling fresh vegetables. People like the experience of walking into an alley as if it were some kind of pop-up bazaar. So, I'm not sure what to do with that. The strategy I used was based on something Yisel shared, which was that if you want them to share it on social media, give them something to brag about themselves. So, I was thinking about what that could be, and my wife and I printed out these fake citizenship papers for this foreign planet. Matt got one when he came this week. And it worked. Almost everyone took a selfie picture with this citizenship paperwork and put it on social media and tagged us as well. We had tried other things like discounts for future experiences if they posted, or even just asking people to share on social, but giving them this little fake citizenship paper certificate seemed to work the best. So, thanks, Yisel, for that tip.
“The thing holding me back,” Alberto continued, “Is thinking bigger. I need to think bigger about where this all heads. We are getting good at running the shows, and it's a good little business, but we need to intentionally reach out to bigger partners and get them to come experience this. In other words, we need to remember that what we have built is not the destination, but just the proof of a concept that we need to shop around. That's hard to remember, though, especially when you have some early success – not to mention you are also tired! But I don't want to be running these experiences out of my garage in five years. I want to take what I've done and use it to ladder up the business. I just need to figure out what that is.”
Renault jumped in. “That's an important point. There is a term for that, which is success complacency. It's the idea that you get some small wins and confuse that for the big win or the vision of what you are ultimately trying to achieve. It's good to pull up once in a while and remind yourself of what the ultimate destination is.”
“Got it,” Alberto said, while he and the other Third Shift Entrepreneurs took notes, including Matt, who was soaking in the updates and insights from the group.
“Okay, Cedric, over to you,” Renault directed. “One thing you learned, one strategy you employed, and one area where you're holding yourself back.”
Cedric gathered his thoughts and started. “This was an interesting week. I learned a lot. I discovered that if my wife and I live at the retreat property, we might be able to qualify for a residential mortgage, which would make this financially much more reasonable than a commercial loan and we can get things moving a lot sooner. So that was good and interesting, and now we are talking to different mortgage brokers about our options. We also identified a property that fits our criteria for what we need in a retreat center. When we started, we would look at a property and make the case as to why it could work, but this group helped us flip that and define our needs first for how many bedrooms, acres, proximity to Chicago, aesthetic appeal, and all of the other things that we determined were important before we just look at properties and fall in love with them. So it slowed down the search process because we were more targeted, but we think we have a property now that fits our needs.
“A strategy that we have been employing is to make partners into investors. This was something Renault shared a while ago. For a period, we thought that we would need angel investors or somebody to come in and invest capital. Renault pushed us to find people who would also have a vested interest in this being successful, besides just a financial return, so we are working on that. Part of the conversation with this one mortgage lender is whether they could give us preferred terms if we let them use the facility for free. They spend about $80,000 a year in training and a lot of that is overnight lodging and meals, so we are talking to them about our hosting them, which would also give us our first validated corporate client, which would also increase the likelihood of future clients and thus decrease the risk profile of their loan to us. So, it's a win-win for all parties' potential and not something they would have ever thought of if we did not think of it and propose it.”
Renault commented enthusiastically about Cedric's approach to a creative partnership, “Excellent – that's great. Just the sort of idea to compel people into supporting your vision financially.”
“What's holding me back…hmm,” Cedric thought. “Well, if I'm being completely honest, me. I'm not communicating like I need to with my wife and I become defensive when she has suggestions. I tend to treat suggestions to improve the business as personal insults, and that is a no-go. Renault you've called me out on that as have some of you as well and I appreciate that. Fortunately, my wife has no problem reminding me that I can be my own worst enemy.”
The group laughed heartily at that, as though contemplating ways in which they, too, could be their own worst enemy and have heard similar things from their spouses and friends.
Matt was the only one left. He'd been way too busy taking notes and soaking in the stories to fully capture his thoughts.
“Okay, Matt,” Renault prompted, “let's hear from you. What you learned, what strategies you are employing, and what's holding you back.”
“What I'm learning. Well, everything. Since last week I've been on this discovery, thanks to each of you, that is teaching me things I never would have known. So, I guess, the thing I have learned is that you can't do it alone. You need a…,” Matt paused to find the words, “I'm not sure of the word, but almost like a team to do this work with. I would never be where I am today without each of you, based on that meeting with Cedric a week ago. And honestly, it's an entirely different world today for me personally than it was a week ago.”
“Well,” Renault interrupted, “in entrepreneurship, as in life, you need to find your people, as they say, and stick with those people who will help hold you accountable and keep you moving forward. This is too hard for any of us to do without support.”
Everyone in the group nodded and acknowledged the truth in that sentiment.
“The strategy I used was to be smart enough to realize how dumb I was and to listen to each of you,” Matt continued. “Yisel told me to reach out to someone in the industry I'm interested in impacting. Chad told me to go public with my expertise or idea and to really get to know these customers. Cedric made sure that whatever actions I needed to take I didn't delay – that I just did it right then and there. Renault told me to put it on paper. He said that it won't matter, and people can't get behind it if it isn't defined somewhere and given a name. So, I have done the homework that you guys have given me, except for having it fully defined on paper perhaps, and the results have been pretty stunning.”
Alberto interrupted, “Speaking of taking advice. I realize I didn't give you any homework after last night. Your homework is this: brainstorm at least 10 possible options about how you could move forward – the more creative the better. Creating a volume of ideas is a forcing function for creativity. Our brains are wired to only give us 2 options, so create 10 and see what you like. When you know what it is that you want to do, ask for it from the people who can make it happen. Sort of like when I asked if I could go 60% part time. I had brainstormed a bunch of options like this part-time option, which I then went and asked for. You need to do that. Don't assume the answer is no without asking for it. We tend to limit our options before we even know what they are.”
“Got it.” Matt smiled. “And I guess the thing holding me back – I think it's not knowing what I don't know. If you told me last week I was going to start a business, I would have thought I knew most of what I needed to, or at least definitely would not have thought that what I needed to learn would have come by way of my Lyft driver.”
Cedric chuckled.
“But I feel like I'll get closer to knowing what business to start and how and when to start it. I'll be starting this climbing club with other people who work in finance and that will be a stake in the ground to go public, in a sense, and bring people together to add value to them as well as value for the gym, so that feels like progress. I have a renewed humility to say that I don't know what I don't know, but for now I'm trusting in the micro-movements and the support of this community to get me to where I am going.”
“I believe that's right.” Renault responded. “And let me just underscore something here again, which is a hustle hack. You need to fall passionately in love with the problem, but not in love with the solution. It's better to go out with a desire to get connected with your customers and learn about them, ask them in fact what they want before you just build some solution that they may or may not need. Some entrepreneurs think the key to being successful is never taking no for an answer and being persistent. That's only partly true. You need to be persistent, but only toward finding a solution to a real problem that exists. If you focus on one solution that no one wants, you might miss the larger opportunity. So for you, Matt, it's better to offer this networking and then learn what these folks really need, before you commit to a solution that you're not sure they want. Does that make sense? Too many entrepreneurs keep trying to sell solutions that no one wants and just think that they are being ‘persistent,’ but that's the wrong kind of persistence. Smart persistence stays focused on the problem but is a little agnostic about the solution. The Third Shift Entrepreneur says things like, ‘How about we put a taco truck here,’ and if after a week no one buys tacos even though it's a busy lunch spot, says, ‘Well, what about Thai food instead, or maybe they want breakfast, or maybe they want tacos but they think my truck is ugly.’ Being dogged in starting a business also requires that you don't hold onto any sacred cows for the way in which you think it needs to end up. Let your customers tell you that.”
The Third Shift Entrepreneurs were taking notes on these pearls of wisdom from Renault. They knew that he wasn't always eager to share and teach, so when he did, they took it very seriously.
“Okay, one more strategy, and then we'll break for the morning. Matt – I'll pick on you. Let's say I said to you, ‘Go make a movie that gets everyone talking.’ What would you do?”
Matt knew this could be a setup for an answer he was unlikely to produce on his own but nonetheless jumped in.
“Well, I suppose I would try to get some big-name movie stars, try to get a really great script, probably some action shots that people want to see, get a big producer to help finance the whole thing. Essentially try to understand how Hollywood makes blockbusters and borrow some of that secret sauce.”
“Okay,” Renault said, “not wrong to be thinking like that, but let me give you a different paradigm and another one of the Third Shift Entrepreneur strategies. Everything you just described to me is about making a better movie, but it's within the constraints that you currently think about movie making. You haven't changed the fundamental format of making a movie, you've just played with the content of it. Creative entrepreneurs play with the format of things as well. So, let me answer the question I asked you – what could you do to make a movie that gets everyone talking? I want each of you to brainstorm for a couple minutes – and answer this in terms of the format of a movie.”
Yisel was keen to share – this strategy was something she had been working on. “I would maybe make the movie 24 hours, or 30 seconds. Or maybe have the whole thing shot from iPhones, which would get people talking. Kind of like Blair Witch Project did.”
“Good thoughts.…Kim, what about you?”
Kim jumped in, “Okay, I don't know if this makes sense, but I would maybe cast like all NFL players to star in roles, or maybe famous reality stars. People who don't normally get asked to make movies.”
“Very clever; thank you, Kim.” Renault offered. “Alberto, what about you?”
Alberto, always thinking about experiences, offered that he would want to make a cult movie where everyone is supposed to wear a very specific outfit or costume in order to watch it – like all black or with specialty goggles or something. “I would insist on it being an experience.”
“Great; yes. And finally, you, Chad. What would you do?”
Chad, thinking about his current model, offered, “I might release a film that could only be viewed in homes by people who have been granted some special privilege. I might disrupt the distribution channel for a film – like maybe release it from my Facebook page or through LinkedIn just to mix it up and build some anticipation.”
“Great – all good ideas. So that's the lesson today – consider disrupting not just the content and making a better product or service but think about building a whole new mousetrap as well. You might find a quicker path to a disruptive win in doing so.” Renault closed his notebook, and as always was keeping his eye on the time to bring a punctual end to the meeting.
Renault turned to Matt, “Okay, Matt…since you're the new guy here you get the final word.”
Matt was caught off guard but looked over his notes. “Creativity. I think I've just been lacking creativity in thinking about the various paths available and that came through in this last exercise. And that piece on format versus content. It's ironic because the less I talk about being an entrepreneur, which feels intimidating, and the more I tell myself that I am here to solve a problem, the closer I am to actually starting a business.”