Hi there once again dear friends on Ecency and all other Frontends on Hive.
In my very little experience attempting to build my very own businesses and well as a novice I've had a lot of those business startups back fire right in my face.
The good thing is that I barely give up on anything I desire to do so what happens is I learn a lot of lessons and try harder next time.
Now if you would ask me what's the best lesson I've ever learned in my not so long business start-up journey is that the reason you want to sell a product is really not the reason people want to buy it.
Don't worry guys I'll briefly explain this very well
So the thing is, always in the beginning of your business life, it is very easy to get all worked up about whatever it is that you produce or sell right?
Ideally people advice on making quality products and although it's a great advice, it kinda overshadows the truth about how and why people actually buy stuff.
Like for example you could have a brilliant thought to create pens, pencils and office stationary made out of some very very special eco-friendly plastic. You become enthusiastic about it by telling everyone how fantastic these products are because they are good for the environment and so forth.
But then it would finally hit you when you’re sitting across from someone who says this after 30 minutes of wonderfully describing the product;
“Alright, how much does it cost?” And then you say: “Well… emmm we'll get into that in a moment.”
This is real the problem and what I consider a rookie mistake from young entrepreneurs which well before learning this, included myself. We always think it's about how good the product is. Sometimes if you just listen to the very first question most of your to customers ask, you can easily find out which part of your product you should focus fully in
In the scenario I made just now, you would spend the entire time talking about the product and the question your customers would ask is how much is it? This means that you probably should have focused on making your products more affordable than making them look cool and eco-friendly which to be honest, not many people trying to buy pens and pencils would be thinking about.
See guys, this is why you may be taken up with your new enterprise’s product’s greatness to the extent that you lose track of what matters most to the people whom you want to buy from. Yes,” Eco-friendly stationary” sound amazing but if they don’t solve any real problem for your buyers or potential customers at an affordable price, well then they will not purchase them, and that's just facts.
When I started my very own little venture, I was all product oriented. If I had something really cool wouldn’t people buy it? False. I was Dead wrong, hehehe.
Not until my reality check moment occurred did I realize how far off target I was with my startup. That’s when I had to ask myself who my customers were and what they actually needed. That's what any business person should be focused on and not how cool your product is or the fact that you're passionate.
Remember one things guys, when it comes to business, it's not about the problem you want to solve in the world, but the problem your product solves for the customers.
Being passionate about saving the ecosystem doesn't mean your eco-friendly product will sell. It's whether it solves problems for your potential buys.
So there I say it, the reason you sell is not the reason people buy, period.
To finish telling you about my little business venture; It turned out that they didn't care nearly as much about how fancy my product was; they just wanted things that could make their lives easier or better in some way.
That moment is when it hit me like a ton of bricks right on my head (of course figuratively).
What makes me sell isn’t necessarily why they buy.
My product may have all these neat and cool features and benefits, but not if it doesn’t solve any problem on behalf of my customers or answer any customer’s needs will they get out their wallets.
So friends please do not repeat the same mistake I made if you plan on building your own business in the future or perhaps if you already own one. It’s cool to be very passionate about your product, but you need to remember that it’s not about you, it is all about your customers.
Even if it's a platform you're building like for example a Hive platform, you need to focus more on what your app or web users would like to see rather than what you think would be cool to have. I guess that's the main importance of feedback pages in apps and websites. It's there so the developers can listen to the complaints and suggestions of the actual users.
So take some time to really get to know who they are, what they want and why they would select your product instead of others. Trust me, it will save you a lot of headaches in future, and also save you from wasting capital.
In the end all that really matters is finding the right balance between what you offer and what your clients expect. Thereafter, nothing can stop you. So go there and hear out your clients by making something which speaks to them truly.
Thanks guys and I hope as always these blogs bring enlightenment and motivation at the same time. Can't wait to get your feedbacks on this.
