Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is

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A little over a year ago, we had the opportunity to sit down with what we thought was a new prospective client (referred to us from another client). Little did we know, we were soon to become partners in a completely new business venture – RacerWorld.com. Like many companies, this client had a great idea for a new business. But with the economy’s warning lights flashing, they put it on the back-burner, thinking they could slowly develop and market it and launch when the economy improved.

As our discussions turned to this business idea, we offered to help develop the business plan and market the company in return for a stake in it. The experience we were able to bring to the table combined with the industry knowledge and connections they had seemed to make this a natural partnership. Last week, the first phase of what is now one of the largest aggregator of high-performance auto parts e-commerce sites in the country was launched.

We love entrepreneurial ventures. In fact, this was not the first time we’ve gone down the path of creating our own client. Several years ago, we began marketing what would become one of the most significant e-commerce sites in the ag industry. And today, we can count no fewer than a half dozen projects that we anticipate will become new businesses themselves – some with clients, some as joint ventures, some our own inventions.

You might ask: Doesn’t this distract from some of the work we’re doing for clients? Not a chance. If anything, we think it makes us even better partners with our clients. Here’s why:

1) Often, ad agencies strive for creative awards and recognition at the expense of their clients’ objectives to sell products and services. By being involved in developing business plans and launching new businesses, we gain a better understanding of the real-world decision making process a client goes through. We’re forced to develop ideas and make decisions based on the same things our clients do … the bottom line.

2) It’s easy to market when you’ve got a $10 million marketing budget (at least we think it would be, none of our client have ever blessed us with those kinds of dollars). Working with a “shoestring” budget forces you to be more creative. We’re forced to think more creatively to come up with new ways to market brands, products and services. We’ve found that our clients tend to like creative ideas … especially when they mean stretching their marketing budgets further.

3) Being creative means having a willingness to try new things. Any ad agency worth their salt continuously pitches new strategies and ideas to their clients – guerilla marketing ideas, social media ideas, event marketing ideas, public relations strategies. Sometimes it’s a leap of faith for a client … a risk they are not always willing to take. However, being able to demonstrate how something worked for us in our own projects often helps clients become less hesitant – and allows them to gain an advantage against their competitors.

It’s easy to sit back and wait to launch new business ideas, new entrepreneurial ventures and new marketing strategies until the timing is perfect. But for every one of the ideas you’ve been sitting on, you can bet someone else is thinking about it as well. In this kind of economy, those who innovate now will be the ones who will emerge stronger when things heat up.

… And if you’re looking for a partner who’s been down the path a few times and isn’t afraid to take a risk on a good idea … well, we think we know someone you should talk to.

P.S. Congrats to all of those involved in Startup Weekend Des Moines. That’s exactly the type of entrepreneurial environment Des Moines needs to launch the next Inc. 500 business!

Author: Tom Flynn III
www.lessingflynn.com
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