Discipline # 3: The Bigger the Problem You Solve in the World, the More Successful You Will Be
In Entrepreneurial Leap I teach 8 disciplines to increase your odds of success. Discipline #3 is a reminder to constantly stay focused on providing value to your customers or clients. That’s because the more value you provide, the more you are worth. The more problems you solve for them and the easier you make their lives, the more money you will make.
You do this by getting to know your customers and clients better than they know themselves. As Steve Jobs said, “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need, well before they realize it themselves.”
Far too often, entrepreneurs who begin to achieve some level of success start to get cocky and take the customer for granted. As a result, the original value of the product or service decreases. The lack of attention and innovation allows the competition to catch up, and you begin to lose your customers fast and potentially fail.
When my partner Don and I were 18 months into launching our business, EOS Worldwide, we had a great product, demand, and a small team of implementers, but our business model wasn’t working. One day, I pored over all the data, feedback, and facts in a Starbucks to come up with a potential solution.
After I reviewed all the information, the right answer clicked, and all the pieces came together. I had a light bulb moment about exactly how we should restructure our model. I called my partner and said, “Don, we are about to turn our business model on its ear.”
We made the very difficult changes that enabled us to generate revenue from non-producing clients. Our business took off and grew 40 percent every year for 10 straight years after the change.
Only by talking to and listening to our clients did I gain the insight to change our offering, providing our clients tremendous value and save our company.
The discipline of getting customer feedback early and often is one way to stay in touch with the community you serve.
Write down a list of ways you can get to know your customers better.
Utilize Customer Feedback Early and Often When Starting Your Business
One of the biggest mistakes many entrepreneurs make when taking their leap is to assume their customers are going to love their idea. Based on this assumption, they create detailed
