Why 'Madonna Syndrome' Is Bad for Your Business

Madonna -- even after all of these years -- is the undisputed queen of reinvention. She's been blonde and brunette, a singer and an actress, even American and English (have you heard her accent lately?).

But taking cues from Madonna will put your business at a serious disadvantage.

Reinventing your business and your brand when it clearly is not working is one thing. Tweaking a brand image that already works is entirely another. When you have had a degree of success, you need to dig deeper -- not go platinum blonde and trade your tweed suit for a leather bustier.

Unfortunately, the latter approach is much more prevalent in business today.

Treating Your Business Like a Twitter Stream 

There's a woman I know who created a fantastic, media-friendly brand around her status as a category expert. She had it all -- the tagline, the media presence, tons of exposure -- and translated these assets into a six-figure business income.

Guess what she did next? She became someone else. She has done this several times, becoming the butcher, then the baker, then the candle-stick maker, each time launching a new service offering that discarded her success with a previous endeavor.

What this Madonna Syndrome has done is limit her growth and confuse everyone around her -- clients included -- about what her brand actually represents and what value she provides.

Les McKeown, author of the bestselling book Predictable Success, recently told me that "too many entrepreneurs are treating their businesses like a Twitter stream." I completely concur. We live in an era where businesses follow up a successful product launch with another shiny new product, instead of building on the success of the existing product.

Everyday businesses -- the kind where individuals execute a plan by producing widgets or providing services -- aren't very sexy. Executing an existing plan isn't nearly as fun and invigorating as coming up with the next new idea or product launch. But it's like the difference between lust and love: Love can endure, but lust rarely does for any significant period of time.

Really, the businesses that achieve the greatest success are the ones that focus more on the blocking and tackling of the business, rather than on reinventing themselves over and over.

'Focus' Isn't a Four-Letter Word

I am not suggesting that innovation is bad or that it's never necessary to stay ahead of the times and freshen up your products or services. I am saying there is a huge difference between making a small change and doing a complete overhaul. There is also a difference between innovating to stay competitive versus running away from your success because you got bored or distracted.

The best way to succeed at business is to focus on selling your product and service until the law of diminishing returns kicks in. Business owners that take this approach are better able to focus on the core of their business operations and on their customer service.

This, in turn, creates a business that has increasing equity value, long-term customer relationships, and a stronger market position.

So, before you go all Madonna on your business, ask yourself three questions: 

• Have you done everything you can with your current product or service offering? 
• Will tweaking your brand, product, or service support your current brand and offerings? 
• Will your planned change of course confuse or alienate your existing customers?

Remember, sexy doesn't last forever. There's a better chance of making big bucks with a steady (and possibly more mundane) idea rather than jumping onto the hot new thing.

Follow Carol Roth on Twitter at @caroljsroth.