The Wall Street Journal recently published an interesting article on Artificial Intelligence (AI), written by Christopher Mims (see article). The article describes two new businesses that are making great strides in how AI can be used to help make our lives easier.
What struck me as most interesting, however, was the incredibly narrow focus these businesses have with regards to what they hope to accomplish, and the value proposition they offer. As Mims points out, this is actually a very smart approach – one that is in complete alignment with my own perspective. If you seek to launch a new business (and write a new business plan as part of the process), then you too can benefit from this strategy.
In the WSJ article, one of the new businesses described is X.ai, which seeks to help simplify the task of making calendar appointments with others. We have all experienced this challenge. It can be annoying and time-consuming. The investment community agreed. The company was recently funded with $2.1 million to develop their virtual assistant called Amy (see announcement). Considering all the tasks an administrative assistant could do, it is notable that the company will just address the task of making appointments.
Here are 5 reasons why this is a good strategy:
- Once the development work has been completed and it is time to start generating awareness or “buzz” for the company, the message of simplifying the task of calendar appointment setting is crisp, easy to understand, and will resonate very well with nearly everyone that hears it. Another term for this strategy is KISS, or Keep It Simple, Stupid.
- The focus on just one task means that the “use cases” or examples of problems that can be solved will be equally focused. Employees will quickly become experts at the challenges tied to setting appointments when they can’t see each other’s calendars. Training time, effort and cost will be minimized, as will time spent on the phone doing customer support.
- Sales cycles should be accelerated, or at least simplified. This will likely also lead to streamlined support and future sales leads, helping the company to grow at this critical point of its life.
- Market awareness programs will be better understood to yield better results. Given the overload of information that potential customers hear every day, the chance to quickly address a common challenge will resonate well, resulting in greater retention and brand recognition.
- Future expansion decisions will be simplified, and cost less. For example, if the company sought to ease appointment setting, time card completion and file storage, then you will have new complexity when deciding the best direction for future growth. Where do you invest next? Time card tracking, appointment setting or file storage? Having initially invested in all three services, you will likely continue that strategy, and it will cost you more resources and investment. Alternatively, going with a very narrow focus to a specific audience offers a more cost-effective approach to expansion. Getting just appointment setting right, for example, could then be applied to several different types of user profiles, ranging from corporate business workers to small business owners to “soccer” moms. This type of expansion will be much easier and cost effective to execute, so will have a greater chance for success.
So why don’t more business startups pursue such a narrow focus and strategy, including how they write their business plan? Experience has taught me that when working for a small startup it is very difficult to say “no” to a new sales opportunity. The sales and/ or management team is afraid to see a possible sales opportunity walk out the door. When you are at a startup, things are tight, so every possible sales angle takes on greater attention. But those with the strength and discipline to do just one thing, and do it well, will be rewarded with less risk and, hopefully, a better chance of survival.
