Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

There's a buzz in the air. I've been fascinated by some of the people I have met lately. My colleague and I giggled in half-skepticism as we walked into the conference seminar called "Grooming the Men of Today," but came out impressed with the business model for a "gentleman's spa" in NY. Men don't want bad haircuts - give them luxury & service, and throw in a beer & big screen TV while you're at it! While I don't know too many guys around me who would go for $63 haircuts, the guy had a point. There's no place for men in today's haircut & grooming industry. They either feel jipped off at a super expensive salon - or - get treated like an afterthought at a unisex salon.

Bottom line, the men who built it were the same guys who felt disgruntled with the metro/retro-sexual labeling world that left 60% of the I'm-neither-metro-or-retro male population out to dry. You could tell that the room was tinged with excitement, especially the women already eyeing the "perfect gift" for their husbands/fiancee/boyfriends this Christmas. The guys looked curious too. The panel speaker wasn't even selling it - he was just getting synchronized lemur-like nodds from the audience every time he spoke of his dissatisfaction. It was one of the best marketing I have ever seen.

Jump a week from then, and I'm in Virginia. I'm taking a class on shipping, conducted by a woman who has been in the ocean liner business for over 30 years. She offers introductory courses to anybody who wants to learn about the ocean liner business and global commercial trade regulations. It's a 101 course, but I learned quickly how scarce such training is in the industry. There are 2 women from the Federal Maritime Commission who are saying "we wish we knew about this earlier." Kudos for them for taking the course now, but this also means that there is a large population of people in international trade who don't quite know what they are doing (or are wingin' it by the seat of their pants). Proper training & education is so key - yet too often, people are thrown at the wolves for on-the-job training.

All this is starting to make me think about how I would want to approach building a business. Tapping into the daily dissatisfactions - what isn't offered in today's world? Is there enough demand for it? Let's exhaust all the things that it doesn't do - and then figure out what would answer to those needs. Be selective. Focus. Everyone on board should get orientation to the vision/big-picture of the business, followed by a comprehensive training to start off on the right foot. Buzz, buzz, buzz. Stumbling upon an awesome organization has also got me psyched.

I'm learning, I'm learning. I'm information gathering. There's just so much amazing people & ideas going around - I'm feeding off that energy. Grrr!