margin

Backwards 

I have a start-up business that’s all about cocoa.   And like most start-ups we’re (we’re a team of three) all over the place as we attempt to find the model for the business. 

Under the best of circumstances businesses are started because the entrepreneur witnesses a problem or identifies a perceived need in the marketplace.  With creativity the entrepreneur brings solution to that problem by introducing a new product or service. 

I don’t know the percentage of businesses that start with the above mentioned “problem, solution equation” but my guess is most do not start this way at all. 

Instead a large percentage of us come at business ownership from an entirely different direction; passion. We have a hobby (making jewelry,) or specific training (web design,) and excitedly decide to start a business because a friend mentioned our jewelry was pretty, our web design creative. Once the business cards have been developed and the website is live we start looking around for customers.   Did anybody tell us they needed more jewelry or a new website?? 

It’s a dangerous trap (and oftentimes a costly one too) but that trap was our cup of cocoa. 

Conceding to all that we fell victim to our own foodie passion, the good news in this story is that my partners and I have been in business long enough to know that is it not prudent to execute (AKA:  spend lots of money) on a product idea that doesn't have a business model. 

And there’s even more good news.  After more Saturday afternoons that I care to count we gave our cocoa a name (Cocoa Project) and a model.  See the results of our effort at  cocoa projects