What's your goldfish?

Stand out with an experience when competitors offer almost the same as you. In this 2011 video, I talk about a hotel offer my wife found: A goldfish the family could have in their room during their stay.

Stand out with an experience the customer remembers

We were planning a trip to California and had to choose a hotel. There were many options with good service and different prices.

What was special about the goldfish idea was that the children had something specific to look forward to. I imagined that small experience could give the family an extra reason to choose the hotel.

I didn’t know the costs or the effect on bookings. My enthusiasm was about the idea and how something unexpected could get people talking about a business.

What’s your goldfish?

If others sell the same products as you, a lower price can quickly become the only difference. I wanted people to think about what else they could offer.

It doesn’t need to be the same as the hotel’s example. The question is what could give customers an experience connected specifically to your business.

Make room for ideas on holiday

I suggest relaxing and trying things a little different from your usual choices. A different book, a magazine about an unfamiliar subject, a new dish or a trip off your usual route can provide inspiration.

When things quieten down, perhaps you can also gain some distance from your business and see it from above. That’s how I wanted to let my own thoughts wander.

My encouragement was to make room for unusual ideas and then develop them into something that could work properly in practice. The hotel story is an example from 2011, not a description of a current offer.

Also read about branded clothing with quality and a discreet logo.

Stand out with an experience that gets people talking

There are a bloody lot of people supplying a bloody lot of things. If you have an online shop selling a particular product, there may be ten others selling exactly the same thing. Why the hell should customers buy from you?

You can say you’re the cheapest. But your competitor can become the cheapest too, and then you both end up earning nothing. You can also say you have the best service. Of course that’s a real and interesting difference. But with more and more online shops and businesses, it’s increasingly important to be able to say: This is why you should buy from me.

Hotels face the same challenge. In July 2011, I’m going to San Francisco with the family. We’re renting a camper, driving around California and enjoying ourselves. But first we need to choose a hotel in San Francisco, and there are just so many.

One is good at one thing, another at something else. Some create themes, others say they’re the cheapest. My wife has looked at the options and found an idea I think is really sweet.

A live goldfish to take up to your room

I can’t remember the hotel’s name in the video. My wife has researched it, and I say I’ll ask her and put it on the blog. But I’ve got the idea clear: When a family with children checks in, they get a goldfish to take to their room.

A bowl with a live goldfish. You take it up, get some food and look after the fish during your stay. The hotel also has good service and a reasonable price, but the fish is the little difference I notice.

Just think how simple that idea is. In the video, I guess a goldfish costs around DKK 20 and a bowl perhaps DKK 100, plus water and everything else. Those are my rough guesses at prices, not a hotel budget I’ve seen.

I also mention that some fish probably die and animal welfare campaigners might criticise the offer. My reaction back then is fairly blunt: We catch cod and plenty of other fish that die on deck. I also compare it to a chicken farm and say that if we take that discussion all the way, there isn’t much left to eat except broccoli. That’s the view I express in the 2011 video.

The children have something specific to look forward to

What I like about the hotel idea is the experience around it. Once the children have had a goldfish in their room, will they want to choose a hotel without one next time? I imagine the fish could become a strong reason to choose that particular hotel.

I also think it’s easy to get publicity from it. A goldfish in a hotel room is something you can tell a story about. And an attractive goldfish bowl is something visual the hotel can show on its website.

The parents can say: Hey kids, are you ready? At the hotel we’re staying in, we’ll get a goldfish to look after. Then the children are already in a good mood, and the parents are too.

I’m so enthusiastic that I call it one of the simplest and greatest business ideas I’ve ever heard. A goldfish bowl and a hotel room have nothing to do with each other to begin with. That unexpected combination is precisely what makes it interesting to me.

Find some calm before trying to come up with an unusual idea

What could you do in your own business? I know it can sound crazy. But if you’re going to have ideas like that, being bloody busy all the time won’t help. I discuss my own experiences of developing ideas and building businesses in Iværksætter til jeg dør.

Now it’s summer. Imagine you’ve got two weeks off. First spend a week or eight or nine days completely relaxing. Read books, take it easy and slow down.

While relaxing, you can also give yourself slightly different experiences from your usual ones. Order food you wouldn’t normally order. Read a magazine you don’t normally read. Bring a book you hadn’t previously imagined reading.

If you always bring professional books, try fiction. If you always read technology magazines, try something about architecture. If you always order a burger, leave the burger and choose another dish.

Do some fun things that are a little different for you. Go on an outing. If you normally lie on the beach, rent a car and drive around the local area. Challenge your senses and your usual comfort a little while still relaxing.

Let your thoughts drift and see the business from above

In the last few days, you can take long walks by the water or somewhere else peaceful and quiet. Let your thoughts drift.

Perhaps you can meditate a little. I do that myself too. Sit on the beach or somewhere else quiet where nobody disturbs you. Look out over the water, close your eyes and completely relax for fifteen or twenty minutes.

Let your thoughts move gently. Start getting bored. Perhaps, gradually, your thoughts begin moving towards your business. Then try looking at it from above.

Don’t get into all the details. I want you to let go of those for a moment. Look instead at what you could do differently. Where’s your goldfish bowl? What could you do that makes people say, that’s actually a bloody fun idea?

Give your ideas an edge, then bring them back to earth

Allow yourself some crazy ideas. Let your thoughts go places they wouldn’t normally go. Even to an idea where your first reaction is that it’s illegal, indecent or unethical.

My point is to give your imagination room first, then bring the ideas back to earth so they’re legal and ethical. At the same time, keep the edge that makes people talk about the business.

They shouldn’t only remember you as the cheapest or the one with the best service. They can remember you as the one with the goldfish bowl. That’s the kind of difference I think is worth looking for.

I end the Friday video by saying I’m going on holiday myself. Perhaps I’ll switch off and not feel like making videos for two weeks. Perhaps I’ll get so bored on the camper trip that I make loads. When I say that, it usually ends with you not hearing a damn thing, so that might happen this time too.

Enjoy your holiday. And find your goldfish bowl.

Have a great weekend. Best wishes, Martin

PS: My original link to the goldfish hotel from 2011 now leads to Hotel Monaco Seattle’s current page about pets. It doesn’t describe the goldfish offer from the story.