Who's Your Daddy? – DNA Testing To Go

Business Models and Marketing

First there was the ice cream man, then there was the book mobile, then came the popular food truck craze, and now the other day I came across a humorous new business on wheels – Who’s Your Daddy?

What service do they provide?

Well, the main service they provide is 24/7 on-site DNA testing and drug testing. This can be quite convenient for companies or courts that require the services and the employees or clients that they need to send to such a service (many of whom might be dependent on public transportation to get around), and on their web site you can check to see where you’ll find their RV’s (in much the same way you can check on food trucks).

I have a feeling the bulk of the revenue comes from the drug testing side of the business, but the catchy ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ slogan on the RV obviously get the bulk of the attention.

It is an interesting business model choice for this DNA testing portion of this business and puts it in an interesting competition with the low-cost self-service take home DNA testing kits that you’ve been able for five years now to purchase from companies like Identigene at your local drug store, ironically in most cases, right next to the condoms and other birth control options.

Obviously the two business models can easily co-exist and the RV business model that Health Street is using will take a lot of effort to scale up, but it highlights that you can take a relatively small part of your business, do something interesting with it and use that creative endeavor to boost the more boring part of your business that drives most of your sales.

It also highlights that just because someone is already selling something, doesn’t mean that you can’t also enter the market and be successful, as long as you have something that they don’t – better location, different business model, better service, or whatever your competitive differentiation might be. So don’t give up just because someone is already doing something, just find a differentiated approach and execute with excellence.

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Braden Kelley is a popular innovation speaker, embeds innovation across the organization with innovation training, and builds B2B pull marketing strategies that drive increased revenue, visibility and inbound sales leads. He is currently advising an early-stage fashion startup making jewelry for your hair and is the author of Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire from John Wiley & Sons. He tweets from @innovate.