http://gapingvoid.com/2005/01/10/mba-lament/ "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards" Wed, 23 May 2012 20:07:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= http://gapingvoid.com/2005/01/10/mba-lament/#comment-3619 StephanF Tue, 11 Jan 2005 21:54:01 +0000 http://gapingvoid.com/?p=1167#comment-3619 There are two basic kinds of jobs: Global and Local. A global job is one that you can do at Starbucks with a Laptop and a cellphone. It is a job that can be done in Boston or Bangalore, These are great jobs but will flow to the people with the lowest cost of living, who will be able to post the lowest wage requirements. These are jobs that have no transportation costs, bits are cheap to ship. To win at these jobs you need to be very highly specialized: acoustic folk guitar, precision titanium sheer bolts, business card art:). A local job is one that has limited geographical reach. There are big transportation costs associated with it, dealing with atoms. If it takes are real person working on real things, you are looking at a local job. The market radius of a hot dog stand is 1 block, a day care center: 10 miles, a lumber-mill: 150 miles. What is your market radius? There are all kinds of jobs like this: Construction, cabinetry, auto repair, home repair and remodeling, child care, health care, janitorial, fitness, restaurants, transportation, raw materials supplier, and many others. The people who win in this space are those who can communicate best with their clients, find out what the real problem is and solve it. When a person buys a frill they are not buying a drill they are buying holes, or rather the ability to make holes, and a drill is not the only way to make holes. When someone goes to a restaurant they are are not buying food they are buying time with their family and friends rather then with cooking and cleanup. When someone calls on a home janitorial service they are not buying a clean house but rather leisure time. People want it faster, better, cheaper. It being "doing their work" or "living their lives." Talk to them to find out what they really want, have the conversation and don't just treat the symptom but solve the real problem. There are two basic kinds of jobs: Global and Local.
A global job is one that you can do at Starbucks with a Laptop and a cellphone. It is a job that can be done in Boston or Bangalore, These are great jobs but will flow to the people with the lowest cost of living, who will be able to post the lowest wage requirements. These are jobs that have no transportation costs, bits are cheap to ship. To win at these jobs you need to be very highly specialized: acoustic folk guitar, precision titanium sheer bolts, business card art:).
A local job is one that has limited geographical reach. There are big transportation costs associated with it, dealing with atoms. If it takes are real person working on real things, you are looking at a local job.
The market radius of a hot dog stand is 1 block, a day care center: 10 miles, a lumber-mill: 150 miles. What is your market radius?
There are all kinds of jobs like this: Construction, cabinetry, auto repair, home repair and remodeling, child care, health care, janitorial, fitness, restaurants, transportation, raw materials supplier, and many others.
The people who win in this space are those who can communicate best with their clients, find out what the real problem is and solve it.
When a person buys a frill they are not buying a drill they are buying holes, or rather the ability to make holes, and a drill is not the only way to make holes.
When someone goes to a restaurant they are are not buying food they are buying time with their family and friends rather then with cooking and cleanup.
When someone calls on a home janitorial service they are not buying a clean house but rather leisure time.
People want it faster, better, cheaper. It being “doing their work” or “living their lives.” Talk to them to find out what they really want, have the conversation and don’t just treat the symptom but solve the real problem.

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