I often have tons of great ideas of what to do next in my business. And since I’ve been in this phase of evolution for some time now, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking strategically about what direction I want to take.
But I know one thing to be true in business…
You simply cannot create in isolation.
While having the space and time available to focus on your business can help you to be REALLY creative and productive, you’ll be wasting your time if no one wants to buy your completed masterpiece.
build and they will come?
So often I hear entrepreneurs express a variation on this theme:
“I have this great idea that people are going to LOVE.”
But our passion for our ideas also causes us to fall into the trap of believing if we build it, customers will come.
I regularly take a step back and ask myself “Do people REALLY want this?”. I had to examine my own fears of rejection and push back against the part of me that was afraid to learn the true answer to that question.
drop the assumptions
A lot of startups miss the mark with their products or services because they create in isolation.
Have you had conversations yet with your potential users to understand the challenges they face? Many entrepreneurs skip this important step because they are too excited by their idea and to create the finished product before talking to prospective customers about it.
Don’t waste your time nor money creating something that nobody wants.
The only way to find out if people truly want and need the solution that you’re offering is to ask the question of your target customer. Not your mom. Not your best friend. Not your partner.
Once you start to hear responses that let you know you’re on the right track, put together a skeleton of your idea and test it out. Gather feedback from early adopters, make changes where necessary, and then test out the next iteration. This method will allow you to slowly attract more customers. The right customers for your offering.
acknowledge the fear
It can be scary to put yourself out there. You don’t want to hear people tell you that your idea is s**t or that they’re not interested.
Everyone experiences these fears in business. Everyone wants their business to succeed. Everyone worries at times that it’s not going to work. Myself included! Everyone has products or services that aren’t quite right and need to be tweaked. Everyone hears news that they don’t really want to hear.
Even when business is on the up and things are going GREAT, occasionally you’ll hit a bump that knocks you off course. You’ll forget about all those great things and just focus on the one thing that is BAD. It might even ruin your day.
But don’t let it stop you.
Continue to work hard, have conversations with your customers, come up with new ideas and test them out.
let’s get clear about what you should create
Download a free copy of Venture Vitals: The Complete Startup Checklist to learn more about how to have conversations with your potential customers and how to create something they cannot resist!
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