The Desert of Arizona
Sunny 54 Degrees
When I started learning about marketing, I encountered the “find a need and fill it” approach to business building.
While that sounds pretty sexy on the surface, I came to view it as more of a 21st century rat race. Yes, you might be “working for yourself,” but you still feel like a rat. Or at least I did. I was a self-employed rat, but I was still a rat.
Actually, I felt like a dumb rat. Because so very few of the needs I tried to fill actually resonated with buyers. Oops.
Rather than finding a need and filling it, I just went the opposite way. That’s really a principle that seems to work fairly well given the current state of things. Find the generally accepted wisdom about anything and go the other way. You might not hit a homerun right away, but chances are, there’s a far better solution where no one is looking.
The “find a need and fill it” approach seems like you’re embarking on a wild goose chase. Maybe you get lucky, maybe you don’t.
With technology today, however, I think we can upend the entire model.
These days, I make something and find the people that want it. Or actually, I find the people first, develop trust and credibility, and then make stuff I like to make.
Call it bass ackwards or whatever you want, but I’m happy with it. Plus, I go through my days actually enjoying things, not feeling that constant “if I could only get this to work” feeling.
The Platform makes sure I never venture too far from the ballpark. Every day, I know I’m talking to a specific type of person. I’m talking with people who work with clients and who would like that work to be easier, more effortless and more productive on several levels.
From there, I just make stuff and set it out on the platter. Some people eat it, many don’t.
It’s kind of like when you’re cooking. I love to cook. I don’t get as much enjoyment out of eating what I cook. It’s not that it’s not good (last night was roasted asparagus and mushrooms over linguine, yum!), it’s that I don’t enjoy that part as much.
For me, the value actually comes in the COOKING not the eating. It comes in the process not the outcome.
My life improved when I adopted this same approach in the business world.
I make and do things because I enjoy making and doing them. If the outcome I want happens, great, if not, who cares! I get another chance.
I know this is alpha-male entrepreneurial heresy. But I know too many miserable alpha-male entrepreneurs to follow in their footsteps.
Is there a reason you can’t enjoy the entire journey?
Only if you say there is…