Z Cherry Blog

If The People Are Thirsty, Don’t Give Them Crackers

March 28th, 2009

For years, I had failed to see the forest from the trees. I repeatedly tried, and repeatedly failed, to see any measure of success in any of my online endeavors. Oh sure, I’d get the occassional sale here or there, but they barely covered expenses, and they surely didn’t justify the kind of time I was spending in my attempts at online success. My big mistake had been that since I was a software developer, I should market software. There were two problems with my particular approach. First, I may have been a good programmer, but I had no clue about business. More importantly, I was repeatedly trying to create markets where they didn’t exist. You know what the definition of insanity is? Repeating the same action over and over and thinking you’re going to get a different result. Although I gest, there is definitely some truth to that statement. All I can tell you is that I never really succeeded, in spite of my many whole-hearted attempts. I had a knack for never realizing that were existing markets waiting for me to tap into. Instead, I tried to create my own, and failed miserably. I was convinced that I didn’t have what it took to be a successful entrepreneur, whatever that unknown quantity was. It all comes down to a very simple truth. Figure out what people want, and give it to them. It is really is that simple! Do you think that the national market for gasoline or pizza or fine dining is saturated? Countless new businesses will open to sell those things this year, and many will make money. If they fail, it isn’t because of low demand, but probably inadequate financing or lousy management. Give the people what they want. DO NOT try to create new markets! If the people are thirsty, give them drink! In case you’re curious about what cause my paradigm shift, you can find out more about it here. It was the single most important thing in forcing me to realize and subsequently admit to myself just how wrong I’ve been for more than two decades.

Entry Filed under: Business