The Salamander Principle

In Barcelona, there’s a beautiful park called Parc Guell.

Inside the park is a special “monument area” – full of amazing mosaic tiles and designs.

One of the most prominent ones is of a gecko or a “salamandra” as the locals call it.

It’s definitely beautiful and many people take a photo of it, but you’d probably forget about it as soon as you leave…

…that is, until you walk outside:

Salamanders everywhere.

Seriously.

• Keychains
• Postcards
• Blankets
• Figurines
• Calendars

Anything you can think of – they put a salamander on it for eager tourists who are willing to snatch them up as a reminder of their trip.

What does this have to do with business?

Immediacy

I’m not going to buy a keychain of a salamander walking around Oklahoma City. I’m not going to understand the context, the purpose or the relation to the place I’m in.

However, if I just spent 20 minutes looking at various mosaics in one of the most famous parks in Barcelona, I’m much more likely to buy it.

Availability

These are everywhere. It seems a bit overkill, but if you’re looking to buy a reminder, everyone has different tastes.

If you want a reminder of salamanders, you can find a bunch of different types of things to remind you of them.

If you’re into figurines but not posters, you have a choice. Availability means they’re going to move volumes because they have a match to each preference type.

Obviousness

This is the biggest piece (and most entrepreneurs’ blind spot). Most entrepreneurs (at least in my case) would say, “What’s the point? I’m not selling keychains.”

And I get it.

Selling keychains certainly isn’t the business that I’m trying to get into.

If you lived in town, that salamander might be obvious to you. You might have seen it 100 times. You might not want any more reminders of it.

However, if you walk around the park, you’ll see quickly that most people gravitate to a few items and spend more than just a quick moment there.

A lot of people may value that moment, that idea, or that experience and want to remember it.

It might not be YOUR need, but it is someone else’s and they’re willing to spend money to fulfill it.

That’s what entrepreneurship is about.

It’s about you – sure and you can build the type of business you want – but you need to make sure you’re thinking of your customers first.

So many times, people who want to start their own business tell me what THEY WANT without ever telling me (1) what their customers want or (2) what they’re willing to give up to get it.

Understand your customer and realize that you are not them. Then act accordingly. You might just get surprised by a salamander.

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Fun story: Germany has its own version of this. In Germany, the cross-walk guy is named the Amplemann & looks quite different from ones in the US or other countries. Some enterprising entrepreneur recognized this and built an entire commerce line around him. Seriously, they have a packed store with all sorts of branded pieces for him. It’s crazy. Just goes to show you – if you think about immediacy, availability and obviousness, you can use it to build a HUGE business.

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photo via wikimedia / ampleman via Jenny S