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I love small businesses and run a couple of my own. This is a post about a local small business that recently started in Fargo by a friend of mine.

Ruben Lozoya started Speedy PC, a Fargo/Moorhead computer repair company. Ruben and I used to work for SEI The Devil about 4 years ago. Both of us used our past job as a stepping stone to do better and bigger things. I have no doubt Ruben’s business will be a hit.

Computer repairing goes to my core. I started in computer repair myself about 10 years ago and still love tweaking my machines when necessary. Now I can bring all of the big or little computer problems to a friend (within walking distance of my place) and support the non-Geek Squad businesses.

Ruben opened up his shop in the retail space at a grocery store, and I couldn’t imagine a better place. Granted North Dakota didn’t go through the big real estate boom and bust like the rest of the country, we still have our fair share of empty retail space. I’ve noticed a lot of buildings that went up two years ago on new land and have yet to fill the space.

Picking a high-traffic location to set up shop is always an awesome idea. Ruben staked his claim inside a grocery store and is in front of thousands of people a week all waiting in line with nothing better to do than stare at his shop and sign. Talk about an awesome form of branding and advertisement for a service most people need or could use just about any time of year. I have no doubt 6 months from now a frequent shopper will have a computer problem and will remember where to find just that service.

If you are in the Fargo/Moorhead area and are in need of PC repairing, I highly recommend SpeedyPC.

I encourage you to check out his site fmpcrepair.com and keep him in mind for your next pc repair needs. Speedy Repair also has a Facebook Page that makes asking questions super easy.

Keep up the good work and best of luck, Ruben!

The three things you’ll get out of this post:

1. What is company culture?
2. Why is company culture important?
3. How to create a company culture?

All I care about are dollars and cents

Every year Forbes magazines releases a list of the best companies to work for and in large part the companies on the list have established a culture that both their customers and employees are a part of.

Companies have figured out that eventually someone else will replicate any good idea, usually at a fraction of the price. The one thing that copycats can’t replicate is a culture. A business’s culture does not happen overnight but is a core philosophy of the company. I recently read Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh the CEO of Zappos.com. The book is a must for any business looking to create something other than a product or service.

Although Delivering Happiness is one book about one company, the idea of creating a culture is expanding quickly as other brands attempt to create something in addition to what is for sale. The secret is knowing that people are emotionally attached to their purchases. People are buying much more based on information that they have read online or heard directly from their friends/family. Creating a way for people to become more emotionally attached to your brand is a WIN-WIN for you and your customers.

If aunt Tambi has a wonderful experience with the customer service rep at an online retailer and shares her experience with you, in the future when you need something similar, you’ll remember. The same goes for having a bad experience with a company. The difference being with bad experiences people are much more likely to share their discontent via social media.

Culture Smolture

Illegal counterfeiting is a $600 Billion a year business. Imagine how much money is spent making similar products legally… The secret ingredient for profit is to create a product that can’t be so easily replicated. For the same reason Gold is so valuable, your company can become the Gold of your niche.

How many times have you heard of a brand new gadget like the iPhone 4 being released to have replicas shown on CNN hours later from a store in China somewhere? For the same reason the fashion industry and car industry change all the time, businesses are constantly forced to stay “one step ahead” of the competition. Really companies are trying to remain profitable as long as they can until the masses catch up.

Culture allows companies to take boring or beat industries and transform them back into profitable niches because something other than the product is being provided. That something is the secret sauce to the financial equation that allows companies to charge much more for the same product as their competition while gaining market share.

People are craving connections to brands and cultures that have been ignored for way to long.

Wake up and smell the culture

In order to establish a culture, your company needs to allow a certain level of freedom for your employees to help. A CEO can’t dictate a culture of the company and expect the employees to follow along. All the employees have to be involved on a personal level for any type of culture to succeed.

Many companies are creating a set of CORE VALUES that they can hang their hat on to determine if something is inside or outside of their culture. Then they allow their employees to create fun, unique, interesting ways to bond as a group and to welcome “outsiders” (customers) into that group. When a company mixes a product/service with a thick culture, they now have created a product that others can’t easily replicate. The company culture marketing strategy is one that will pay dividends over the long haul.

First of all, you are allowing your employees to be fun and creative, boosting morale and overall happiness Second, you are creating something unique and desirable by others. Last, culture allows businesses to rebuild lost profit margins by creating a new product for people to consume.

Start now, be unique, have fun and spread the love. Ultimately your company will be rewarded at every level.

Just about every business has a byproduct of some sort. Next time you think about the next product line look at what is being thrown in the trash. Time and time again you hear stories about how one company turned their trash into a pile of money. One of my favorite examples is Kingsford Charcoal. After all, it is grilling season now and people are lighting briquettes like nobody’s business. Here is an excerpt from the Kingsford Wiki page:

Kingsford is a brand of charcoal used for grilling, along with related products. The brand is owned by The Clorox Company.

The Kingsford Company was formed by Henry Ford and E.G. Kingsford during the early 1920s. Charcoal was developed from Ford Motor Company’s factory wastes (wood scraps). The Kingsford Company was formed when E.G. Kingsford, a relative of Ford’s, brokered the site selection for Ford’s new charcoal manufacturing plant. The company, originally called Ford Charcoal, was renamed in E.G.’s honor.

Today The Kingsford Products Company remains the leading manufacturer of charcoal in the U.S., enjoying 80 percent market share. More than 1 million tons of wood scraps are converted into charcoal briquets every year, making Kingsford the pacesetter in the charcoal industry.

Pretty cool to be able to take your scrap wood and turn that into a $350 million a year business! Who knew there was so much money in making, selling and marketing charcoal?

When looking for your next great marketing idea take a look around your trash bin at the office and see what it is your are scrapping that could be re-proceeded and turned into money. Talk about being “green” – more like making green from your trash heap.

Of course this doesn’t stop with physical objects, how could you transform your extra processing power or rack space into a product people need or want. It doesn’t cost you much to convert the things you already have into additional revenue generating sources.