Shrimp Farm in A Box – this phrase has been stuck in my head for many years, since I worked at an aquatic life support systems company back in California. I used to tell my boss at the time that I would do anything except sales and taxes…heck I still tell my clients that to this day. We were a small but mighty team, where everyone tended to wear multiple hats, so I DID eventually do equipment only sales – when people knew what they wanted when they called in, and it wasn’t something that had to be engineered, etc…
It used to make me crazy, after the company had made it into an Aquaculture magazine showing a shrimp farm that they designed, that we used to get SO many calls from people who wanted a shrimp farm. There are many variables to an aquaculture setup for a shrimp farm and many things to take into consideration, ambient temperature, etc…(I don’t remember all of the details anymore honestly). I kept telling my boss at the time, if we could just come up with some version of a “shrimp farm in a box”, we could sell that thing all day long – because that was what people really wanted from us at that moment. They didn’t want to make the investment in engineering, wait for the design time and all of the equipment to get purchased, and the cost was just too exorbitant for many people to get started.
Everyone wanted a simple, standardized solution to a problem or desire that was nowhere near simple…so it was kind of a joke at the time around the office that I would just keep saying – “just design a shrimp farm in a box” so that we could sell to the masses. Well…the masses who wanted to own a shrimp farm that is 😉
So here’s the deal…I like simple solutions. If there’s a problem, I want an answer. And if no one else has thought of it yet, I want to see if I can come up with one! I spend my time helping my clients solve their problems, coming up with solutions and plans for efficiencly, etc… For my own self, I have to do the research and seek out those answers as well…great, no problem.
I have been bombarded with ads on social media about a particular software solution, and I thought that it really looked like a shiny penny that I just had to have. Thought it would do exactly what I needed. Downloaded it, proceeded with the setup… hashtagdisappointment It was no better, then what most people already utilize natively on their computers (if they are chrome people anyway). And sometimes not as well – you immediately had to upgrade to a cost of over $100 without trial period to test functions that might prove useful, and it wanted security rights up the wazoo! It is now deleted off my Mac.
What’s the moral of this story? Develop products and services that people want. Make your marketing great but realistic. Over-deliver, not over-promise. And for goodness sakes, if it already exists don’t just wrap it in a different box and regift it to the world as a shiny new solution…at least without real, true added-value.
Until next time,
Christine