The Power and Paradox of Simplicity

Simplicity is an important trait in starting and managing a business. In this article, we are honoured to have our guest contributor, Harold Fock, an established entrepreneur and also the owner of Beyond SG blog, to demonstrate how the power and paradox of simplicity can change the speed and nature of business with 5 simple principles.

The Power and Paradox of Simplicity by Harold Fock

1. Good stuff is simple
I love simplicity. Think for a moment. Do you know all the most popular appliances and gadgets in the world generically have two buttons (once you strip off the bells and whistles)? Let’s start with the television. Why do we have a global obsession with watching TV? Because operating a TV is essentially a two-buttoned operation. The On-Off switch and the Channel Switch. (For women, there is only one switch as only men are avid channel surfer haha.) If a television set requires a downloading of software, a virus remover, a Windows configuration, the world will spend more time reading books and admiring their girlfriends.

Why are PC so pervasive in the homes? The credit does not go to the famous Moore’s Law or Sim Lim Square’s cutthroat pricing. It is the humble but powerful mouse! Office workers, grandmothers and CEOs (in order of descending IQ) will never have figured out something as complex as a DOS prompt. A mouse is another two-button device – the click button and the roller “button” below. Throw in the Radio (on-off and tuning dial), the cellphone (okay, okay, it has more than 2 buttons but if you see 0-9 as a dial…), the fax, the air-con, the blender, the multi-coloured confusing MP3 players versus Apple I-Pod etc… My point is that human beings generally hate complexity and prefer simplicity.

2. Businessmen should make things simple
If there is a default need for simplicity among human beings, then our foremost task as businessmen is to make everything simple.

Have a simple, easy to understand, management target.
Have a business model you can explain within an elevator ride.
Have a commission structure that a non-MBA salesman can comprehend.
Have a product you can brag to your grandmother within a phonecall.
Have an idea that does not require 4 PowerPoint slides to get across. (Fockism here: Most of the time we see PowderPoint – fluffy presentations that have very little impact but since everyone is doing it, we learnt to tolerate nonsense.)

3. How do I start?
But business is, by nature, complex. How do I simplify things? How do I think “simple”? How do I even start? I believe there is a way out. This is my starting point. I call it the 4 Cs Simple Business Model (4CSBM) Since Singaporeans love acronyms, I just made the name up to sound more academic and impressive but the framework is real and useful. Upon introspection, it has served me tremendously in evaluating most businesses over the years. It is my quick and dirty sanity checklist.

4. The 4 Cs Model
The Cs stands for Concept, Customers, Competence and Connectivity.

In the beginning, there is the Concept.

Concept is the underlying logic and reason how you can extract money out of your customers’ pockets. A lot of seasoned businessmen and VCs get irritated when young entrepreneurs talk about visions, mission statements, business development strategies without addressing a simple question – how to earn your buyer’s money? Believe me, I have made such ghastly mistakes before and I still do.

Customers are the folks who buy your Concept first (even before they buy your product).

Competence is the ability to execute and implement the Concept – the real visible work that ultimately satisfies your customers.

Connectivity is the ability of a company to network and obtain various resources to meet your customers’ needs.

Once the basic framework is in place, use the same “Keep Things Simple” mindset and dive down to the tactical level. If you are stuck at any of the Cs, you might not have thought things through.