Businesses that plan and operate around satisfying the needs of their customers are much more likely to succeed than those that are set up purely to make money or satisfy the owners needs. Many entrepreneurs cite making money or having a better lifestyle as the main reasons for starting a business. Certainly there has to be some personal motivation to warrant taking the risk and starting your own business. However every business needs happy customers to survive and the owner’s outcomes should be a by-product of a well structured, customer focused business. Your business doesn’t care what you want; if it is to be successful it only cares what your customer wants. Frank Betcher who wrote a classic little book on sales called ‘How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Sales’ so rightly pointed out that, ‘The quickest way to get what you want is to find out what other people want and give it to them.’

When I originally left permanent employment to start my business, I believed I had a concept that filled a gap in the market at that time. I remember working day and night on the idea for approximately eleven months; organising suppliers, funding a series of marketing brochures, designing a website and so on. Although I recognized its shortfalls I was sure that providing the service would be of great benefit to people in the I.T. industry.

Towards the end of the planning phase, I came across another product that I realised could provide more benefits to customers than my original concept. I also realised that this product would be better for our business from a development and logistics perspective. I approached the suppliers of the product who, as it happens, had an opening for a reseller in the Asia-Pacific region and after a number of months of negotiation; they accepted that my partner and I would be suitable candidates for the position. Although we had invested a lot of our available resources into our own product, we quickly abandoned it and began selling the new product within a matter of weeks. The result was a better outcome for our customers and a much better business for us.

It can be very easy to get so wrapped up in your own concept or idea that you forget to investigate what the market wants. You must monitor the market and look at what else is available to your customers. If you find something better – don’t ignore it! Even if you find out there is no opportunity with that other business and have to scrap the idea, isn’t that better than sinking all your money, hopes and dreams into a venture that is destined to fail. Look for another angle or look for another opportunity. I’m certain the company that ultimately became our supplier would have found another reseller if we had not approached them first and we would have found it very difficult to compete or survive. Don’t let ego, stubbornness or emotion get in the way of your success. If you have to shift course a few times – so be it!

Previous Page            Table of Contents            Next Page