Last night I stayed up and watched, Biography on CNBC. It was on Home Depot, one of the world’s fastest growing retail chains. The story is absolutely incredible and it really inspired me. As an entrepreneur there’s so much we can learn from success stories like theirs. I’ve embedded the video at the end of this post, but let me share with you a few points that I think are noteworthy as it relates to your success.

Define Your Niche and Rock it Out!

Home Depot wasn’t the first company to offer home improvement supplies and products, but they were the first to really capitalize on the niche. They expanded their products, services, and retail space to reflect their market’s needs. When you know exactly who you are as a business and who you want to cater to in your business, the easier it is to differentiate yourself and generate sales within that space.

Define Your Brand and Own it!

Can you deny who Home Depot is as a company and what they stand for? The orange color scheme, large warehouse, and universal marketing message all equals a complete picture in the minds of people looking for home supplies and even appliances. This is a great example of an accomplished brand.

As an entrepreneur what image should people see in their mind’s eye when they think of you and your business? What service or product comes to mind in regards to who you are or what you have to offer? These are the questions that will help you define your own brand and magnetically attract business to you.

Don’t Just ask your customers, “How May I help You?” . . .  Solve a Problem!

At the start of Home Depot’s success, customer service was king. Where else could you go to get expert advice on fixing your home, find the exact tools you needed, and learn how to use the tools as well? Simply being open for business is not serving your customers; customer service means solving problems. You don’t have to bend over backwards and give the store away, but a considerable amount of time should be given to solve your client’s problems with your products or services.

Have you ever been to a store, found exactly what you think you need, but unsure if it’ll fix your problem? It’s a retail curse, but if you’re a small business owner there’s a lesson to be learned here as well. When I used to develop websites I made sure not only to meet my client’s need of being on the net, I solved their marketing problems too once they got online. I typically included these services in their package price. This was a huge value and created a sense of loyalty to me and my (sometimes high) prices.

Lead with Passion and They’ll Follow with Fire

Depot’s internal strength came from the passion of upper management which started fires of loyalty amongst the store associates. As a result employees stayed later, worked harder, and really began to LOVE helping customers. Whatever business you have or want to start, if you lack passion for the vision then you won’t see it through and neither will your partners or employees.

I can’t teach you how to have passion for what you do or want to do, it’s got to be there before you start. It’s the reason why you want to do it in the first place – because you love it, silly! I absolutely love being a content creator and producer. I love interacting with all of you here so when I have employees that fire of passion will catch on and deliver even more content that I hope you’ll love as well.

Teach Your Customers and Unlock the Key to Residual Success!

By far the cornerstone of Home Depot’s success is their customers and the value they added by offering weekend workshops. People were able to get expert advice, learn tips, tricks, and home improvement techniques absolutely free. Can you imagine teaching potential clients how to maximize your products or services before they buy them . . . and they want to learn? It’s a powerful lesson to learn for any entrepreneur. That’s why seminar leading is such a powerful form of marketing (free seminars that is). You’re able to engage with an audience who’s thirsty for knowledge and offer a product or service at the end because you’ve earned their trust.

Are you engaging with potential clients and customers outside of the web? If not, seminars and workshops are powerful ideas to act on. Doing so positions you as an expert in your field, gives you a platform to build your business on, and earns you trust with potential clients.

Final Thoughts

Home Depot has grown their business to thousands of stores nationally, being a globally recognized brand, and over 50 billion dollars in annual revenue. Take those statistics and plug in your name or business name . . . do you see what’s possible? Can you see yourself in that position sometime down the road? I do and you should too!

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