Why do you want to go into business for strangers?
Wait, what? You might be thinking you were going into business for yourself when you jumped into entrepreneurship. Wrong.
The most successful entrepreneurs created businesses with a foundation for serving others.
Think about the biggest of the big companies out there (which all started small):
Amazon: Makes shopping for just about anything more convenient by saving consumers’ trips to malls and shops while providing global selection, all from a smartphone.
Tesla: Helps people contribute to a greener economy while providing a status symbol that can be ‘fuelled’ from the comfort of one’s home. A cool and feature-rich product that no longer requires trips to the gas station.
Peloton: You have to drive or walk to a gym, which takes time. And a lack of time is the most common excuse people make for missing a workout or not working out at all. Peleton enables fitness-focused people to compete globally, connect with others, and improve their health from the comfort of their homes (thus saving time as driving to spin class is no longer necessary).
These wildly successful companies generate billions in revenue due to one simple premise: Serving a need. They also make it worth strangers’ time literally by saving them time.
Three Key Aspects to Building a Business That Serves
1. Empathizing with stressors: Look at human behaviour and how the masses go about their days. Needless to say, there are much more efficient ways to get many things done than by how we do them today. Identifying burdens creates empathy, and inevitably an idea for a better product offering than what is currently available.
If you’re confused what I mean here, think about your life for a moment, more specifically the routines within it. What parts of your day-to-day do you wish you didn’t have to do or would love to be easier so you could spend more time on important things? That’s a good place to start looking for business ideas.
2. Take on the burden: People pay for their problems and nuisances to go away. What’s it worth to almost never have to vacuum again? About $300 according to Anker Innovations, the creator of the eufy vacuum. I have two young boys and two dogs. Do you know how appreciative my wife and I are for eufy? We bought one for every floor in our house. Brilliant company and probably could charge 50% more than what they currently are for their smart vacuum because it removes a pain point in our day.
3. Simplify the process: Make it ridiculously easy for a stranger to access and utilize your product/service — the process to purchase must be seamless.
Entrepreneurship and Serving Others
People are never happier to part ways with their money than when you are solving a problem or removing stress in their life.
Entrepreneurship is not rocket science. It’s about serving others in a better way than what is currently available. If you take this simple mindset when creating your next offering or starting a business, you’re headed in the right direction. Empathize, take on the burden, and make it stupid simple for the customer.
Stay hungry,
Aaron
P.S. I’ve been an entrepreneur for the better part of the last 20 years and have worked with startups in virtually every sector on the planet. Subscribe to my newsletter below. Only my best content will land in your inbox.
