Kitchen-sinkers, backseat drivers and rat-holers take heed

Taking advantage of tough times in the telecom sector, TeleChoice has opened the flood-gates, inviting struggling start-up executive teams to test their business strategies and skills by taking part in its Business Strategy Lab, a workshop for developing defensible business plans.

At $50,000 a pop, already a couple dozen companies have gone through the lab according to Christine Heckart, president of TeleChoice. From venture-backed to early seed to pre-IPO to Chapter 11 to established companies, all have experienced TeleChoice’s carefully constructed process, which helps companies hone their business strategy and bring it to market.

“Most of the people in this industry have never had good marketing skills,” she said. “It’s just a big blob of mediocrity.”

Thanks to years of monolithic companies and regulation, not until the last five or 10 years have companies in the telecom sector had to create unique and differentiating strategies, she said.

The companies that seek TeleChoice’ help these days fit into three categories: the kitchen-sinkers, backseat drivers and rat-holers, said Heckart.

Kitchen-sinkers are all about everything, and their money usually runs out before they find a strong business plan, while rat-holers are always grasping for straws, she said. Backseat drivers usually have a business strategy but the individuals on the management team all have different ideas and waste time debating issues, she said.

By taking TeleChoice’s Seven Signs of Success test and putting a business plan through the wringer, a company can build consensus and make strong decisions, she said. Although TeleChoice always has offered this type of consulting service, going public with the lab is a first, she said.

“Most of what we did was confidential, because companies didn’t want to look to dumb,” she said. “But we’ve had a lot of CEOs ask us to talk about it.”