• Innovative Strategies That Create More Profits

Author: harborcapitalgroupinc

How To Turn Problems Into Opportunities

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How To Turn Problems Into Opportunities

Being a founder or CEO of a growing company means you are always stressed to do more.

There is too much to do, too many problems to solve, and too little time to do it all.

Yet, on top of all that stress, you have issues that crop up almost daily.

So, how can you turn problems into opportunities and move forward?

 

Anyone can turn problems into opportunities using problem-solving techniques, and you don’t have to be a genius to do it.

However, you have to learn a little about the different kinds of problem-solving strategies and techniques. 

 20+ Problem-Solving Techniques

We are working on creating a series of over 20 ways anyone can turn problems into opportunities.

We explain how each one works. You can’t simply read one after another and understand that technique well enough.

You need to know if that technique works for you or if a different one would be better.

We encourage you to try each one. Some methods you can do quickly, and others take more time.

But, each one will teach you how to become a better problem-solver.

 Your Mind Is Pre-Wired To Solve Problems

According to Danial Kahneman’s book: “Thinking Fast And Slow,” Your mind is pre-wired to go problem-solving.

It can switch your thoughts from thinking fast (having an instant answer or a Eureka! Moment)

to thinking slow (digging deep into your knowledge base for breakthrough ideas).

For example, Einstein’s theory of relativity. Your mind switches back and forth between the two thought processes as it searches for the answer.

This process lets you see a bigger picture and more problem-solving options.

 In addition to fast and slow thinking, you need to have a positive attitude to solve problems.

You can’t focus on the negative (“why are sales slowing down”).

You have to reframe the negative problem into a positive (“how do we get customers to buy more”). That way, you are focusing on a positive solution. 

 Pretty easy so far, right?

Next, you can begin to look at the many problem-solving techniques that will help you solve your problems.

A good place to start is with Michael Michalko’s books, especially the “Thinkertoys” book with many problem-solving techniques. 

He divides the techniques into two groups.

One group focuses on a linear method using words and illustrations to probe your thoughts.

Some people are more comfortable working with word concepts.

The second group of techniques is more intuitive and relies on intuition and insight to arrive at the solution.

People generally prefer one group over the other just based on their individual preferences.

There is no right or wrong technique. 

You can use any of the techniques to solve your problem. You do want to become familiar with all of them.

Each has a unique way to structure and process information that leads to a solution.

Some techniques will seem easy, and you will like using them. Others may give you answers, but the process isn’t as comfortable as some others. 

Also, some techniques will give you the confidence you need to believe that you will solve the problem.

Never underestimate the power of confidence. You have to believe you can solve the problem.

So you pick the technique that works best for you or try several of them on your problem to see what results you get.

All Problem Solving Techniques Will Be Covered

We will be covering all of these problem-solving techniques on our advisor platform.

But, you can’t simply read about a method and quickly move on to the next one.

You need to go through a problem-solving example so you can get the idea and feel of how that technique works.

Working through an example is the only way you can judge how they work and if you are comfortable with that specific problem-solving technique.

Three Factors That Will Help You Turn Problems Into Opportunities

Brian Tracy, in his book “Creativity and Problem Solving,” offers three factors, among many good ideas. That helps you be creative:

1. How intensely you desire a goal (the more you want to achieve that goal the more ways you will find to achieve that goal).

2. How serious the problem is to your life or business. Once you have identified what is holding you back from an important goal,

your mind will start generating ideas to solve that problem. 

3. How do you focus on the question. (the more precise and focused you are on the question, the more rapidly your creative reflexes operate to generate workable answers

 Using these problem-solving techniques, you will be able to

1. Generate ideas at will

2. Create new business opportunities

3. Modify ideas until you come up with innovative and powerful ideas

4. Improve old products, services, and processes

5. Develop solutions to complex business problems

6. See problems as opportunities,And much, much more

Conclusion

As an entrepreneur or CEO, our hectic lives are continually being interrupted by challenges and problems that need creative solutions, short-term, and long-term solutions.

And everyone is capable of innovative solutions.

It’s a matter of learning the methods and techniques of creative problem-solving and practicing them.

Remember, the worth of the idea you create will depend to some degree on the way you define your problems.

For example, write down the problem. Translate it into a positive opportunity. It is impossible to be creative if you are focused on a negative.

You have to look at the problem broadly. This broad approach is true for problem-solving techniques as well.

Try all of them and select the ones that work best for you.

We would love to hear your comments about problem-solving, good or bad.

How To Find Out If Your New Idea Will Sell And For How Much

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How To Find Out If Your New Idea Will Sell And For How Much

Most entrepreneurs are confident their new product or service idea will be a big winner. But you would like to find out if your new idea will sell and for how much before you invest lots of time and money.  So, to be safe, you tell your Mom or wife about the idea and ask what she thinks. Guess what? She says it could be a great idea. She may not be sure, but she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings or dampen your enthusiasm.  

Still not sure, you decide to ask more people and get additional “facts.” Again you tell them your idea and ask if they think it’s a good idea? Do they think people will buy this product or service? Not surprisingly, almost everyone agrees with your Mom. Great. Now you have the facts to validate your hypothesis. 

Not All “Facts” Are True

But, there is a big problem, you don’t have real facts. The “facts” you have are only “opinions” from people who don’t want to hurt your feelings or dampen your enthusiasm. Just like your Mom, people want to be nice. Besides, they are not committed to buying it, so there is no downside for them.  

If you start your business using these false facts, your chances of succeeding are slim. But, there is an answer. Rob Fitzpatrick, author, and entrepreneur, started several companies that failed using this traditional customer research. He finally realized what the problem was, and here is what he found. 

Talking to potential prospects is critical, but you have to speak to them in a way that they will give you real facts, not just opinions. So the first step to getting real facts is not to tell them what your product idea is.   

Don’t Talk, Listen

Set up a casual meeting or coffee, so they are comfortable. And remember, you are there to listen, not talk.

Ask them about themselves and their job. People love to talk about themselves.

During that conversation, find a way to bring up a question related to the problem you want to solve.

For example, here are some opening questions, “that part of your job sounds difficult.

Is that a big problem?” or “I’ve been told that X is a problem. Do you have that problem?”

Then based on their answer, keep probing about the problem and how they dealt with it.  

 

This explanation is experience talking about their problem and how they handled it — this is how you get factual information rather than just opinions.

They verify if the problem exists, how painful it is, and how they dealt with the problem.

Maybe it’s a minor problem, and they have a way to deal with it now. Perhaps it’s a significant problem that is costing the company time and money.

This approach will verify if there’s a problem and if the pain is severe.

You get facts, not opinions, which will give you actionable insights.

Here are some of the problems with the traditional approach:

1. We spend too much time collecting data that’s too unreliable for important decisions.

2. Sometimes we don’t realize the data we are collecting is worthless (even misleading)

3. Asking customers what they think of your idea almost always leads to bad data.

4. We assume customer feedback is scientific, and whatever they tell us is scientific and counts as learning. 

5. But, it’s easy to bias the people we are talking to. Once you tell them you have an idea, they are already biased beyond repair because they don’t want to crush your dreams,   

6. If people tell you your idea is terrible, that may not be useful data either. Why? People are bad at predicting both: which ideas are good and what they,

as customers are going to do, buy, use in the future,

7. Even Venture Capital firms credited with being the best predictors are wrong more often than right.

And If their judgment is worse than a coin toss, how seriously can you take anyone’s opinion? 

8. If you are going to get your “facts” faster (e.g., focus groups, surveys, etc.), it could be a big mistake.

The problem is this information is not robust enough to bet your company on it.  

Get them to talk about costs

During your questioning, you will ask how they solved the problem and how expensive it is to solve the problem.

Now, you have an idea of the cost parameters to determine if the product will be profitable. 

This approach does take some time as you will want to interview people until you begin to get repeated information.

However, it is less expensive than starting development and having to end the project later.   

 

Get facts, not opinions

You can get broad industry views and some facts and figures from Google information,

but the insights you need only come from face-to-face conversations with prospects.

It’s the insights into your customers’ worldview and decision-making that tell you to build it or not.

You need real insight into what customers want.

 

There is also a problem if you put together a small group of people to do these interviews.

You will end up with several opinions as to what they heard and what is essential.

These variations in view make defining the most critical problems difficult.

You do need to keep everyone informed of the information. 

Conclusion

You can get the real facts you need if you don’t bias the potential customer by telling them your idea.

Ask questions about a problem they might have and what they did to solve the problem.

Get them to say to you, based on their experience, the problem, and how they solve it or don’t solve it.

Also, what they currently pay to get it solved now.

At this point, you are only trying to verify that the problem you want to solve is a real problem, and the customer would be willing to pay to get it solved. 

 

Once you have your product concept designed, the second step is to follow up with customer interviews

with your product or service design to determine your solution’s validity.

You will also ask for some commitment, not necessarily money, maybe a referral to another user in the company

to determine if the person’s positive response is factual or just being friendly. 

 

We would love to hear your thoughts on this blog or this topic. Or a topic you would like us to discuss. You can reach us HERE.

Jim Zitek

P.S. If you know someone else that would like this information, pass it on. 

Avoidable Mistakes Made Preparing Business Plans For Investors: Part Three 

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Financial Model Mistakes

Only cash is cash  

Suppose you sell something this month for $100, and it cost you $60 to make it. But you have to pay your suppliers within 30 days. But the buyer probably won’t pay you for at least 60 days.

In this case, your revenue for the month was $100, your profit for the month was $40, and your cash flow for the month is zero. Next month your cash flow will be -$600 when you pay your suppliers.

Although this example may seem trivial, very slight changes in the timing difference between cash receipt and disbursement of just a couple of weeks can bankrupt your business.

When you build your financial model, make sure that your assumptions are realistic.  

Lack of detail

Your finances should be constructed from the bottom up and then validated from the top down. The bottom of the model starts with details such as when you expect to make specific sales or hire more employees.

Top-down validation means that you examine your overall market potential and compare that to the bottom of revenue projections.

Round numbers like 1 million in R&D expenses in your two, and 2 million in your three, are you sure sign that you do not have a bottom-up more. 

Unrealistic financials

Only a small handful of companies achieve 100 million or more in sales only five years after founding. Projecting much more than that will not be credible and will get your business plan canned faster than almost anything else. On the other hand, a business with only 25 million in revenues after five years will be too small to interest serious investors. Financial forecast or a litmus test of your understanding of how venture capitalists think.

If you have a realistic basis for projecting 50 to 100,000,000 in five years, you probably a good candidate for venture financing; otherwise, you should probably look elsewhere.

Insufficient financial projections

Basic financial projections consist of three fundamental elements: income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. All of these must conform to generally excepted accounting principles or GAAP.

Investors generally expect to see five years of projections. Of course, nobody can see five years into the future. Investors primarily want to see the thought process you employ to create long-term projections.

A good financial model will also include sensitivity analysis, showing how your projected results will change if your assumptions turn out to be incorrect. This allows both you and the investor to identify the assumptions that can have a material effect on your future performance to focus your energies and validate those assumptions.

It should also include benchmark comparisons to other companies in your industry, things like revenues per employee, gross margin per employee, gross margin as a percent of revenues, and various expense ratios (general and administrative, sales and marketing, research and development, and operations as a percent of total operating expenses.

Conservative assumptions

Nobody ever believes that assumptions are conservative, even if they truly are. Develop realistic assumptions that you can support, refrain from using words “conservative “or aggressive “in your plan, and leave it at that.

Offering a valuation

Mini business plans here, stating that their company is worth a certain amount. How do you know? The value of a company is determined by the market, by what others are willing to pay. Unless you are in the business of buying, selling, or investing in companies, you probably don’t have an accurate sense of what the market will bear.

If you name a price, one of two things will happen to tell you that your price is too high, and investors will toss your plan, or thar5 your price is too low, and investors will take advantage of you. Both are bad. The purpose of the business plan is to tell your story in the most compelling manner possible so that investors will want to go to the next step. You can always negotiate the price later.

Stylistic mistakes

Poor spelling and grammar

If you make silly mistakes in your business plan, what does that say about how you run your business? Use your spelling and grammar checkers, get other people to edit the plan, do whatever it takes to purge embarrassing errors.

Too repetitive

All too often, a plan covers the same points over and over. A well-written plan should cover key points only twice, once briefly and then the executive summary, and again in greater detail, in the plan’s body.

Appearance matters

At any point in time, an investor has dozens, if not hundreds of plants waiting to be read. Get to the top of the pile and making sure that the cover is attractive, the binding is professional, the pages are well laid out, and the fonts are large enough to be easily read.

Execution mistakes

Waiting until too late. The capital formation process takes a long time. In general, count on six months to a year from when you start writing the plan until the money is in the bank. Don’t put off your management team should be prepared to invest about 500 hours into the plan. If you are too busy building your product, company, or customers (which is probably a better use of your time. Consider outsourcing the development of the business plan.

Failing to seek outside review

Make sure that you have at least a few people review your plan before you send it out. Preferably people who understand your market, sales, and distribution strategies, the DC market, etc.

Your plan may look perfect to you and your team, but that’s because you’ve been staring in for months. Good objective reviews from outsiders with fresh perspectives can save you from myopia.

Over tweaking

You could spend countless hours tweaking your plan in the pursuit of perfection. A lot of this time would be better spent working on your product, company, and customers. At some point, you need to pull the trigger and get the plan out in front of a few investors. If the reaction is positive, and they want to move forward, great.

If the reaction is adverse, assuming that the investor was a good fit to begin with, and you may have been heading down the wrong path. Get feedback from a couple of investors, and if a consensus emerges, go back and refine your plan.

Conclusion

It’s a tough investment climate, but good ideas backed by good teams and good business plans are still getting funded.  Give yourself the best chance by avoiding these simple mistakes.

Avoidable Mistakes Made Preparing Business Plans For Investors (part two)

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

 

Do not be too technical. 

People with technical backgrounds or specialized products often fill the document with jargon and concepts with no meaning for the non-technical person. Investors are interested in how the product works, but only in reference to how it solves the problem. 

For example, when Steve Jobs introduced the iPod, it had 5 gigabits of storage. No one other than engineers knew what 5 gigabits were, so the way he explained it was to say with the iPod, you could put 1,000 songs in your pocket.

If investors are interested in your opportunity, they will have engineers look at the technology in depth. You can also detail the technology in a separate document. 

No risk analysis

Investors are in the business of balancing risks versus rewards. Some of the first things investors want to know are the risks inherent in your business and what has been done to mitigate the risks.

The key risks of entrepreneurial ventures

Market risks: Where people actually buy what you have to say, will you need to create a major change in consumer behavior?

Technology risks: Can you actually deliver what you say you can? On a budget and on time?

Operational risk: What can go wrong in the day-to-day operations of the company? What can go wrong with manufacturing and customer support?

Management risks: Can you attract and retain the right team? Can your team pull this off? Are you prepared to step aside and let somebody else take over if necessary?

Legal risks: Is your intellectual property truly protected? Are you infringing on another companies patterns? If your solution does not work, can you limit your liability?

These risks are, of course, just a partial list of risks.

Even though you may feel that the risks are negligible, potential investors will feel otherwise unless you demonstrate that you have given a lot of thought to what can go wrong and can take prudent steps to mitigate these risks.

Poorly organized

Your plan should flow in an excellent organized fashion. Each section should build logically on the previous section, without requiring the reader to know something presented later in the plan.

Although there is no single correct business plan structure, one successful design is as follows:

Cover page: This is the first thing the reader will see, so keep it simple and professional, and be sure to include your contact information so the reader can reach you easily.

Executive summary: This is a brief, 1 to 3 page summary of everything that follows in the plan. It should be a standalone document as many readers will make their initial decision based on the executive summary alone.

Background: If you are in a highly specialized field, you should provide some knowledge in layman terms since most investors will not have advanced degrees in your area.

Market opportunity: Describe how businesses and consumers are suffering and how much they are willing to pay for a solution.

Products or services: Describe what you do and how your solution fits into the marketing opportunity.

Market traction: Describe how you have succeeded in attracting customers, marketing and distribution partnerships, and other alliances that demonstrate that experts in your market are betting on your solution.

Competitive analysis: Identify your direct and indirect competitors, and describe how your solution is better.

Distribution and marketing strategy: Describe how you will get to market, how are you will price your products etc.

Risk analysis: Identify primary sources of risks, and describe how you are mitigating them.

Milestones: Showcase a strong past track record and describe key checkpoints for the future.

Company and management: Provide the basic facts about your company – where and when you, Inc., where are you are located, and give a brief biography of your core team.

Financials: Provide summaries of your P&L and cash flows and the assumptions used to come up with this. Also, describe your funding needs, how are you are using the proceeds and possible exit strategies for investors.

As stated earlier, there is no right structure; you will need to experiment to find the one that best suits your business.

This article completes part two. The third and final article deals with the financial aspect of the business plan.

 

 

Avoidable Mistakes Made Preparing Business Plans For Investors (part one)

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

 Your business plan is often the first impression you make on investors, and it could also be the last impression the inverter gets if you make the kinds of mistakes illustrated here. If you don’t get a referral, your business plan is how the investor will judge whether or not to invite you to the office for an in-person meeting.

With the hundreds of “opportunities” investors get every month, they are looking for ways to say no. Therefore, you mustn’t make a lot of mistakes. Every mistake will hurt your chances.

 .The following list of examples is from Cayenne Consulting.

 Content mistakes

 

Failing to identify a real pain

Identifying and solving real pain that customers are willing to pay to get solved is not necessarily easy. Check out these posts: https://https://harborcapitalgroupinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Braintopview-1.jpg.com/the-critical-first-step-toward-new-product-success/ and https://https://harborcapitalgroupinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Braintopview-1.jpg.com/part-two-how-to-get-product-validation-and-commitment/

 On the other hand, pain is synonymous with market opportunity. And the more widespread the problem is, the greater your potential market. Businesses and consumers pay good money to make pains go away. Your business plan is how you tell this opportunity story.

Overstating the impact your company will have  

Phrases like unparalleled in the industry or unique and limited opportunity or superb returns with a limited capital investment are only hype. Investors will determine your company’s impact based on their specific criteria.

You should simply lay out the facts: the problem, your solution, the market size, how you will sell the product, and how you have a competitive advantage and will keep it.  

Stretching the potential uses of your product  

To impress investors, entrepreneurs often try to show that their product can be applied to multiple, very different markets or explain they can have a complex suite of products to bring to the market.

They don’t realize that most investors prefer to see a focused strategy, especially for a very early-stage company. Investors want a single, superior product that solves a big problem in a  large market sold through a proven distribution strategy.

Additional products, applications, markets, and distribution channels don’t have to be left out;  they can be used to enhance and support a highly focused core-strategy. Tell your core-story and let everything else play a minor role.  

No, go to market strategy. 

Business plans that fail to explain the sales, marketing, and distribution strategy are doomed. Be sure to answer these questions: Who will buy it, why, and most importantly, how will you get it to them?

Also,  explain how you have already generated customer interest, obtained pre-orders, or better yet, need actual sales. And describe how you will leverage this experience through a cost-effective go to market strategy.

We have no competition.

No matter what you think, you have competitors. Maybe not a direct competitor who offers an identical solution but at least a substitute. First-class mail is a substitute for email.  

Competitors, simply stated, consist of everybody pursuing the same customer dollars.

To say that you have no competition is one of the fastest ways you can get your plan tossed. Investors will conclude that you do not have a full understanding of your market. The competition section of your business plan is also your opportunity to showcase your relative strength against direct competitors, indirect competitors, and substitutes. Besides, having competitors is a good thing; it shows investors that a real market exists.

Your business plan is too long.

Investors are very busy and did not have the time to read long business plans. They also favor entrepreneurs who demonstrate the ability to convey a complex idea’s critical elements with an economy of words. 

An excellent executive summary is no more than 1 to 3 pages. An ideal business plan is 20 to 30 pages, and most investors prefer the lower end of this range. Remember, the primary purpose of a fundraising business plan is to motivate the investor to pick up the phone and invite you to an in-person meeting. It’s not intended to describe every last detail.

Document the details elsewhere in your operating plan, R&D plan, marketing plan, white papers, etc. 

The end of part one. This information is a lot to contemplate. That’s why we divided this vital block of data into three parts. Be sure to read part two, which covers more things to avoid doing, and part three covering financial information.

 

How To Get Product Validation And Commitment

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If you haven’t read Part One, you need to do that before reading Part two. Part one is about how you interview people to determine if the problem you believe you are solving is really a problem people want and are willing to pay you to solve it.

So, now that you have nailed down the problem, spent time diagnosing the problem, and have an insightful product solution, it’s time to see what your potential customers think of your solution.

This second phase of questing is to validate your solution or product. It’s time to talk to people again (the same or others) to see if they agree with your solution and are willing to give you some commitment.

You will also have taken a preliminary look at your business model as part of your overall vision. You should layout the business model canvas to visually see the entire business and make changes and decisions as you develop more knowledge.

Introduce product

Now you are going to show them your product. So you are fighting the same problem as before of getting false information or compliments rather than facts. But the good news is you now have a product idea, and you can and must ask for some commitment.

At this point, your product or service can be a drawing, a slide show, a prototype, an animated whiteboard, or anything that will illustrate the product. You do not need a full-blown minimally viable product (MVP) at this time.

You will talk to people, and if they are a serious prospect — meaning you are getting real facts, not just opinions — you can go home and modify your product. Then talk to the next prospect. When your information starts to repeat, you can make that MVP.

Remember, if you are not embarrassed with your first product, you waited too long. This process should not have a firm milestone date as you will be modifying the product and your business model basically after each interview until the information repeats.

You need a commitment if you want real facts

By commitment, we mean are they showing they’re serious by giving up something they value — their time, money, or reputation.

  • time (maybe a longer meeting with everyone to explain the product in-depth),

  • reputation (referring you to someone else you should talk or

  • money (some step that gest them closer to purchasing)

 Note; if the person remains friendly, but you realize they are not going to buy, they can give you lots of wrong signals. That’s why getting some commitment is necessary, so you have facts, not opinions.

Meetings either succeed or fail.

There is no such thing as a meeting that went well. At this point, meetings either succeed or fail. You have lost when you leave the meeting with a compliment or stalling tactic (e.g., let’s talk again after the holidays)

A meeting succeeds when it ends with a commitment to advance to the next step.  Rejection is also real information. One opinion is not going to derail the company. You have to look at it as good news. Maybe your product won’t sell. If so, you have saved a lot of time and money. Not asking is a real failure. Commitment shows they care. The more they are willing to give up, the more seriously you can take what they’re saying.

Following  are some examples of good and bad meetings:

“Looks great. Let me know when it launches”. (bad meeting)

“There are a couple of people I can introduce you to when you are ready” (so so meeting)

“What are the next steps” (good meeting)

“I would definitely buy that” (bad meeting)

Conclusion

Remember, You will not know if your product or service could be a winner until you’ve given them a chance to reject you. Then you will know you have real facts on which to build your business. Also, keep having meetings until you stop hearing new stuff.

How To Turn Your Website Into A Selling Machine

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Unless you are an eCommerce company, entrepreneurs want their website to make the company look “professional.” That’s great, but websites are the number one selling tool that most companies have, so they should be used by everyone to sell its products and services. It can both look “professional” and sell our products and services.

For starters, you need to look at your website’s structure to make sure you have structured a persuasive story. Following is a website structure that will guide you to a successful website.

According to Yoast, Site structure refers to how you organize your website’s content. A website often consists of content on a variety of related topics. The site structure deals with how this content is grouped, linked, and presented to the visitor. If you structure your website well, it will benefit from this structure; users will find their way more easily, and Google can better index your website.

Layout each section on paper first, so you don’t have to make any changes later during and after development. There are nine sections in this discussion. Colors and images are fine, and you need to use them, but it’s words that sell.

Don MIllier, author and CEO of storybrand.com, has a simple, straightforward way to look at your website, making sense and is easy to use. Look at your website and compare it to this list,

1 Header

First impressions are important. The first 10 seconds the customer lands on your page are the most critical. They decide to stay or leave. Others say 20 seconds is what you have or the first 100 words.

Don’t be cute or clever. Be simple, clear. You need to answer three questions; first, what do you offer? How will it make the customer’s life better? What do they need to do to buy it? This is where you get your CTA.

Don’t be passive-aggressive aggressive with CTA. like “learn more.” The customer needs something to accept or reject. You can even have two CTA‘s in the header. Images are good and happy people are hard to beat.  But, if you sell cakes, show great cakes.

2 The Problem or Situation

This is the failure section. Stories love tension. Most stories start with a character who wants something. Then challenges are placed between the character and what the character wants. The closing of the distance makes the story work—a positive scene, followed by a negative scene.

What is the cost of not doing business with you? What is not having a clear, powerful messaging costing you? How many customers can’t hear your offer in the sea of marketing noise? Your lack of clarity may already be costing you a great deal?.

If there are no stakes in the story, there is no story. How about the pains of losing to competition, not reaching potential, confusion, lost business, missed opportunities, wasted time.

But a little bit of this goes a long way. Maybe show a box with a logo and a sentence or so telling about some pains.  Maybe underneath the box, three columns with some points that you want to make.

4 Value proposition

It is a good idea to put this section after stakes position after negotiation; stories love the contrast. Contrasting scenes work well. What value will the customer receive if they do business with you? Tell customers everything they get:  can they save money, save time, reduce risk, get quality, simplify their life.

Be specific. The visual. Maybe a box again with 123 and the different points that you want to make. It would be best if you had a headline on top of the visual; otherwise, people won’t read it.

5 The guide

Provide an incredible return on their investment. Focus on the customer,  Lose sleep over your customer’s success.

The Guide is an empathetic and authoritative person to help the customer get where he wants to be. He understands their challenge and helps people achieve it.

A couple of ways to show this are testimonials, logos of companies you’ve worked with. A simple statistic, many people you’ve helped tons of people for example

Don’t overdo authority. Make sure you don’t use too much authority and not enough empathy. Three testimonials will show both. Keep testimonials short and to the point.

The same is true for overcoming objections, involving problems, solving problems, adding value. Keep testimonials short; statistics is another way. Show the years you’ve been in business, awards you’ve received, and clients you have served.

5 The Plan

This tells customers the path they need to take to buy the product or service. It may not be obvious to them how to do it. Use three steps. Keep the plan visibly simple.

6 The Explanatory paragraph

Most people don’t stay on the website because there are too many useless words at the top. With this structure, they are already hooked by the time they get here.

This is where the SEO comes from. This explanatory paragraph needs to follow the story outline. One, identify who your customer wants to become, two identify what they want, three, define the problem setting them back, four, position you as their guide, five, share a plan they can use to solve the problem, which includes your product—six calls to action.

Another option. Overcome your client’s objections. List the top five reasons or excuses why they don’t want to work with you. Craft a sentence or two to overcome each objection. Note you can do both of these on the same page.

7  Videos

Videos are becoming very popular. Many sites have them now, and you will need to look at them as a quick way to get your message across quickly and with impact. A

8 Price choices

If you have several price options, you will want to put them after giving them enough information that visitors could make a buying decision.

9  Other Information

All of the above information may not be enough for everyone. Some will want to know more. Here is where this information goes. Those very interested will continue to read on, but most will have exited by this point. They could come back another time, however.  Also, some people will have questions, and this is the place to answer those questions in either narrative format or even a list of questions and answers.

Conclusion

You want a professional-looking site, but you also need a website that delivers a sales message. This structure will help you get both. You don’t have to go one through nine; you can vary the order depending on your message. However, you need to start with a problem and the solution to get the visitor to spend any time looking at your story.\

Does your website have a readable structure? What improvement could you make?

Which Is More Important: The Product Or Market?

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 The question of which is more important, product or market, is an ongoing question, and the answer depends on who to talk to. It’s a question every entrepreneur has to address before and during the development of a startup.

Author Tren Griffin at 2sig.com (Andreessen Horowitz et al.) put together some great “answers” from people who would know.

Why markets matter more than anything else. (Investment approach).

“Give me a giant market, always.” You find a great market, and you build multiple companies in that market—author Dan Valentine.

Looking at all three parts: people, market, and innovative products. All three are required for success. Note, you can’t change a market, but you can change your product. “By Andy Radcliffe

Founders have to choose a market long before they know whether they will reach a product-market fit. Chris Dixon.

What is product-market fit?

It’s a verified Value Proposition. Customers buy your product and like it so much, they tell others, giving you organic sales.

“To reach delighted customers isn’t just product-market fit, but product-market scale” Casey Winters.

“getting the product right means finding product-market fit. It does not mean learning the product or launching the product. It means getting to the point where the market excepts your product and wants more of it. Fred Wilson

When you are not at product-market fit, focus on getting to market-product fit. Change whatever you need to do. Forget everything else until you get product-market fit.

Marc Andreessen argues that any startup’s life can be divided into two parts: Before product-market fit and after a product-market fit.

How do you reach product-market fit?

You can reach product-market fit serendipity, but the process to get to serendipity is incredibly consistent. Andy Radcliffe First, you need to define and test your value hypothesis. Once proved, move on to your growth hypothesis.

“ in the early days of a product, don’t focus on making it so robust. Find product-market fit first, then harden“ Jeff Lawson.

Product market fit is not a magic elixir. It signifies an important milestone that is necessary but not sufficient for success. Once you have product-market fit, you must still find a sustainable growth model and create a moat against competitors.

Until you get product-market fit, you want to live as long as possible and iterate as quickly as possible. Sam Altman.

How can you tell whether you do or don’t have a product-market fit?

You have product-market fit if you have organic sales, media attention, cash building up, etc. Sales without advertising require huge word-of-mouth, which requires delighted customers.

A problem for entrepreneurs is  “they don’t have actually have a product-market fit when they think they do. Alex Schultz.

Is first to market critical?

“ first to market seldom matters. “ “First to product-market fit is usually the long-term winner. “  Once a company has achieved product-market fit, it is challenging to dislodge it, even with a better or less expensive product“ Andy Rachleff.

Note: Neither Apple, Google, and others were first to market.

What are some product-market myths?

  1. Product-market fit is always a discrete, big bang event.

  2. It’s plenty obvious when you have product-market fit.

  3. Once you achieve a product-market fit, you can’t lose it.

  4. Once you have product-market fit, you don’t have to sweat the competition.

  5. Markets and competition are always changing. Constant adoption is therefore required to retain product-market fit. Ben Horowitz.

 What problems are caused when you only think you have product-market fit?

One of the most common ways startups fail is premature scaling. This means spending money on growth before achieving product-market fit. Sales from the early adopters are not the mainstream market. Startups need 2 to 3 times longer to validate their market than most founders expect. Steve Blank

Conclusion

Product-market fit is a critical goal for every startup. While the definition appears simple, the ability to get there, know when you have it, and how to exploit it is complex. Where are you at in this journey to product-market fit? Before, on the way,  or After?

How To Validate The Problem And The Pricing Of Your Idea

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Entrepreneurs are almost always sure they have a product or service idea that will sell like hotcakes. But just to be safe, they tell their Mom the idea and ask what she thinks. Guess what? She thinks it’s a great idea. She may not be sure, but she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings or dampen your enthusiasm.

But if you are not convinced yet, ask a few more people. Most people start with people they know. They tell them their idea, their vision, and ask what they think. Do they think it’s a good idea? Do they think people will buy the product or service? Not surprisingly, these people also agree with your Mom. It is or it could be a good idea, and they think people will buy the product or service.

Great. Now you have some facts to back up your hypothesis. But you are still not 100 percent sure, so you find some people in your targeted market to interview. You repeat the process. Tell them your product idea and ask if they think it’s a good idea? And if they think people buy the product? Again, you get a positive response.

Now you are confident and ready to start developing the business. But, there is only one problem, you don’t have real facts upon which to build your business. The “facts” you have are only “opinions” from people who don’t want to hurt your feelings or dampen your enthusiasm. Just like your Mom, people want to be nice. Besides, they are not committed to buying it, so there is no downside for them.

Stop Using False Facts

If you start your business using these false facts, your chances of succeeding are not great.

But, there is an answer. Rob Fitzpatrick, author, and entrepreneur, started several businesses that failed using that kind of customer research. He finally realized what the problem was.

Most people do these interviews incorrectly. You have to know how to talk to customers in the right way to get real information. You can’t show them the product idea first and then ask questions. If you do, here are some problems he found:

  • We spend too much time collecting data that’s too unreliable for important decisions.
  • Sometimes we don’t realize the data we are collecting is worthless (even misleading)
  • Not all data is good data — and asking customers what they think of your idea almost always leads to bad data
  • We assume customer feedback is scientific and whatever they tell us is scientific and counts as learning. But, it’s easy to bias the people we are talking to. In fact, once you tell them you have an idea, they are already biased beyond repair because they don’t want to crush your dreams,

If people tell you your idea is bad, that’s not good data either. Why? People are bad at predicting both 1 which ideas are good and 2, what they, as customers, are going to do, buy, use in the future,

Even VCs are looked at as the best predictors, are wrong more than they are right. If they are worse than a coin toss, how seriously can you take anyone’s opinion?

Potential Customers are not responsible for showing us the truth, It’s our responsibility to find the truth, We do this by asking good questions. Good questions give us actionable insights because we never asked about our idea. In these conversations, only talk about their problems, how they impacted their lives, and how they solved them.

They will tell you the truth when they talk about themselves and past or current problems. Identifying and validating “the problem” is what you want. Your job is to determine if they have the problem you are trying to solve, and if that problem is painful enough, they are willing to pay money to solve it. Everyone has problems they know about but have a workaround or are not painful enough to fix them.

To Get The Information You Want, Ask Important Questions

Ask scary questions you have been unintentionally shrinking from. You can tell when it’s an important question when the answer could change or disprove your business. Don’t get stuck on the small things. Look at the big picture first. When you have the big picture, you can drill down on specific items.

Also, learn to love bad news. If you have $75k to start the business and you spend $3k finding out your idea isn’t going to work. That’s good news. You can’t build a business on lukewarm responses.

Don’t challenge anyone; you are there to listen

When you challenge the customer. “No, I don’t think you get it” They will say your idea is great if you are annoying enough. You can’t learn anything unless you are willing to shut up and listen, The More You talk, the worse you are doing,

Following are some of Rob Fitzpatrick’s examples of good and bad questions.

Do you think it is a good idea?

Bad question. Only the market can tell you if your idea is good or bad. Everything else is just an opinion and opinions are worthless.

Would you buy a product that did X?

Bad question. You are asking for opinions and hypothetical from overly optimistic people who want to make you happy. The answer is always yes which makes it worthless. If its about the future, it is probably worthless.

How much would you pay for Y?

Bad question. The number makes it feel scientific and true but people will lie to you if they think it’s what you want to hear.

What would your dream product do?

OK question. if you ask and follow up. Generally, people know what their problems are but don’t know how to solve them.

Why do you bother?

Good question. It gets you from a perceived problem to the real one. It helps you get to why and helps you understand their goals.

What are the implications of that?

Good question. It distinguishes between “I will pay to solve that problem” and “that’s annoying but I can deal with it”. Some problems don’t actually matter.

Talk me through the last time that happened?

Good question. Learning through their actions instead of their opinions. This provides insight and answers lots of questions like how they spend their days, what tools they use, who they talk to, constraints on their day. Now does your product fit into their day and life? What other products or software and tools does your product need to integrate with? Finding out about how someone does a task will show you where the problems and inefficiencies really are, not where the customer thinks they are.

What else have you tried?

Good question. What are they using now? How much does it cost and what do they love about it or hate about it? How much would those solutions be worth and how traumatic would it be for them to switch to a new solution? Note: People stop lying when you ask for money.

How are you dealing with it now?

Good question. This gives you a price anchor. It’s rare for someone to tell you precisely what they will pay you, they will often show you what it’s worth.

Where does the money come from?

Good question, This is a must ask in B2B businesses. Who has to approve, who has the budget, who influences the purchase.

Who else should I talk to?

Good question. End every conversation with this question. Is there anything else I should have asked? People want to help you. Give them an excuse to do so.

Conclusion

Your first job is to identify and validate a real problem that people will pay to solve. You don’t need compliments; you need real facts. Focus on the data you need to make your decision and avoid bad data.

Generally, people do not want to hurt your feelings and tell you what you want to hear. Find targeted people and have a casual conversation. During that conversation, ask good questions.

Do not tell the person you are interviewing about your idea. You are there to listen, not talk. Your job is to find out the problem. The next step is to find the solution prospects are willing to pay money to solve.

At this time, you are trying to identify and validate the problem. Keep having meetings until you stop hearing new stuff. Later, you will have additional conversations with them or others about your product.

This is the end of part one. Part two covers getting information on the product itself and the necessity of getting a commitment of some kind,

How Your “About” Page Helps You Increase Revenues

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Your “About” page is the second most important page on your website because it shows why you are qualified to do the work you have promised. Once visitors see what you do on your home page, they jump to your about page to see what you are all about. It also sets the tone and authority level for the rest of your website.

 This critical page is necessary for content conversion and then increases revenues because it is the beginning of building trust with your prospects. 

Because your About Page is important, it has to reflect your personality and the way you see things.

The following basic elements are a guide for the content you need to include. Many of the suggestions are from an article in Inc magazine written by Jeff Haden. Another good reference is Hubspot. 

Your about page could be about “Us” (your team or company) or about “Me” a single person, or about “your brand.” Stay consistent; first person (I, or we), second person (you), or third person (he/she/they) throughout your story.

Also, if you want to connect with people, be transparent and honest. If not, they will sense it as they go through your story and dismiss you if they feel you are not being truthful.

Most people find it hard to write about themselves, so ask people you know how they would describe you and what you offer.

Start your story by stating your goal right away, Let them know where you stand and why what you offer is important to them. 

Start with your keyword in the headline

Your headline should include your keyword. You can have a subhead that states the problem, solution, result, and benefit. For example, you could use “About” or Your Name and then have a subhead that contains your core story.

The important thing is that you have to make your point early. By the time they get to the bottom half of the page, many people drop off. Also, your about page can also help you with your Google ranking and organic traffic, so having it SEO optimized is also important.  Neil Patel has lots of examples of how to use your About page.

Move to what the customers need

Generally, people go to your About page because there is some interest or problem they want to solve. For example, reach product-market fit, find new customers, or increase revenues. So, address that problem and show them how you can help solve their problem better than anyone else.

Your About page may say it’s about you and it is. But, what the readers want to know is if you can solve their problem and deliver the results they want. Start with your core story (strategy) and tell them what you do and what they can expect, Be specific, but brief.

Tell them what kind of customers you have

Tell them who your customers are, so they can determine if they fit the way you do business or not. You can also mention who your customers are. For some, those names or companies will be important in their decision.

Also, give them facts not fluff. Don’t tell them how outstanding you are, give them facts, and let them judge for themselves. If you don’t have facts, don’t make them up. Talk about your vision why you do what you do and what you hope to accomplish. If they agree, they may want to come along. Like Simon Sinek says, people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

To Get Conversions and increases in revenues, you need a CTA

You also need a Call to Action (CTA) on your page. For example, what do you want them to do once they have read your page? Do you want them to sign up for your blog, get your lead magnet, watch a video? 

Don’t try to be something you are not

The page has to be condensed around your story. However, don’t write a long, boring, detailed history of your life. 

Often, smaller companies pretend to be bigger than they are. If you are passionate about what you do, they will see it and feel it. Focus instead on how you can help them. For example, because you are smaller, you can give them more attention, get things done faster, and possibly save them money.

 Tell them where you started your journey and some important milestones you achieved along the way. Provide some background about you and what led you to this business. You can tell them about the challenges you faced and why you do what you do today. 

Use real photos. 

Real people in real places. Don’t use stock photos as everyone can spot stock photos, and they take away from your authenticity. You can also use infographics. They can tell a powerful story in a short amount of space. And color helps.

Keep testimonials short and to the point

Have testimonials that make a specific point. Distill them down to just a few sentences. Also, make sure they speak to your story. Also, testimonials can be used to answer anticipated objections in a positive and believable way.

Certifications and awards are important 

If you are in a profession where certifications are required and important, use them. Important awards are also important. But you can easily overdo them. If you have a lot of awards and think they are important, have a special awards page. Remember, this section is about giving you credibility, not glorifying you. 

Your About page must load quickly

Studies have shown that for every second it takes to load your page, There is a 7 percent decrease in conversion rates.

 Always stay in beta

Don’t write this page and forget it. As things change, keep coming back and improving this page. Keep making it more persuasive. You will be able to and it’s very important.  

Some additional questions you should ask yourself

What makes Us different?

How did you evolve to what you are/do today? And how can that help your clients?

Conclusion

Most people do not realize how important the About page can be and therefore put little effort into it. But, it is the second most read page on your site and it needs to be very persuasive in order to start to build a relationship with your prospects. Take the time to prepare and optimize this page and it will help you convert prospects and increase your revenues and profits.

Some additional questions you should ask yourself

What makes Us different?

How did you evolve to what you are/do today? And how can that help your clients?

If you have any questions about this information or about me, send me a message Here