(excerpted from the book "Capturing Creativity". Copyright CVP 2005) Take Risks "The customer is a rearview mirror, not a guide to the future." --George Colony, Forrester Research In 1990, European automobile manufacturer Renault, which had been on shaky fiscal ground, began market research on a brand new car. The results showed that, of those surveyed, 40 percent "actively dislike it." But 10 percent "fall in love with it." Despite these poor results, management chose to go after the positive 10 percent and press on. The Twingo became an immediate success and quickly became the second-bestselling car in France, remaining a favorite among European drivers. Is it my imagination or do most demo reels in the wedding video industry look the same? Each video bears a striking resemblance to the next. And let me venture out and say that if your demo looks similar to what your competition is showing, you will have a tough time standing out in the market. In the story about the Twingo, Renault took a very different approach to car manufacturing. Rather than catering to the masses they chose to capture a niche, and their risk paid off. Their success signaled a change in the entire automotive industry, inspiring manufacturers to stop producing cars that would appeal to everyone and to design separate vehicles for each demographic (families, adventurers, college students, business people, etc.) My friend Jeffrey Stoner told me about his initial frustrations with producing wedding videos that would appeal to brides. "What do brides want?" he asked himself, "And how can I produce a video that will appeal to everyone?" He finally concluded that this was impossible because "the bride" is not just one person. There are many types of brides, each with their own expectations and values about their video. He decided rather than starting his strategy with the client in mind (What do they want?), he would start with himself (What do I like?). He chose an approach that was inspiring and exciting to him and then created a business approach that would target these brides. It could be that 40 percent of brides "actively dislike" his work, but his business is doing quite well with the 10 percent that "fall in love with it." The one big risk The biggest risk you will ever take in your business is believing in your own creative instincts. Too many producers say: "I would love to create videos that (insert your idea here), but my brides wouldn't go for it!" Consider the expression "my brides." If you are producing videos that don't really come from your heart in order to please your current clientele, then these are not your brides. They "belong" to your business, but not to you. And, ultimately, you should control your business rather than the business controlling you. If you find yourself in this position, make a separate demo that represents your work the way you really want it to be and target the segment of brides that you think will be interested in these productions. If you’re willing to or can afford to say 'no' to prospects who aren't interested in the new style, more power to you. If not, develop a business strategy that phases in your new approach, while phasing out the old one. Perhaps you could initiate a "10 innovations a year plan" (see the "Choose to be an innovator" chapter), and slowly evolve your style, gathering new clientele as you go. Be certain throughout this process that brides receive what you have sold them unless you have approval to implement your new creative ideas. A bride who bought a traditional style wedding video will not be happy if you deliver an avant-garde experimental film. In addition, don't take gambles that you are not sure you can cover. For example, if you plan to try a great artistic experiment with your first dance shots, make sure you have another camera getting solid shots in case your idea is a bust. If you don't, you could end up with no useable footage. Being a risk-taker is not the same as playing Russian roulette with a client's video. The point of this is to make decisions based on what you love, not on statistics. This can be a risky approach, but once you find an innovative niche your business reputation will flourish. You will be excited about your work, and your excitement will be contagious with your clients and prospects. When we were young, we were told that "everybody else is doing it" was a really stupid reason to do something. Now it's the standard reason in the wedding video industry for doing things. It doesn't have to be that way for your business. More than fun It may seem that the point of view we've just discussed appears exciting, but it might not seem to be good business. Traditional businesses do not cater to the creative expressions of the owner. They are based on solid data and proven experience. And this is true… about traditional businesses. I will take a gamble and guess that if you wanted a traditional business you probably would not be reading this book Consider this quote from a speech by Bob Pressman, Co-CEO of Barneys: "Today, more stores have gotten safe. Although it sounds contradictory, safe is risky. It's risky because as businesses get safer, as they are purely run on the basis of financial decisions as opposed to marketing decisions, they tend to look the same, design the same, and act the same… We must continue to be different." These concepts of finding your creative voice and taking artistic risks are more than fun and games—they are smart business. Every company needs a competitive edge, something that makes it unique and special. Marketing departments do intense research to find out what makes their product or service stand out from the competition, and then create marketing messages that pound on the value and necessity of that strength. FedEx prides themselves with reliability, so they promoted that with their slogan, "we run the tightest ship in the shipping business." Apple put the emphasis on their innovation with "Think different." Nike sold excitement and adventure with "Just do it." Wendy's focused on the quality of their product with the famous "Where’s the beef?" campaign. In your business, the competitive edge is You. You are the x-factor that no other business on the planet has, so you have to leverage that. That's why it is important to take a risk and show the world what you have to offer that is special. I specifically chose the companies listed above as examples because they all reached success with concepts that were not necessarily what the statistics of their market demanded and pricing that was well above market average in their industry. This was certainly a risk. But they built amazing reputations by emphasizing what made them distinct and created demand for products and services that people initially viewed as unnecessary or impossible. So that means that your job is to gather up all the creative dreams and imaginative ideas that you previously abandoned and bring them back into the light. Many of the ideas you have had in the past or will have in the future will not excite you for very long, so put those aside for now. Don't discard them completely because they may inspire a great idea later. But now take a hard look at the ideas that do excite you. Don't dismiss them because of the risks involved; just consider whether or not they are good ideas. If you are sold on their potential then figure out how to implement them. If they really are as innovative as you think, sooner or later a prospect will connect and your dream will become a reality. As I said before, the biggest risk you will ever take is believing in your own creative instincts. But it can also be the most profitable long-term decision you ever make. Re-consider the quote from Bob Pressman ("safe is risky"), and consider whether the risks of innovation are worth the risks of losing your market to the competition. From this perspective, holding to the status quo and following the trends could be the riskiest business decision of all.