Sometimes a lean and raw approach works just fine

I’m just back from a weekend in Copenhagen where our apartment faced this unassuming corner shop. Covered in graffiti, with no windows, and handwritten signs on the door, at first glance, it may have looked permanently closed. But it was very much open; inside it was dark, dingy and the wine bottles dusty.

But despite its appearances, there was a constant stream of people all day long. People came and went with their soft drinks, wine, bottles of beer.

And it reminded me how we obsess about our business propositions needing to be polished and elegant with added ‘bells & whistles’: we must have an awesome website; our logo needs to be stunning; our premises must be well-designed; our fixtures and fittings state of the art. Sure, sometimes those things count.

But other times, enterprise is more basic than that - it’s just about fulfilling a need. And like this corner shop, then, a lean and raw approach works just fine.