There has never been a more exciting and unpredictable time to be in business.
The 4th Industrial Revolution has democratized opportunities by making it easier to find and connect with people anywhere in the world.
What I have come to realise through my work with organisations and entrepreneurs, is that this is the best time to create products for people who are ignored, and not seen.
Giving a damn is seriously underrated and caring is a huge competitive advantage.
Our job, as entrepreneurs is not to simply obsess about the features and benefits of what we are making; but it is to wonder and care about the difference it could make in the lives of people.
The mistake that a lot of entrepreneurs make is that they say:
“I have a product, my job is to look for customers for my products.”
This is inward looking approach has led lot of business into problems. Kodak, Nokia, Blackberry learned the hard way.
The right approach is:
“What do people want, and my job to go and look for what they want and give it to them.”
This outward looking humble approach has proven to work over and over again.
You have got to start sawubona [we see you, we acknowledge you], with the customer experience and then reverse engineer to the technology.
Value is not what you say it is, it is what your customers say it is.
It is the story your customers tell themselves about your offerings.
It is what your customers believe about and experience from your products.