People who start a new business often make a “fatal error” that will probably condemn their business before it even begins, says Steve Blank.
Error: Do not find your potential or customers customers before deciding what type of business you want to create and the products or services you offer. “(I) saw this a million times,” said Blank, auxiliary professor at the University of Stanford who wrote four books on the subject of entrepreneurship and helped build eight different technological startups, of which he co -founded four.
Proposing first with an idea for a company, then determine how to sell this product or service – before having confirmed that it is something that your potential customers really want, is a recipe for failure, says Blank.
“The most important (question) is:” Well, who are my customers? “And the second is:” What do they want? “” Adds Blank, who sold his last startup, the Epiphany company software company, sold to SSA Global Technologies for $ 329 million In 2005. “It is not:” This is what I build. Can I sell it to someone? “”
For years, Blank told his students to “have entertained” from the office or class and hear real potential customers, he said. He is not alone: Talk to customers As soon as possible is necessary to check the best adjustment of the product market, putting the founders on the path of the creation of a prosperous company, according to the Small Business Administration.
Alberto Perlman, co-founder and CEO of Zumba Fitness, says that the “biggest error” commits entrepreneurs think they “know more than their customer”.
“You must always listen and listen between the lines, to your customer”, Perlman told CNBC to do in 2020.
Do not listen to your customers “can make the difference between a prosperous company and the one that fades” Linkedin Post. “It is natural to get attached to your product or service, but success depends on its value through the customer’s eyes.”
Blank points to his own entrepreneurial history – in particular, one of his greatest failures – for example. He co -founded a video game company entitled Rocket Science Games in 1993 and lifted $ 35 million For that. The company has made a coverage of Wire magazine This nicknamed them the next hot startup of Silicon Valley.
Rocket Science Games had talented engineers and its initial game line created Buzz with polished trailers, but Blank discovered too late that customers thought that games “were born” and that sales never materialized, he said Fast business in 2014.
The company closed in 1997, becoming a flop from the high -level technological industry. Blank would probably never have started, or “definitely changed his trajectory”, if he had followed his current advice and wanted customer comments before it was too late, he said.
“The biggest killer for me, and the biggest failure was pride,” said Blank, adding without a doubt: “Do not believe your own bulls —. It is really easy to convince you of your passion and your vision.”
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