In any great work of art there are multiple levels of meaning, and Gilligan’s Island is no exception!
While it’s easy – and fun – to be entertained by the antics of those seven castaways, the personalities, concepts and some recurring themes teach bigger lessons, many of which apply to running a small business.
What do you say we set out together on a three-minute tour?
- Don’t overpromise. The tourists who signed up for a three-hour tour on The Minnow were badly misled. Meet customer expectations. Further, like the situation with the tour, when you make a time commitment, don’t miss your deadline.
- Beware of uncharted hazards. Don’t get lulled into the feeling that just because something bad hasn’t hit your small business yet, that it won’t. Don’t let your defenses slip. A good example of this today are the cyber-threats. Hackers are always coming up with a new twist that catches some small business owners unaware.
- Look for emerging opportunities. Only two people made money from Gilligan’s Island when it went into syndication – the show’s creator, Sherwood Schwartz, and Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann. Wells was married to an agent who sensed how big syndication would become so he had a clause added to her contract. She made a boatload of money over the years – probably enough to sink The Minnow…again.
- You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. You need to wow prospects and win them over to your side starting with your first encounter. Over the years, lots of people turned up on the island, but none of them did anything to rescue the original castaways. Had Gillian and the guys forged better relationships with these people, it would have certainly hastened their rescue!
- Make do with what you have. With guidance from The Professor and everyone else chipping in where they could, the castaways were able to make virtually everything they needed to survive from little more than coconuts and bamboo. Small business owners need to carefully mind their expenses; be clever and inventive with the resources you have at hand. It’s possible some members of your team have talents that you haven’t yet discovered. Seek them out and bring them to bear.
- Being well funded doesn’t equal success. The Millionaire ended up in the same place as Gilligan. His money didn’t serve him at all once he boarded The Minnow for that ill-fated three-hour tour. If you’re trying to get traction in a startup, the answer may not be to raise another round of funding.
- Be prepared for a diverse customer base. People from every socioeconomic class and income group were stranded together on that tropical island. Today, the diversity among U.S. consumers is greater than it has ever been and it is getting even more diverse. Products and services that appeal to a broad base of consumers will have an easier path to significant profitability.
- The old is new again. Although Gilligan’s Island achieved success during its original run, it was in re-runs and follow-up movies that it really became a cultural phenomena. Here’s a tip for your future: As consumers age, they start to yearn for the things they knew and used earlier in life. That’s why “oldie” radio broadcasts will never go out of style, but the music played as “oldies” changes. Watch for the resurrection of yesterday’s styles and products and be poised to make some money.
Those parallels should keep you busy for a while, but let me leave you with one question: Ginger, or Mary Ann?
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Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com. ChamberofCommerce.com helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 Chambers of Commerce worldwide. She specializes on the topic of small business tips and resources and business news. Megan has several years of experience on the topics of small business marketing, copywriting, SEO, online conversions and social media. Megan spends much of her time establishing new relationships for ChamberofCommerce.com, publishing weeklynewsletters educating small business on the importance of web presence, and contributing to a number of publications on the web. Megan can be reached at megan@chamberofcommerce.com. Website: www.chamberofcommerce.com.
Image: Public Domain.
