Last weekend my wife and I were browsing the shelves of our local Rogers Video and couldn't find anything to watch. We have seen The Blind Side , and I have no interest in watching the Michael Jackson movie. As we scanned the rest of the titles, nothing jumped out at us.
Fortunately, Toronto's Beach neighbourhood is home to an independent video store run by a husband and wife team who offer an alternative experience to that of the traditional video store chain. After walking into their cluttered store, instead of scanning the new-release wall, the initiated head straight to the owners and ask for a recommendation.
A fan of John Cusack? Then you must watch High Fidelity .
You like action movies? The Matrix is a classic.
In the mood for something funny? They might recommend independent cult favourite Clerks .
Small businesses have often used a specialized knowledge to gain a competitive edge against their bigger counterparts. This deep subject-matter expertise usually serves them well while they're running the business but can become a liability when they try to sell it. If that knowledge resides in the owner's head, his or her departure will leave too big a hole in the company, and nobody will want to buy the business.
To overcome this problem, you need to find a way to systemize what you know so that it can be accessed by customers without your physically being there. For example, the iTunes Genius functionality recommends music a user might like based on the music in that person's library. No humans involved. Netflix's recommendation engine uses an algorithm to suggest movies based on a customer's particular viewing history.
Start logging the most frequent questions you get from customers and your corresponding answers. You'll be taking the first important step in transferring your knowledge into a form that is ultimately transferable to others.
Have you found a way to institutionalize your knowledge?
Special to the Globe and Mail
John Warrillow is the author of Built To Sell: Turn Your Business Into One You Can Sell . Throughout his career as an entrepreneur, Mr. Warrillow has started and exited four companies. Most recently he transformed Warrillow & Co. from a boutique consultancy into a recurring revenue model subscription business, which he sold to The Corporate Executive Board in 2008. He is the author of Drilling for Gold and in 2008 was recognized by BtoB Magazine's “Who's Who” list as one of America's most influential business-to-business marketers.
