Against the Grain

"I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite."
G. K. Chesterton

If you’re looking for an innovative idea to make your business stand out, think about doing the opposite of what everybody else is doing. If the conventional wisdom in your industry is to market products to giant corporations, maybe you could find an untapped niche in the small- or medium-sized market.

In this age of globalization, some companies make a distinct regionalism work for them. The Buckhorn Exchange restaurant in Denver is one example. It is our oldest restaurant, in continuous operation since 1893, and holds Colorado’s first liquor license. Thumbing its nose at political correctness, the historic building unabashedly displays hundreds of hunting trophies, Native American artifacts and Wild West memorabilia. The menu features buffalo, elk, pheasant and pot roast. People come from all over the world for this unique dining experience.

If you wrote a business plan today for a restaurant like this, funding agencies would probably laugh you out of the office. Much like Hollywood producers, banks are looking for the sequel to McDonald’s, not something completely different.

If your idea flouts conventional wisdom, chances are good that you will be on your own. That’s okay, because it also means that when you hit it big, you will reap all the profits. The thing about conventional wisdom is that it is so frequently wrong.

© Copyright 2007 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved