Entrepreneur of the Week

Good for the US Post Office!
I am now a big fan.

For the longest time, they have been in the news as the poster child for failing to adapt. They have been characterized as a burdon on the tax payer - supporting a government organization that is going out of style but not allowed to fail. Well they have done something about that. They have put our principles of creative, out of the box thinking into place to compete in the market place. And it's not about communication.

The Daily Caller had an article called "Struggling US Postal Service to Launch New Apparel Line: http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/19/struggling-us-postal-service-to-launch-new-apparel-line/ .  Here is what this cash strapped business did - they decided to take stock of what they do well and capitalize on it. They were not doing so good competing with the internet, so what else do they do? They have mail personel out in the elements in all weather and all seasons!!! Those folks are experts at dressing to stay comfortable in all temperatures and precipitation levels - WHY NOT SHARE THAT?! Brilliant, I say.

 With this move, the US Post Office demonstrated their execution of the rules that all of us business owners must play by:

1. They are flexible - something wasn't working that endangered their business, so they developed and marketed a secondary strength. 
2. They did not abuse power. Too often I read about conflict in our government (both sides) regarding government waste. Well instead of taxing more to support a going-out-of -style department, they got creative.
3. They are bold. All of us as entrepreneurs have to take risks on what we believe. 

Will this work? Will the public respond favorably and buy this gear? I don't know. What I do know is that win, loose or draw, I will think differently about our postal service going forward. I'll think about how they tried to solve their fiscal issues the way that we all try to solve ours. I'll look at them as a model for how government agencies should work. 

Congratulations US Post Office - you're my Entrepreneur of the Week!