Business arbitrage:
I had a meeting today with a client. It went well because well, I'm lucky like that. But my luck is of no benefit to y'all. How about I share with you how I got lucky? The guy who wanted to hire me admitted to having zero technical knowledge. iOS was called..
I had a meeting today with a client. It went well because well, I'm lucky like that. But my luck is of no benefit to y'all. How about I share with you how I got lucky? The guy who wanted to hire me admitted to having zero technical knowledge. iOS was called..
ISO. He said within the first few minutes of listening to me he "felt" I was the right man for the job. How did this happen? He had hired an entire team of people to handle his software business needs but he instantly felt at ease with me. He told me he's done with that company.
Where does the arbitrage come from? Pay attention because this is the key you'll want to apply. You meet people for business and they are hoping that the present and future opportunities will yield fruit. But they have been taken advantage of in the past. Why does this happen?
It has to do with time and a little thing called the agency problem. If you hire people to solve your problem they become your primary focus for that transaction. Those people tend to have many clients. Therefore, you are NOT always their top priority.
The company you hire has a different equation to solve. They may have bills to pay. For them, taking your money and "screwing" you over is a calculus they can afford because the money you pay them keeps the lights on, and benefits many others. You see the asymmetry?
For you, this is the only shot you might have at solving a problem and you're hoping they take you seriously and focus on you. But for them, upsetting you might not be such a big deal. This is a lousy way to conduct business but it's the only way I can make sense of how..
some people run their business. Your money paid to them is in your eyes an investment in the future, while to them it's actually just a payment made for past decisions (bills to pay). You are looking forward, they are paying backward obligations. As you can see the timelines are
misaligned. I immediately line up expectations and I map their concerns to tangible actions. I tell them I'll give you a tour of the sausage factory, I don't expect you to grab a knife and start making sausage but I want you to see where your money goes. I create transparency.
Where the agency I'm competing against builds a distance and a form of separation from the client and the work. They make it seem complex and that's how they justify their constant nasty bills to get paid. I put their minds at ease and give them control over the process.
I got the contract, and along the way, I managed to drum up a side deal as well. The world is full of people being dishonest and that's your chance to make a difference. I'm able to charge a great rate for what I do because I can show them what their money is paying for.
"Values reach us through the realm of feelings much in the same way as color reaches us through the realm of sight." Ian McGilchrist. I close deals because I'm lucky enough to operate in a world where my competitors lose sight of the obvious human side of things.
Wanna really break it down and get it? Ok, most smart people see (left brain) philosophy as the way to get root access to reality. I see the door to reality not from that point of view, but from the emotional entrance of the heart (right brain) via poetry, art, music.
Sounds like fluff right? Not really, I get people to trust me because I don't run them over with technical jargon, I don't obfuscate my job even when it's technical. I treat people with dignity worthy of my efforts to make them feel safe in dealing with me. Their money is safe.
Their peace of mind is safe. So just words then? Nope, actions. I tell them we go in lockstep. Small steps, small payments, transparency all the way. Ironically my hourly rates are 3-4 times higher than the rates the companies charge them.
How come I get hired? Because I may be expensive, but I'm not a permanent dependant they have to put through University at perpetual small payment rates. Create your own luck, my friends. Everyone approaches everything via logic, be the one who approaches via poetry. 🤘
