DON'T ABANDON WHAT WORKS

When I went grocery shopping last week, I picked up a package of
Grillers, a soy protein product, made by Morning Star Farm, which I
haven't done for a while.

I had eaten Grillers for years and had really enjoyed the taste. Then
one day, as I pulled the package out of the freezer, I saw that Morning
Star Farm had "improved" the taste of Grillers. Let me tell you. They
did NOT improve the taste, at least not according to my taste buds. So
I stopped buying the product.

What made me buy the product again? Morning Star Farm had printed in
big bold letters on the packaging, "Original Grillers." So I tried it.
And, yes, it was back to the product I had loved for so long.

As I sat there thoroughly enjoying my meal, I thought how silly of
Morning Star Farm to mess with the recipe of Grillers to "improve" it
when they had such a winning product to begin with.

This line of thinking reminded me of Coca-Cola who had the "brilliant"
idea several years ago to change the recipe of Coke and call it New
Coke. That change cost them a lot of customers, so they quickly
regrouped and brought back Classic Coke.

Both Morning Star Farm and Coca-Cola had abandoned the products that
had worked so well for them and made their companies prosperous.
Someone somewhere had come up with the idea that the classic products
needed to be changed. They totally took off the market that which
customers had been purchasing, and brought out the new and improved
versions. They didn't give the customers a choice.

There is a lot of advice on the internet on how you should run your
business. You'll hear one thing one day about how to "improve" your
products and marketing, and the next day you'll hear something entirely
opposite on how to "improve" your business. It can be incredibly
confusing.

Here's what I suggest:

1) Find out what works and what doesn't work for you, your company, and
your products. Not everything works for everyone everywhere.

2) Read what comes across your computer screen and see if it fits in
with your business plan and your personality. You know your own vision
and goals better than anyone else does. If what you read makes sense,
it comes from someone you trust, and it "feels right" for you, then put
the advice to work.

3) If something is already working for you, and someone comes along to
tell you how you can "improve" it, make slight changes and test it if
you feel the advice is sound.

Don't fall victim to drastically changing what you are offering to your
loyal customers - the products and services they've come to expect and
enjoy. Don't abandon what's working just for the sake of "improvement."
In the long run it may cost you time, money, and customers.