In this post, I want to talk about Originals, a new book by Professor Adam Grant, who talks about people that choose to challenge the status quo of a particular industry and take risks to make that industry better, more innovative and more in touch with the current customer demand. I also want to talk about how social media is a catalyst for originals to test out their ideas without spending a lot of initial capital. Finally, I want to discuss our recent store upgrade and 10 year anniversary celebration at my store, Island Ship Center, on April 5th, and how a tremendous an audience was gained almost entirely through social media.
Those with a lot of experience in a particular industry get too comfortable with the way things are, and as a result, resist any changes to the status quo. Such is the argument made by Professor Grant in his new book, Originals, one which I’m currently reading and one that is on Richard Branson’s top 65 best books of all times list. A perfect quote from this book is as follows:
“Ultimately, the people who choose to champion originality are the ones who propel us forward. After spending years studying them and interacting with them, I am struck that their inner experiences are not any different from our own. They feel the same fear, the same doubt, as the rest of us. What sets them apart is that they take action anyway. They know in their hearts that failing would yield less regret than failing to try.”
In our industry, I feel that we are all at this stage of comfortability and need to adopt change and new methods of business growth in order to take our businesses to a higher level of growth and profitability. Social media allows us that platform to test out various services before launching them fully, without investing loads of capital in the initials stages. However, we have to be willing to adopt social media, slowly but surely, in order to recognize new opportunities and attract a whole new generation of clients into our stores.
For those that have not seen my latest YouTube video on social media, please go to YouTube and type in “Get SMart with Fahim” in the search box and watch that 29 minute presentation, which was first launched in Hawaii at the MBC Veterans Retreat in early April this year. Many viewers found this video quite helpful in beginning a social media strategy for their stores.
I have used social media as a platform for growth in my own store, and recently, my wife Seema and I celebrated 10 years in business on Grand Island. We held a celebration and invited all our guests, mostly through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, our blog, email and text. We did have some guests that read the local newspaper so we made sure to place one ad in our local Dispatch special edition. On April 5th, the day of the celebration, more than 200 people showed up to our party, and saw the expansion of our store and the remodeled look as well. We have made a selfie wall as well, which has become a huge hit for the Millennials and I urge many of you to dedicate one wall in your stores and make it a selfie wall. We commissioned a local artist to paint a picture of our island, using chalkboard paint, and then, we write weekly inspirational quotes on that board. Kids and adults alike have taken an interest in that wall; they come by our store just to take pics of themselves, standing in front of the selfie wall. It’s awesome! #selfiewall
Source: AMBC Blog