On a regular basis I get to listen to a wide range of business ideas presented by a variety of different types of entrepreneurs. I hear smart people talk with great passion about their inventions, philosophies and aspirations.
I also listen to a lot of ideas that are doomed to fail.The truth is that a great marketing idea is only great if it’s centered on a great business model. Many of the people I speak to believe that marketing is the answer to everything.
Really, it’s pretty simple. Marketing isn’t a separate function in a business, it IS the business. A great marketing plan cannot cover for a poor business model. On the other hand a great business model requires marketing at its core to realize it’s true potential.
Some of the ideas I hear are truly stellar and just need strategic planning and great delivery to bring the person’s vision to a business reality. Some need immediate sales to keep the doors open. Some need funding. And some just need a bullet to kill the idea.It’s genuinely hard to tell any entrepreneur that the dream they have been chasing is not real. It would be a real crime, however, to allow people to throw good money after bad and provide marketing services for an idea that was doomed to fail at its inception.Dragons Den is really just a televised version of part of my day-to-day reality. Talking to entrepreneurs who have good and bad ideas and who believe that with enough money and marketing they too will be the next biggest global brand.Having to put my money where my mouth is from an investment perspective, is one way to show my belief in a business idea. However, I will not invest the money I have worked so hard for into just any idea - no matter how well funded it may be. Money doesn’t solve the root problem of an idea that simply wont work. Every day I am asked to utilize my firm’s services into supporting marketing efforts for other peoples’ brands. I invest the time and energy of my team in the desire to create a long lasting and meaningful partnership with the company who has hired us. If we don’t understand their business and co-share the marketing strategy, we are simply taking their hard earned money and crossing our fingers that creative alone will save the day.
I know the enormous brand power of a visionary person who is backed by discipline, funding and a great idea behind it all. I also know there are too many dollars wasted in marketing efforts that are not driving any real business value. Too many marketing firms are eager to take dollars from any business without a planned approach or mutually agreed upon success factors.
Just like the entrepreneurs, these marketing firms come up with creative ideas and expect that the idea alone will win the day. Yes you do need outstanding creative that breaks through and is relevant to the consumer. However, great creative that’s not developed as a result of a sound business strategy is never going to cut it.
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