Don’t Try to Solve a Problem That Doesn’t Exist
What is the mission of your business? To solve your customer’s problem, right? Isn’t it your goal to provide your customers with a product or service that makes things more convenient, easier, less stressful?
It is critical that you are very clear and specific about the problem that you are trying to solve. This is especially true if you are trying to raise money to start or expand your business. Unfortunately, over the years, I have been witness to too many instances where my client thinks they have the perfect solution, the very thing the market must have, only to have absolutely no success at all. Why does this happen?
Well, for one thing, the client is pushing a product that he thinks will solve a problem, when in fact it will not. In other words, he has something that he thinks the market needs, not what the market really wants. The client has failed to do even a minimal amount of market research and so ends up creating a product looking for a market, instead of a product the market needs.
It’s like the proverbial attempt at pushing a string uphill—you never achieve success and you waste a lot of time and effort in the process.
Alternatively, the business owner may think that he is trying to solve a problem, but the market doesn’t really perceive it as a problem at all. Maybe it’s a problem that the market doesn’t want solved… people may be willing to put up with inconvenience because it doesn’t really cost them too much in terms of time or money. Why buy a mechanical pencil when I don’t mind sharpening the wooden one every now and then? or when I don’t care if my pencil has a sharp point or not?
Finally, it is possible that people don’t even feel inconvenienced—they are just satisfied with what they already have. Why buy a pen when a pencil will do just as well?
So if you want your business to grow and survive, make sure that you are addressing an issue that is really a problem people want solved. And though it may seem obvious, it’s worth saying: be sure that your solution is one that people are willing to pay for, and that they will pay a price which enables you to earn a sufficient profit. If you don’t, not only will you have a hard time raising money, you may not be around long enough to spend it if you are lucky enough to find an investor.
