Integrating the Art and Science of Business, According to CEO Brandon Frere
PETALUMA, Calif., Sept. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Business leaders are asked to manage the flash of discovery and the work of bringing this discovery to market. An entrepreneur must straddle two worlds: the world of ideas and the world of markets. History is filled with success stories, such as Post-it Notes and CorningWare, in which accidental inventions required creative application and methodical entry into markets. It is also overflowing with many more failures, either because the value of the discovery could not be determined or there was no entrepreneur to bring it to market. Brandon Frere, CEO of Frere Enterprises and other ventures, understands the art and science of business.
"If you are going to be an entrepreneur, your life is going to be a journey on a path winding from the creative and intuitive to the rational and planning on its way to success," said Frere. "There is an art and science to business and you have to be willing to embrace both."
Famously, a 3M engineer was attempting to create an extremely powerful glue, but, instead, he accidentally stumbled upon a low-tack, reusable adhesive. For several years, the material languished until a colleague came up with the idea of using the adhesive to bookmark notes in his hymnal. How many hallelujahs did it take for 3M to realize that the product could be used in business? After researching, launching, failing then marketing and relaunching, Post-it Notes became an overnight success after nearly 12 years of creative and marketing efforts.
Similarly, a chemist at Corning Incorporated was experimenting with a new glass formula when he dropped a super-heated sample on the floor and, instead of shattering, it fell to the ground in one piece. The chemist kept experimenting with the material and found that it could also transition from frozen to hot without cracking, though he had no thoughts about what it might be good for. He happened to mention the work to the head of consumer products who quickly realized that the material would be excellent for casserole dishes and other kitchen products. After six years, from discovery to product development to marketing, CorningWare became a cornerstone of the company for the next 40 years.
In both of these examples, ideas and intuition and accidental discovery were equally essential to product success as logical and intelligent planning and marketing. It is always a challenge to balance these two. Often, within a company, organizational walls break down communication between these very different but critical elements. Entrepreneurs must not only be comfortable in both worlds, but they must build dynamic pathways of interaction between the art and science of bringing valuable goods and services to market.
"Discovery without commercialization is a bike without wheels," said Frere. "If you're going take a long ride, it is going to require both sides of your brain, the intuitive and the rational, and both sides of your organization, creative and marketing, to be engaged, integrated and ready to roll."
About Brandon Frere
Brandon Frere is an entrepreneur and businessman who lives in Sonoma County, California. He has designed and created multiple companies to meet the ever-demanding needs of businesses and consumers alike. His website, www.BrandonFrere.com, is used as a means of communicating many of the lessons, fundamentals, and information that he has learned throughout his extensive business and personal endeavors, most recently in advocating on behalf of student loan borrowers nationwide.
As experienced during his own student loan repayment, Mr. Frere found out how difficult it can be to work with federally contracted student loan servicers and the repayment programs designed to help borrowers. Through those efforts, he gained an insider's look into the repayment process and the motivations behind the inflating student loan debt bubble. His knowledge of the often confusing landscape of student loan repayment became a vital theme in his future endeavors, and he now uses those experiences to help guide others through the daunting process of applying for available federal repayment and loan forgiveness programs.
BrandonFrere.com
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