About

Curiosity does not actually kill cats. It grows business.

Applied curiosity will take your business and your life from just getting by to thriving, from just fine to the best in town. It’s your curiosity of what is possible that makes the difference and propels you ahead.

Without curiosity, there is inertia.

Circumstances improve, problems are solved, ventures expand and the bottom line grows only when we’re curious about why things are working or not working, how we can serve our customers and employees in a greater way and how we can ‘do it’ better than anyone else.

Curiosity is the forward drive. Curious Business provides tools and inspiration to harness the power of curiosity.

Curiosity and The Ground Floor

Everyone starts at the bottom, the ground floor. And then? As you grow your business, that ‘ground floor’ shows up over and over again. For me, this is one of the most powerful lessons I’ve ever learned. You are never finished and you never know everything.

When you decide it’s time to start a business, when you open your first store, when you hire your first manager, when you launch a new product - each of these milestones represents a ‘ground floor’ moment.

And if these moments are ripe with curiosity, the potential for growth and success is limitless. Restless curiosity drives me and it’s the foundation of Curious Business.

My Story

I am Douglas Cullen. I live for the ground floor moment where curiosity springs into action.

My curiosity as to what makes a good business work is instinctive. With every business I have contact, I try to crack its code - positioning, marketing, merchandising, service, everything really. I’m compelled to understand how the ground floor moments are handled.

When I opened the first of four coffee shops in Puerto Vallarta, in a very competitive market – eight coffee shops within a three-block radius, curiosity fueled our growth.

I watched, asked, tinkered, failed, and improved the coffee shop until the business became a success. Sitting on the front steps of the shop and watch people pass by to be sure they instantly understood what we were about. When a customer took her first sips of coffee, I would watch for the telling expression that said, “aahhh, exactly what I wanted,” or the nearly imperceptible twinge of disappointment that let me know we didn’t make this person’s day.

Long before opening the coffee shops in Puerto Vallarta, the same curiosity that fueled our growth drove me to learn a new country, culture, and language when I was offered the position of adjunct professor at the University of Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.

While working at the University, I had the extraordinary opportunity to work with AXA Cables at their Mexico headquarters as Mexico opened its borders to U.S. companies under the new rules of NAFTA. When the U.S. corporate giants moved in, it became fast apparent that the traditional way of doing business wouldn’t cut it. They had to learn the U.S. ways or sink - plain and simple. So, they reached out and we guided them with cross-cultural and language training.

Sensing a need for training existed at many Mexican companies, we formed Global Solutions, a provider of large scale cross-cultural training programs to assist companies navigate the rapid, confusing changes in their markets. We implemented exuctive and professional level programs at Industrias Alen which was in the midst of an exciting and difficult aquisition of a large regional manufacturer of household cleaning projects in the United States. At the Mexico headquarters of the Carrier Corporation we provided one-on-one programs for top-level executives and professional level programs.

Curiosity drives me to find new challenges ….

Does Curiosity Drive You?

• Do you question current practices and routines?
• Are you stimulated by new people and experiences?
• Do you consider yourself a forward thinker? Full of ideas and energy?
• Are you interested to know why some businesses thrive and some fail?
• Are you fascinated by the wide range of success found by people within the same industry?
• Do you want to explore your ideas - no matter how ‘out there’ or ‘non-traditional’ they seem to others?
• Would you like to make your business even better, when everyone else is saying it’s good enough?

Did you find yourself nodding along in response to any of those questions or ecstatic to realize that someone else really gets how you operate? Then I’m in good company, and I can’t wait to hear about you, your business and all of your plans.