French Fries and Launching Your Business

My French Fry and Launching My Business 

When you start any new business there are forces that can pull you in many directions.  The pull  to  start  things right away: business cards, website, Twitter name  or company logo design. But it is the stuff that you have to do is where you really need to begin. It is your business core your key product/service that you are selling. this where it should all begin.

So what is your french fry?

Let’s say you want to open a french fry chip wagon business, you could worry about the ketchup, salt and other condiments, the name, type of vehicle you need or decoration. But the first thing you really need to worry about is your potatoes /french fries. The french fries are the core of your business. Everything else is secondary. A french fry chip wagon  isn’t a french fry chip wagon without the french fries.

You can take away the ketchup, gravy or vinegar, some people may not like ketchup on their fries. But it is the french fry  what makes the business.

Perhaps you what to launch a professional consulting firm, that provides photography for the events industry; again it is the pictures that are the core of your business. Website design, business cards, blog or how you position your subjects all rank second to the pictures. The core of your business really is the photos. Everything else is secondary.

Figuring out your business core

Ask yourself this question: “If I took this away, would what I’m selling still exist?”  Ikea has been very successful at defining their core. Their focus is on home furnishing for living.

So figure out what your french fry is?

Which part of your equation can’t be removed? If you can continue to get by without the/an added  thing, then those things aren’t the core of your business. When you find it, you’ll know. Then focus all your efforts on making your  business core the best it can be. Everything else you do depends on that core business foundation. And success will follow.