Chickens Came First, At Least Last Week | An Example of New Business Opportunities and the Importance of Keeping Moving
by Andrea J. Lee (Smart Women Institute Faculty Member)
As a business coach, I often hear the plaintive sounds of those newer in business:
“Andrea, when will I be done?”
Done, as in finished building the business. Completed. Complete.
Of course, the answer is never, but I do try to break the news gently. Still, there IS delight in the fact that nothing is ever done, I think. There IS joy to be found in the ever-moving nature of Planet Entrepreneur.
A great example of this comes in the form of a by-law that was recently passed in the city of Vancouver, allowing the keeping of chickens in urban backyards. Prior to May 18, 2010 – it was not lawful to raise chickens in your yard. Now, by stroke of executive pen, it is.
And with that, a whirlwind of commerce begins.
Chicks… Roosters, of course…. Hens. All the accoutrements to keep them including food, shelter, and of course, information.
What to do when the urban chicken gets sick?
How to cope when the coop gets overcrowded, or, dare I say flown?
Is it true that sometimes an egg can get stuck and what is the proper handling of such circumstance – ebook, or better yet, educational video, anyone??
When and exactly how to, err… not just properly husband the beginning of life – the eggs – but…well… you know.
(Now’s probably not the time to tell you about the ‘pet’ bunny rabbits our cousins had as children…another time over wine, then.)
And then there’s the infrastructure. Chicken resource directories. Chicken swap tweetups. Insert your idea here. (Go on, you know you can!)
If you look closely, or think just a few moments longer than usual, you’ll see that in this example, current as of just last week, is a pattern. It’s a pattern of activity, behavior, consumption and BIRTH of VALUE that occurs when something new (that someone wants) comes onto the scene.
The City of Vancouver may have thought of this as a quelling of a small urban uprising. Responding to a group of people intent on taking control of a part of their lives, their food chain, their sense of capability. But the bylaw that was passed was even more important in my eyes for one reason – it stepped out of the way and allowed the birth of value to occur.
Commerce, of the great kind, the kind that really matters, is just human behavior that follows the creation of value.
What added-value can you create today?
How can you over-deliver on your promises to contribute value, to your customers?
When might it be useful to think about the value you add as a citizen of the world (who also happens to be an entrepreneur) as opposed to ‘how much money can I make?’
If you fall on the other side of the spectrum, when is it useful to seize the opportunity to make money as a result of value?
Comments, questions, answers, debate, are all welcome.
Read more about Andrea on our faculty page – Click Here
Awesome ideas here, thanks. I honestly took the plunge and got me some chickens last week! Now I have more eggs than I know what to do with!. You might be interested in these egg recipes.