What could you do differently to grow your business?
As a female business owner, what could you do differently (than everyone else)?
As I mentioned in my previous post, I decamped to Paris for a two-month, work-from-anywhere, get-out-and-explore, and basically-enjoy-life stay in Paris.
I am a walker, a stroller, a “flaneuse.” And there are not many cities better than Paris in which to undertake this. Getting lost has never been so good.
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A tasting and a tour.
Shortly after I arrived, my brother and sister-in-law descended to flaneuse (or in my brother’s case, flaneur) with me for a few days. All of that walking necessitated stops for excellent food and wine, of course, as we’re lovers of both.
Prior to their arrival, my brother had suggested an excursion to the city of Reims, the unofficial capital of the Champagne wine-growing region, to which I immediately responded, “oui”! He booked the train tickets in advance, and on the Friday, we boarded the TGV and sped across the French countryside to Reims in just 45 minutes.
Once there, we tasted the Rosé at Veuve Clicquot and made our way to The Domaine Pommery for a tour of the champagne house.
A businesswoman.
The self-guided tour was delivered via their app. The audio began as we descended the 116 steps of the grand staircase to the cellars, 30 meters below. A magnificent lighting installation by Spanish artist Pablo Valbuena lit our descent. As we’d discover, this was just the first of many works of art on display.
It was a woman who had created the experience we were about to have — Jeanne Alexandrine “Louise” Pommery. I was fascinated from the start.
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Here are some of her accomplishments:
Madame Louise Pommery took over the company her husband had founded after he died suddenly in 1858, changing management rules and setting out to capture a greater share of national and international markets.
She developed the image of the Pommery brand and, in doing so, created what we know today as luxury branding - a distinct style with communications, and public relations.
She saw the potential in the areas chalk pits, a quarry from which limestone was extracted to build the areas houses and churches — she interconnected the massive pits with long galleries, using the backfill to level what would become her cellar. The resulting conditions - 10 degree Celsius and 98% humidity (my “chia pet” hair felt that) were the perfect conditions to produce her champagne.
She was an art lover and collector who incorporated art into the Domain’s cellars, commissioning the artist Gustave Navlet to conceive and execute a series of massive bas-relief sculptures celebrating wine.
She invented Brut champagne in 1874 - prior to that, champagne was a sweet wine tasted as or with a dessert. She wanted to expand her domestic audience and reach international markets, and asked the Maison Pommery Cellar Master to create a fresh, light champagne that could be tasted any time. Today, Brut represents 95% of all champagne shipped from the region.
She operated her business as though there were no rules. She made the rules.
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What can you do, your way?
No matter what business you’re in, what vertical market, what location, delivering a product or a service, you’ll find yourself in a “competitive landscape.”
This is a good thing - it means that there is already a market for your offering (vs. you having to educate the client/consumer about the problem to create the market before you can educate them about your solution and bring them on - read: this is A LOT OF WORK).
With that good news established, now what?
As you’ve likely heard me say before but is worthy of repeating (at least I know I need to hear it, often) — there is only one you, with your unique set of experiences, your expertise, your passions, your interests. And if you've not done it, it's not and done before.
So, given that fact, what can you do, in your way, that no one in your industry is doing?
It doesn’t need to be an entirely new product (a la Louise Pommery and her Brut champagne), but heck it could be.
Some other possibilities:
Packaging or delivering your product or service in a new way, one that draws from who you are.
Incorporating music or art (or another passion of yours) in what you do in a novel way.
Creating a free offering that gives people a taste of what you do (pun intended) in a way that others haven’t thought of.
Developing a series on a marketing platform that’s truly in alignment with how you want to show up.
The list goes on.
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An exercise.
To get to that list, set a timer for 10 minutes, open a Google doc or grab your journal and a pen, type or write the number 1 at the top of a fresh page, start your timer, and go.
Don’t stop until the timer goes off. And if you’re still writing when it does, keep going until every last idea is out of your head and laid down where you can see it.
I’ll bet there is at least one idea there that you can put into action, today. ✨
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Feeling inspired and ready to disrupt your industry like Madame Louise Pommery? Book a discovery call to discuss how we can take your vision from fledgling business to iconic brand.