To start a business, first find the customer pain points

How can entrepreneurs confirm that customers will buy before the products and services exist? To answer this question, first we need to answer another question: Why do people buy? There are two basic answers here, People usually spend money on two things: first, they often spend their money on fighting pain. Second, they usually spend their money on the pursuit of enjoyment.

And putting pain and happiness in this order is actually a reason. Although everything is equal, and the more painful or problematic one is, the more likely you are to find a way to fight it. And if the more against this pain, then customers buy faster. From an entrepreneur's point of view, this means that doing a painful business can often be better than doing a happy business. It is often better to deal with painful business on endurance.

Entrepreneurs often at the end of the "customer pain" as a "customer needs" or "customer problem" pronoun. When we sell electric gadgets or new clothes in the name of "relieve the pain of customers," perhaps some exaggeration and irony. But emphasizing the "customer's pain" instead of emphasizing the need or preference is also to illustrate that customer is human. They experience the world through the prism of experience. They can feel what is challenging or disrupting them - yes, their pain is interfering with them. But people often can not think of solutions to the pain - this is based on the need of suffering.

So, look into the pain. Think of things that make people feel uneasy, frustrated, urgent or uncomfortable. Then, with these clear understandings and bearing in mind the pain in the heart, to develop a method of treatment, and to focus the development on "healing and healing". When you try to invest in a startup risk, "Making painful disappear" can be your guide. In addition, what you need to focus on is not just identifying what the pain points, but also figuring out when people think the need is the most urgent. It will be more selling point to solve a current severe pain than to solve some less serious problems. For example, selling aspirin is never easier than selling vitamins.

The human desire to end pain, the same applies to corporate clients. Businesses generally strive to do two things: increase sales and reduce costs. If you can get business customers looking for new markets, making new products, or even increasing the prices of existing products, you've solved their pain in increasing sales. If you can provide business customers with an innovative way to manage their workforce and build their infrastructure, then you've solved their pain in reducing costs.

The last thing to consider is that the customer does not necessarily have to be the same person as the final product user. If you sell games or toys, your users tend to be children, but in reality those who buy your product are likely to be their children's parents. Similarly, if you are a Google user, you are Google's customer only if you use Google AdWords.

To test the customer's pain

If you have a new entrepreneurial idea, would you like to verify that you have captured the true pain of your customer? Here's an easy way to ask yourself: can you describe in a few words: What your company is solving is the pain point What? Why do other people need to care about this? Also, can you let a potential customer buy your account with this simple explanation?

If all is OK, then congratulations. You are ahead of most entrepreneurs. Those innovators and entrepreneurs who need a long text to describe the market or persuade their potential clients can say they have not fully refined their business.

Think of the most successful companies in the world, those who have been benchmarked by us. You might be able to tell quickly what these companies are doing, which is often the pain they solve. If you can not articulate the pain of a customer you are relieved of, is that a fatal fact? It may end up, but it may simply mean that your entrepreneurial philosophy is not yet fully shaped. Many great entrepreneurs come to know the best use of their products through countless iterations. Find pain points also need time.

Determine the intangible needs

The needs of many customers and customers can not fully understand or express themselves. Why buy an iPod without buying a less expensive MP3 player? Why Lexus instead of a Toyota? Why picks a specific brand in carbonated drinks that are artificial sweeteners? The answers to these questions Function has nothing to do, more and the image, feeling and intangible assets.

To give a realistic example, clothing brand AF (Abercrombie & Fitch) in 2010 when the total revenue reached 3.5 billion US dollars. Its sportswear store has a history of one hundred years. What separates it from its competitors? The focus is not on selling clothes, but on selling lifestyles and promises. Into the store, you can see a large format printed with a beautiful young poster wearing clothes to enhance your impression of AF. You've always thought that getting better looks for painful dieting and exercise? The message this store gives you is that what you really need is actually a $ 120 jeans and a $ 70 T-shirt.

When we treat the demand for intangible assets as part of the customer's pain, we tend to become cynical. Of course, the demand for some intangible assets may seem stupid, but some of them are fair and perhaps even important. Sometimes as an entrepreneur, you need to understand that these may be the most intense pains that need to be emphasized.

Find new customer pain points

Creative breakthroughs often lead to the birth of new customer pain points. For example, no one needs a car until someone starts producing cars. No one needs identity theft protection or credit monitoring until someone creates a personal credit report to solve the problem of borrowing.

When Apple first introduced the iPod at the height of Napster's heyday, people could also share music on the Internet for free. But the widespread adoption of products by consumers can be said to have led to the discovery of an unmet new demand for customers: customers wanting to get the music they want quickly, easily, and relatively cheaply, and another demand that may be more important and legal to them Obtain. So iTunes was born and became one of Apple's most successful products.

At the same time, Apple's iPod can only be used with headphones. Users can transfer and play music in new ways, but can not share it loudly. This is another new pain point, so many other companies are starting to develop iPod accessory hardware such as external speakers and docks.

So be wary of trends and innovations, but do not rush to copycat as you would any other entrepreneur, but instead look to the new pain points that every entrepreneur has to offer The solution is nothing to do with your product. You can certainly find some inspiration because:

Customer distress is the ultimate renewable resource.

Via FastCompany