7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Title of the Opportunity: Digital Biz Cards

·       Opportunity: ~10 billion business cards are printed in the US every year. ~8 billion of them will be thrown out within a week because the benefits of the product or service being offered is not immediately realized or needed.

o   Who: Business professionals.

o   What: Their cards and information is discarded almost immediately because they have little value at the time.

o   Why: People live in the moment and don’t need their product or service at that given moment.

·      Testing Who: There are various levels of who across business categories. At the corporation level there are mid-high-level employees that network on a frequent basis. They travel for conferences, invite other businesses to present their opportunity, and attend functions that promote their company. For small business owners that do not have the capital to network as much still rely on these business cards to market their business with the intent of generating revenue. Since we are talking about ice-breaking with hopes to complete a transaction later, this could also be an opportunity for non-business professionals that want to take the first step in meeting or talking to other people. 

·      Testing What: Some of these business cards are pushed on individuals. It’s not uncommon for someone to stick a business card in your face as you walk by at a convention or attached to marketing mail you receive at home. We have all seen the little jars in restaurants that allow you to put your business card in with hopes you are drawn for a free lunch. However, I believe the majority are legitimate transactions based on real human interaction. What other reasons would individuals have to accept a business card knowing they are just going to toss it in the trash can almost immediately?

·      Testing Why: There is no need for the service immediately make sense but then why take the business card in the first place? Politeness or business etiquette maybe. A good portion of the ideas and pitches are presented to individuals that have no buying power is another theory.

Interview #1 – Executive professional in a large corporation that was very surprised to hear about the waste of business cards. She felt that although she didn’t fit in this category she could see how this can occur. I was informed during this interview that she only shares her business card strictly with individuals that have expressed a service or purpose that has the potential to make an immediate impact on her business. I got the impression that at her level there’s not a lot of room for small talk. She did express to me the importance of making backups or multiple copies and notes of prospects and told me about an opportunity she missed because she misplaced a contact.

Interview #2 – Myself. I wanted to get my own perspective down on paper as an exercise because I have been in this position several times. My goal is to really think through the hypothesis from my position. I have certainly accepted business cards that shoved in my face only to toss them in the trash less than 5 minutes after I get them. Why? Because it was not something I asked for or needed. I have accepted them in meetings from companies that present demos. Most of the time because they are given to me at the beginning of a meeting. It is very rare for me to follow up with any of these opportunities. The ones I want are the ones I ask for and the ones I get excited about are when I am asked for mine after the discussion.

Interview #3 – The sales manager I interviewed was very interesting. He didn’t seem to care about the waste factor. He informed me that he distributes as many business cards as he can to a) get his name out b) believes that the more people he gives his business card to the better chance of making a sale. When I pressed him on the second answer he believes that due to his success it proves that it works. However, what was interesting is that he couldn’t prove his mass distribution really contributed to his sales transactions.

Interview #4 – The marketing professional I interviewed next was interesting. She informed me that she keeps a Google spreadsheet of everyone that she gives her business card to and those that she has received. She wasn’t aware of the high number of waste but admitted to discarding most of the business cards she receives. She was also not surprised and told me her roommate gets on her case about killing trees when she brings home a box of 500 business cards.

Interview #5 – This was an interesting interview. A young gentleman that has just entered the workforce after graduating college. I wanted to get a different perspective from a non-seasoned professional. Once we got passed the “no need for business cards” and “that’s what snapchat is for” we had an interesting conversation. In part because he didn’t seem to observe the boundaries older professionals (like myself) do. A business card to him is considered “old school” and something he believed would be lost in a matter of minutes. When I asked him about the need for maintaining contacts that could be opportunities to better his situation in the future he informed me that it would be cool if he could get a girl’s number without going through the stress.

·      What do you know now that you didn’t before?

o   Based on my lowered belief of my first opportunity assessment I learned a lot during this exercise. My original idea was merely a solution looking for a problem. However, I think I found a real problem here. Everyone I talked to had no idea about the volume of business cards that are printed each year or the level of which they are discarded (88%) in such a short period of time.

o   I also learned that different professionals utilizing these business cards had different ideas about their purpose.

o   A real eye opener was the lack of recall to whom individuals distribute their information to.

o   Given what I learned in my last interview there may be more opportunities with a broader audience.