Are You Uncle Rico-ing Your Business?

In the movie Napoleon Dynamite, there is a character named Uncle Rico who is in his mid- to late-thirties yet is obsessed with his glory days of being the star of his high school football team. The character is funny only because his obsession with the past is so pathetic.

I once had a conversation with a wedding photographer who was lamenting the fact that ten years ago they were the top of the game in their market. Then, a new group of photographers came in and replaced them as the darlings of all the local venues and planners. Recounting this story to me wasn't the issue - everyone needs to vent at times. The problem came with the photographer's refusal to change. Did they need to change their art? No; their work was and is solid. A quick look at their marketing efforts, though, told me their brand was dated rather than timeless.

This conversation took place three years ago. They still haven't made any attempts at updating their marketing. They still gripe about the golden days and how unfair things are now and they are grasping on to an absurd idea that things will return to the way they once were. They are Uncle Rico-ing their business and it is getting them nowhere.

The world is constantly changing. Are you along for the ride or are you stuck in the past?



Originally published May 2010


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