Greetings

Good morning Reptile Entrepreneurs! This is Bill Strand, your host, and we are coming to the end of our first month together.  We have covered a lot of ground! This is episode number 10 and I have just completed recording my interviews for next month. We are gaining momentum!

Introduction and Patreon

As I have shared before, I am doing a full development with this podcast which means you are going to see tutorials and classes to help people start a business. With the interviews next month you will get a deeper perspective into why this is so important to me. There will be more discussion as to what our community can be. Our community can be exceptional and it isn’t a pie in the sky idea. It is being done. We can have what we are willing to build. But please, just hang tight. It is all coming to you. It just has to get processed and edited through these two hands and I promise, I am putting scorch marks on my keyboard!

I have started a patreon account to help as I build this resource.  It is, of course, completely up to you as this main show will remain free. I plan on making some special monthly videos and podcast episodes for the patreon supporters as a fun project, but I can’t divide attention away from this main outreach. So, you’ll get some perks, but your support of the show is to help continue the efforts. Right now I have some other revenue streams that are paying the bills, but I do plan on replacing them with this show. The more attention I can put towards this show the better the resource I can create here. So, if you are getting value and have some dollars a month to spare then consider supporting the show.

Be Original

Today I wanted to talk about being original. We heard it from Josh Dovenbarger and you will hear it from others, including a very good discussion this Monday with Alex Menke. Alex is the force behind Frog Daddy and has been able to create a business in the dart frog world. His business is newly opened so many of you will be able to relate to where he is in his journey. But he also talks about being original. If you are going to start something, you need to do something that is different and sets you apart.

Copying: the Pirate Approach

I know it is much easier to look at what someone else has built, copy it either exactly or close enough to really be the same, and then fight over the customer base that exists and you can see.

This is the pirate approach. You see a snap shot of the market and those are the customers to fight over. I get this all the time with my caging business. I get one to two cage manufacturers popping up each and every year since starting my company. They usually don’t stay around long because mass producing a cage is totally different than making one in your garage. But every single one of them has wanted to take my customers. They attack my perceived weaknesses and try to appeal to the people buying from me. And they have succeeded. They have offered free shipping, lower prices, or cages that you could stand on top of. The reason that they are no longer around and I am still selling my cages is because they did what they did to try and take customers from me. They did not have a vision for what they wanted to accomplish. And, if they had an idea, they confused the customer by continually bring up why they were better than me. Although that is definitely the way to do it if you want to steal my customers, it is a poor long term strategy. Sooner or later people think that you bringing up a competitor means they really are better and you are just trying too hard.

And, what I run into in the caging business is nothing compared to what breeders run into. They are literally creating next year’s competition, or, maybe in two years, but the point is that I can go and buy a bloodline a tenured breeder has worked ten years on and sell those genetics a year or two later. So, in some instances, you are forced to sell the same end product and have to differentiate yourself in other ways…and we’ll get to that.

Friendly Competition Creates a Stronger Market

What I am hoping to do with the Reptile Entrepreneur podcast is to show you that there is so much opportunity for new ideas and charting your own course. There is more than enough business for more caging companies. There is more than enough demand for more breeders. There is more than enough demand for more feeder companies. So why is it there this tension in the community. Well, that comes with being competitors.

The natural approach is to view them as your enemies and business as a battleground. But, here is the counter intuitive truth. Friendly competition creates more business for you both. In the caging market. In the feeder business and especially in the reptile breeding market. Having multiple breeders of a certain species creates a community and has a critical mass that allows expansion. I see so many breeders trying to be the only one that offers a certain species. You know, the kind that buys up all they can so no one else has any. This is based on the idea that being the sole source increases value. While that is true in the short term, have you ever seen this really work long term? People lose interest. There are so many very cool reptiles that the untouchable reptiles have a very small customer base. That customer base who is willing to pay top dollar is generally breeders. So, of course, you want to limit who can breed because you want to maintain your position. I run into people who do this extensively. As it does not build community I have no interest in these people and find them a hinderance to the greater good. Business grows for everyone involved when the community grows. Species will be kept around only when there are many breeders working with them. We don’t all have to talk with each other, coordinate efforts, or have weekly group hugs. But spiteful competition just makes for an uncomfortable environment for business and the customers. It is unnecessary and self-destructive. Believe me, I have my list of people I am just not interested having anything to do with. But I am not going to disparage them or waste anytime trying to sabotage their business. If they are at all decent people I will even refer customers to them.  

The Trap of the Copy Mindset

The breeding situation is a unique one because your product is what is used to create your competition. So, I’ll get back around to that. Let’s deal with copying a product. Whether cage or accessory or design or whatever. Copying a product is more than just annoying to the person who invented it or created the market for it. It is a mental trap for you.  I know if you are thinking about what business you can get into to make money it is much easier to see the blueprint of someone who has already done the work. Although it really isn’t as easy as it may look, it at least looks easy in the beginning!

The reason why it is a trap is that you will always be following if you just copy because of the mindset. It is a totally different mindset to chart your own course and do something original. Your brain gets in the mode of seeing not what is there, but what could be there. If you copy then your mental focus is spent figuring out how your competitor did it, how you can tweak it to gain the upper hand, and how you can take your competitor’s customers. This is the mindset that follows their social media to see what they will be up to next and take apart each and every move to figure out how to combat it.  In the product marketing world we call this the fast follower model. You let some other company invent something, do the hard marketing and make the first mistakes. They get to be first on the market while you get to release a superior product with their hard learned lessons. And it isn’t always the small companies that do this. I worked at the #3 GPS navigator company, Magellan. We trailed far behind Garmin who was the #1 company. I was the first one to release a wide screen GPS device and a GPS/back-up camera combo unit through Magellan. Good for me, right? Well, Garmin would just watch for a year or two, watch all the things good and bad, and then come out with their own device with all the lessons learned. So it is a valid strategy. At least it is at that level. Although you can do that in the reptile community, we are much smaller and there is so much that needs to be invented and created so it is ridiculous to be a fast follower. It is like trying to steal ten feet from your neighbor’s property by moving the property line fence in the middle of the night – when, on the other side, you have thousands of acres of unclaimed land to just go and settle on. We are in a period of growth where there is so much opportunity that it is a waste of opportunity for you to simply copy something someone else has already done.

Following what someone else is doing is unimaginative. Fighting over customers is a ridiculous waste of your time unless you truly have no vision. Are you really just being a doppleganger with no ideas of what value you bring? If you are bringing value then you don’t have to fight. Build. Don’t fight. Build a brand around the value you bring. Yes, when you start off you need to explain your value proposition – especially if it is new. But after that, you should be building towards your own vision of what you are creating.

And this is what I am trying to bring out with this podcast. The entrepreneurial mindset.

The entrepreneurial mindset sees the market that is just waiting to exist. It is this mindset that sees the market as something that can grow and is growing.  The entrepreneurial mindset is the one that is not only going to take advantage of this growth, but will actively facilitate this growth!

 It is unimaginative and a scarcity mindset to look at the market as if it is a zero sum game. That means thinking there are only so many customers. If you have 10 and I want 10 I have to bad mouth you until I get your ten. Then I have them and you don’t. And then I have to defend those ten from the next young gun that appears who wants to take them from me. Here is your alternate reality – How about you create ten more customers?

Our community is growing and it is growing quickly. There is, right now, more customers than products. Now is the perfect time to establish yourself. And you don’t have to copy. You don’t have to steal. To all the people thinking they want my customers – fine have at. I am making new customers. I am building. If what I am building is worthwhile then they will come to me.

What About When You Are Copied?

Let’s take a look at the other side. Say you are the entrepreneur and are creating your own path. You will more than likely have no end of people seeing your success and following on it. There is no way to create a successful product without the copiers rushing in.

Here is where your future looking serves you. They will not be able to catch up if you keep moving forward. And it is a truth of business. If you are not moving forward you are falling back. Whatever time you spend worrying about the competition on your heels or figuring out what they are up to or determining what threat level they pose is not time spent moving forward into the next stage of your plan. This is where your strategy is to simply keep moving forward and forcing them to follow as quick as possible if they can. It is that entrepreneurial mindset that allows you to constantly break new ground. If you ever watch a race the winner is focused on the finish line. The guys who are looking around to see where everyone else is are not the ones coming in first. They are spreading their energy thin analyzing the competition.

Do you see how continually looking ahead and envisioning what could be is a completely different mindset from reverse engineering and predicting an innovators next move? It is difficult to switch between those mindsets because they both take full time attention. I, personally, block all my competitors from my view. They are just a distraction. Yes, I know they talk about me. You know, in their back handed ways. Yes, I know their followers go around and tell people not to get my products. But, no, I do not have time to trade blows in the mud. When I do that I lose sight of where I am going and what I am building. Be careful what you put in your mind. Some things are cancerous and you do not have space for inspiration and creativity if you are lobbing mud outside the gates. And, yeah, I know sometimes you have to. This isn’t a black and white thing. Sometimes I have to get into it. But whenever I do I have this big black hole that all my building of the future gets sucked up in. So, if you are one of the few who truly have the entrepreneurial mindset, guard your mind. Be very careful what you allow to take root there. Your ability to keep moving forward is your strength and defense.

So, let’s talk about the special case with reptile breeders.

Reptile Breeders

Breeders of reptiles are in an interesting position as they literally create competition for themselves with any sale. In fact, the better your bloodlines, the better you do your job, the more the next generation breeders will flock to you so they can start their breeding project with the best and strongest genetics. I mean, at least if they listen to the advice on this podcast they will! So breeders need to come to terms with what they are really selling. What makes them stand out.

Let’s ask, How can we have these decades long established breeders when people are constantly buying their genetics and then offering them for sale the next year or two? The answer is that the reptile is just the face of the product you are selling. Yes, that is what the money is being exchanged for, but with all the different panther chameleons available out there. All the different crested geckos available out there. All the ball pythons… what makes yours so different? Well, especially if those new breeders have bought your bloodlines, or you are selling bloodlines from an already established breeder, the difference isn’t in the reptile. It is in who you are to the community. Your reputation. Your customer service. Your ability to guide your customer through this exciting time. If you are just starting out be okay putting in the time to build up your reputation. Know that if you offer quality animals that you will succeed. Embrace the slow growth because that is how you create a reputation that lasts. It takes time for people to get familiar with your name. It takes time for the most powerful growth – personal recommendations from friends. This is why you can sell the same genetics as the big breeders, and not be able to charge as much. It is because they have the reputation and trust and that is worth it to customers. As frustrating as it is when you are starting, the flip side is that anything that takes time will filter out most of the people in it for a quick buck or not dedicated. So, just the fact that you survived five years gives you reputation points.

The bottom line is whether  you are an experienced breeder or a breeder just starting out. All you have to do is pay attention to your own quality. Don’t worry about what other people are doing. At this point in our community growth,  there is a market for quality reptiles from a breeder that gives excellent customer service and hand holding. The more experienced you are the higher the price you can charge. That is just the way things work and is really how things should work. The better the reputation the longer you have been around and the more you have proven the quality of your reptile purchase experience which is more than just the genetic make up of your reptile. Go back and listen to episode 4 with Josh Dovenbarger of Phantom Dragons and definitely listen in with the next episode 11 with Alex Menke of Frog Daddy. They talk about being different and concentrating on your own vision of who you are.

Closing Comments on Competition

Don’t be obsessed with your competition. You have an end goal. Work towards that and don’t let things distract you. Yeah, it is a good idea to keep your ear to the ground and look at how the winds are blowing, but beware of letting that distract you from your work. The winds change all the time.

I remember running a race and he guy in front of me turned around to see how close I was to him. And the thought occurred to me  – what are you going to do with that information? If you are already running as fast as you can then it doesn’t matter what I am doing. If I am faster there is nothing you can do about it. If you are faster you just need to keep going and it doesn’t matter what I am doing. So, definitely keep aware of the market and what is going on, but keep your eye more on your end vision than what your competitors are doing.

The Entrepreneurial Mindset

Embrace the entrepreneurial mindset that says there are markets that can be created. If you are making toothpaste then yes, the market is somewhat set. A genius marketing campaign needs to steal customers from Crest. There aren’t demographics of people that will suddenly switch to using toothpaste if you make a cool blue colored one. But that isn’t the case with the reptile market right now. I’ll say it again – our community is in a period of growth. Now is the time for you to take advantage of increased demand. I mean, let’s be realistic here. You can just show up with 400 baby Trioceros deremensis and expect to sell out immediately. 90% of my listeners have no idea what I just said. You have to market anything new. The point is that there are new ears joining our community and they want to hear something. That is the opportunity that is presenting itself. Concentrate on giving those ears something new, novel, and creative.

And when the pirates, and scavengers show up to copy and try to take what you have, you have  your brand strength from seniority and throw them off balance with your constant push forward to develop your vision for what you are offering the community.

I hope this gives you some thought as to how to be an entrepreneurial person bringing something new to the community or, if you are that already, how to deal with the copycats nipping at your heels. Nothing is clean or black and white. And we can’t always make the best decisions. Especially since we don’t know what the best decision is until we see the effects of it. Isn’t hindsight wonderful? I know I just do the best I can, keep my eyes forward and build my business without worrying about anyone else’s unless I can help them build their business as well. You know, we can help each other. I know competitors that hate each other for no reason other than they are fighting over customer attention and I know competitors that have dinner together at shows and talk about how they can better serve the community. Which do you think is the healthiest? I know it takes everyone to have a positive mindset to be able to build a community together and that isn’t always available through no fault of your own. I encourage you to be the builder of both your vision and your community. Build it and they will come is not just a movie quote. It is a life truth! And I think that is a good place to close off on the thought of the week of the importance of being original.

This is Bill Strand signing off. Take care of yourself, take care of our reptile community, and let’s see what we can build.