The Best Marketing I’ve Seen This Year

On Tuesday, my partner brought in some mail from the letterbox.

There was one letter that got my attention.

I immediately opened it because:

a) It’s handwritten
b) It implied that it was someone who lived near
c) It had no stamp, so it must have been dropped in our letter box by hand

What I found inside made me smile even more.

A letter from three founders starting a new business with a photo and their business card.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve found from building a few companies now is that you need to do things that don’t scale in the early days.

This can look like:

• Staying at your customers’ houses - Airbnb

• Asking your friends to buy your product - Amazon

• Bartering with a landlord to host an event where you invite the entire community to check out your potential gym - Our gym in Central Otago

Hand-delivering letters to your potential customers is an example of this, and as a result, the lads at Bolt Bins now have my business when I need a skip.

If you are new and looking to get traction, personalise your offering as much as possible.

Ice-bergs

Last week, we turned down a $1.5 million opportunity at Gravy - an offer that could have tripled our revenue.

An organisation wanted our help to get funding for a massive project. It might have all but assured our survival and success. At least that's how opportunities like these appear on the surface.

They’re like ice-bergs. Big, shiny opportunities that look impressive on the surface but hide dangers underneath. I've seen them at our gym, at Rugby Bricks, at Paper Not Foil and others. They promise growth but they always demand something extra, new hires, new skills, or even a complete pivot

I've turned them down most times and not regretted it. One time I ignored my advice, and got suckered into buying one those fit3d body scanners, remember them? They were everywhere for a minute.

I dropped $20,000 on one when my gym was barely staying afloat. They promised I'd sell thousands of scans at $50 each. I believed them. Five years later, I'm still out of pocket.

Ice-bergs aren't as bad for new businesses because they're supposed to wander. Experimenting with business models, building skills, and trying new hires is part of the process. But when you're three years in, on the cusp of real profitability, they can sink you.

Wasting $20,000 on that scanner almost folded my gym.

Ice-bergs are annoying. Even now, twenty years on from My Dad first warning me about them. And after me occasionally falling for them. Saying "no" still feels like I'm missing out.