How to boost your business with the right mindset
Us, Entrepreneurs.. we see the world in a different spectrum of colors. We see the world as a land of never ending opportunities. We strive to build things, we watch them crash and burn, we jab at another idea and we watch that seed grow. Many of us go through a series of failures to finally end up with a successful venture. Many of us also live to tell the tale of how we found the right solution to many of the pitfalls we experienced and how we could use that solution to avoid such errors. This is one of those solutions and a solution that works 99.9% of the time.
Before I give you the secret formula, I need you all to visualise this scenario. Mr. Benedict Hallow starts a new venture with the aim of providing Online Tech Assistance to people in need of instant and easy fixes to their daily tech related problems. He decides to invest his money in creating a website, a proper online communication platform for client and company communication, he incorporates his business and he gets the required ‘stuff’ to set up an online payment gateway to allow people to pay in return for assistance.
All is good. Mr. Benedict is now ready to launch his startup. One fine day he decides to announce his newest venture via Social Media. The traffic kicks in and people pour in to checkout this cool new website and receive assistance. Everything goes as planned and Mr. Benedict constantly checks in with the bank to go through his earnings. 14 days later, he starts seeing rants and sudden outbursts of offensive comments on Social Media and he immediately starts to go through all these comments. Here are some of comments his startup received in 14 days:
Your company charged me extra just because I asked an additional question from your call operator!
Your call operator was rude and impatient!
The call operator hung up immediately after he told me the steps and he didn’t guide me through them!
Waste of money!
You people charged me before I even completed my assistance process
Mr. Benedict is now wondering where and what might have gone wrong in his venture to end up having his customers up in a twist of negative emotions. Mr. Benedict’s execution was on point. His planning wasn’t and his mind clearly wasn’t either.
The future of a startup depends on 3 important points:
- Generating Income comes last. Satisfying your customers come first
- Prepare your staff/team for the worst case scenario
- Money shouldn’t be the ultimate goal. The goal of a business is to be established first. The rest will fall in to place.
If Mr. Benedict took the time to prepare his team for customers who linger and depend on their assistance way more than they should or customers who require step-by-step assistance, the startup would have gained more popularity and positive feedback. His team was taught to be fast but not efficient. If Benedict took the time to properly establish his grounds as a business first and then think about generating income later, his venture would have prospered. Sadly, he had to shut down his company…. all because his mind was on the money; not in the company.
The ultimate goal of a business shouldn’t be about generating income. The goal of the game is to survive. If you survive, you can play the game. If you decide to run away with first round’s winnings, you are obviously not going to enjoy the profits of the last round of the game. The trick is to establish a stronghold and to make sure that your customers are satisfied. Your customer is your dollar. The Benjamins are your reward. You lose the customer, you lose the Benjamin. You do the math.
Stay focused on building a lasting business and not a temporary cash generator. Be loyal to your idea and the rest will fall in to place. Follow me for more personal experiences :)
Dinuka Jayasuriya
CEO, Founder of Eyewer.com
