Although I maintain an air of professionalism and would never word it quite this way, the truth is, they don’t usually have a good business idea. They might have a good idea. And it might be sellable. But they don’t really have anything until they’ve made their very first sale.

If you are a small business owner (or someone who aspires to be a small business owner) then listen up: You have nothing until you have your first sale.

Now, I realize that budding entrepreneurs get excited because they’ve designed the next great mousetrap and they’re expecting the world to beat a path to their door. But what happens next? They conduct a market study. They design a website. They start picking out carpet samples for their office. They buy a computer. They hire an administrative assistant.

And they haven’t earned a single penny in revenue.

Forget the market study. Forget the website. Forget the carpet. Forget the computer. Forget the administrative assistant:

SELL YOUR FIRST PRODUCT.

Down the road, you will need the other stuff. And I would advise that you do a market study and website early. But in most cases, probably not first. (Although if you’re selling website design, you might be an exception to my “no website” rule).

Why sell your product first? That first sale will tell you more than a market study ever will. (Note, that first sale will not excuse you from a market study). Your customer’s feedback will be invaluable as you evolve your product or service. The sales process will help you understand what you should do. Who your customer is will help you understand your demographic.

Also, the first sale is the hardest and will tell you whether or not you’re cut out for this kind of thing. (Maybe you discover that you hate sales, but sales are the fuel of every business).

So, create your prototype (or sample or whatever you need to close the first deal) and start knocking on doors or calling up prospects. Transact that first sale. And THEN you’ll be in business!

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I’ll pause here a moment while you pick your jaw up off of the floor. I’m sure that many people don’t like to hear what I just said, particularly with our customer-centric view of business success. Some of you (especially my customers!!!) might want to know what I’m thinking and how I can balance that against the beloved business maxim “the customer is always right”.

So, let me clarify: I said “one problem that many businesses have is that they listen too closely to their customers”. In general, I believe that businesses SHOULD listen to their customers and should bend over backwards to make sure that their customers are thrilled. They should provide so much value to their customers that those customers wouldn’t think of shopping anywhere else.

BUT…

When it comes to innovation and evolution in the business, the customer’s point of view should be shuffled to the back. The reason is, the customer is focused on themselves and what they can derive from the business and so they approach the business and its products or services from their own perspective. However, a business comes at the situation from the opposite direction.

As Henry Ford famously put it, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘a faster horse’.”

I would suggest that you sell your existing products and services with the approach that the customer is always right. But you innovate with Ford’s idea that the customer is wrong.

In an upcoming blog, I’m going to tell you about an innovation trick that (I think) demonstrates this method extremely well.

Here is to innovation,

Heather Villa

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1. An Innovation Mindset – “Should you listen to your customers?” Continued
2. What’s stopping you?
3. Business “best practice” in today’s economy