Garlic-Infused Cheese or Stolen Underpants – Which Are You Selling Right Now?

One day, I will meet François Boursin in heaven and kiss him on both cheeks because he invented one of my all-time favorite indulgences and because he taught me this business lesson: Pay attention to what wants to happen.

In 1957 Boursin opened a cheese factory in a small community in northern France called Croisy-sur-Eure and spent several years perfecting his signature gournay cheese. In 1961 a French newspaper reported the launch of Boursin’s garlic-infused cheese, and the public responded with enthusiasm.

The only trouble was our enterprising cheesemaker had no such recipe with garlic. The newspaper had made a mistake.

Boursin faced a decision: Should the misprint become his new target? Might someone else’s error become his arrow?

Two years later, Boursin began selling his riff on fromage frais, which he called Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs Cheese, and over the last five decades, Boursin has grown into an international brand in 35 countries on 5 continents.

Second-Rate Barbecue but Good Advice

I’ll never forget something my friend Brad Hill once told me while we were eating second-rate barbecue: “Look for to the growth that wants to happen.” Or put another way, pay attention to what wants to happen.

Boursin could have ignored the newspaper’s mistake or asked for a retraction. Many people would have.

Alexander Fleming, a bacteriologist based in London, could have ignored the mold that had grown in a petri dish while he was on vacation. Instead, he noticed that the area around the mold had no bacterial growth. He published a paper about this discovery in 1929, and eventually, the world got its first antibiotic.

A Swiss engineer named Georges de Mestral took his dog for a walk in the woods and afterward as he could have ignored the burrs stuck to his pants and his dog’s coat. Instead, as he examined them, he considered the practical applications of their tiny hooks. The inconvenience of removing burrs led to Velcro.

After he accidentally mixed a sugary concoction with carbonated water, an American pharmacist named John Pemberton created Coca-Cola in 1886.

Wheaties, Post-it notes, pacemakers, dynamite, Viagra, smoke detectors, potato chips, super glue, aspirin, x rays, frisbees, leotards, and you guessed it, cheese—many ubiquitous products came from mistakes, accidents, and inconveniences.

Putting the “Happy” into Happy Accidents

Accidents can only become the happy kind if we’re paying close attention.

Are you?

Freelancers and consultants have certain creative and problem-solving skills that get us into business: writing, design, photography, marketing, coding, video production, to name a few.

We have a tendency to view those skills as products sitting on a shelf, and the most natural thing in the world is to go find buyers for them. We have solutions in search of problems.

A scene from the South Park “Gnomes” episode (Season 2, Episode 17) comes to mind. The boys go to the underground lair where gnomes have stockpiled stolen underpants. Kyle asks a gnome the obvious question: “So what are you going to do with all these underpants you steal?” The gnomes then reveal the three phases of their plan:

• Phase 1: Collect underpants
• Phase 2: ?
• Phase 3: Profit

That question mark in Phase 2 will be all too familiar for many solopreneurs who succumb to stolen underpants thinking. Too many have business models—and I use that word loosely—with “Sell freelance services” on the left, “Profit” on the right, and a generous blob of ambiguity in between.

Hope is essential for human prospering, and it is also a mediocre strategy.

Having a viable business assumes you’re selling something people want, and having a profitable business assumes you can make the numbers work out in your favor.

We’re so busy trying to sell what we have that we don’t scan the environment for signs and clues of what people want to buy. We have a stockpile of stolen underpants, not a juicy offer (something people want) and a starving crowd lined up to buy it.

If not stolen underpants, then what?

Now that the popularity of garlic- and herb-infused fromage frais is cemented, the idea seems obvious. It wasn’t at the time. Boursin had to notice the demand, and though it may seem like the idea fell into his lap, he still had to seize it, test it, and take it to market.

Stolen underpants thinking happens automatically for most of us. We outclever ourselves by sell “creative storytelling” or “world-class copy” when our would-be clients want to buy “always knowing the right thing to say to potential customers” or a “getting leads predictably every month.”

Happy accidents only happen when you’re paying attention. If you want to sell more projects, pay attention to what wants to happen:

• Connect with more people your target audience.
• Ask them what’s in the way and what they want.
• Record their exact words and phrases.
• Put together your offer with them.

People will always tell you what they want to buy and how they want you to sell it to them if you listen closely enough. And even if a French newspaper does your market research for you, you still need to validate the idea and take it to market.

When you’re ready, here are ways I can help you:

1. Free Money. A pricing and money mindset guide for freelance creatives. If you’re unsure about your freelance pricing, this is the book for you.
2. Morning Marketing Habit. This course will help you build an “always be marketing” practice, become less dependent on referrals, and proactively build the business you want with the clients you want. My own morning marketing habit has enabled me to consistently make  6 figures as a freelancer.
3. Custom Business Roadmap. Gain clarity, confidence, and momentum in your freelance or consulting business.
4. Business Redesign. Raise your effective hourly rate, delegate with confidence, and free up 40 hours a month.
5. Clarity Session. It’s hard to read the label when you’re inside the bottle. I've done well over 100 of these 1:1 sessions with founders, solopreneurs, and freelancers who wanted guidance, a second opinion, or help creating a plan.