About 3 months ago I noticed a big For Sale sign go up in the yard of the building shown above (before it was painted pink). It was once a residential property but was rezoned for commercial. It sits on a relatively busy intersection with lots of shopping across the street (grocery stores, UPS, fast food, etc.).

As a real estate guy I spent some time thinking about what I would do with this property if I were to buy it. What kind of business would I create and how would it stand out? It looked nearly identical to the residential property sitting next to it and down the street. Simply putting a sign in the front yard wasn’t good enough to draw attention. People pass this “house” going 45 miles per hour and there are a lot more interesting stuff to look at on the other side of the street.

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“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education” - Albert Einstein.

When we are children our imagination and creativity has not been tampered with by education. We put A and Z together in ways schooling teaches us not to. When starting and marketing a business, try to think unconventionally because thinking like everyone else leads to doing what everyone else does. And doing what everyone else does is risky.

We are all born creative creatures with an imagination of limitless possibilities. Somewhere along the line education has focused our attention to think a certain way. To illustrate this change, look at how children respond to questions before they start school. They typically give positive responses:

• cool
• I like that
• Great
• I’m sick

Once grown up they are saying:

• not bad
• not a bad idea
• no problem
• I’m not feeling well

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I was watching an episode of Kitchen Nightmares the other night and watched as Chef Gordon Ramsay worked to turn around a restaurant that was about 6 months away from closing its doors. This show is a perfect example of how people might be good in their trade but not necessarily good in the realm of business (although in this show it seems he doesn’t think any of the chefs are very good).

Here are some lessons learned from this show. When business is slow and closing up shop is appearing more and more likely, something is wrong. Take a second and think about your situation laterally (in another way). I say it over and over again . . . it’s all about solving problems. If it’s your restaurant - you have a problem, no business. There are people outside the doors and they have a problem everyday, they get hungry.

To solve both problems, Gorden typically takes a stroll around the neighborhood and evaluates the restaurant’s customer base.

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