“Successful business is grown by entrepreneurs who recognized a need and provided a solution that solved a pain point for others.” ~James F. Grebey
If you take a look at your room and pick up anything at random, you’ll realize that the contraption is merely the result of necessity which someone felt and did something about.
Most of the inventions of the modern world came into existence from the immense pain that the founders felt & took action to overcome. Think about the mom who grew weary of cleaning after the mess her little ones made in the toilets and invented Tinkle Targets to make potty training a more enjoyable and definitely a cleaner activity for parents with interesting themes like transportation, construction, and sports to keep the little guys rooted to the spot or the idea for a footless pantyhose and the convenience it would provide pushed Sara Blakely to come up with Spanx.
The goal of a successful Entrepreneur is to understand the pain of an individual and provide a feasible solution in the simplest form.
Usually, when people plan on starting a business, they usually flush out. They fall short of ideas. If you’re someone who is confused about how to start a business, you can always look for inspiration.
Here are a few stirring tales to jump-start your creativity:
Blah Airlines
The pain point: Airlines suck, everyone knows this.
When Richard Branson, the CEO of Virgin, felt discontented with his experience with various airlines, he intended to show them how to do it the right way. He created the idea of a fake airline, known as Blah Airlines, complete with booking information, flying deals, social media pages, and even a rather tedious 6-hour video showing a Blah Airlines flight from Newark to San Francisco, in an attempt to bring to the fore how awful standard airlines are and how Blah stands a head and shoulder above them!
Upon establishing an Entrepreneurial mindset, you’ll be able to find a viable solution to problems that no one ever tried to solve. You’ll have to take things that are nagging at people and make it simple for them.
Warby Parker Glasses
The pain point: Eyeglasses are expensive and eye exams are a drone.
If you ever went to a run-of-the-mill optometrist to grab a pair of glasses, you might have experienced this all too exasperating scenario. You’re presented with a shiny lineup of glasses that leave you wondering if anyone ever buys. But, then you finally come across this one signature piece that catches your fancy. And when you flip the price tag, your eyes pop open and you clandestinely place it back to where it was nested.
It’s noisy out there. Make your voice heard.
Warby Parker just leveraged this pain of going through various glasses and being bombarded by exorbitant costs. The eye-pieces provided by Warby Parker seem to be luxurious and chic but the good part is that they are affordable for a common man.
In fact, they also donate a handsome amount of all proceeds to non-profits and eye-care facilities which makes the brand even more respectable.
Majora Carter
The pain point: She couldn’t resist the toxic trash near her neighborhood.
When Majora Carter, an occupant of the South Bronx, saw that her neighborhood was being damaged by the waste that people all over New York were creating, she took the pain to heart and actually did something for it. She founded Sustainable South Bronx.
The company changed the economics of New York City. Sustainable South Bronx offered green job training, put forward environment-friendly policies, and became a voice against toxic fumes and toxic chemicals that come from factories.
Amazon Lockers
The pain point: Not being home when an online delivery arrives
Amazon lets you buy anything that you can possibly conjure up, and delivers right at your doorstep, but here’s the catch: what if you are not home when your parcel arrives? Amazon understood the pain and created a way out for its customers with a bevy of conveniently located lockers.
When ordering from Amazon, you can opt to have your package sent to an Amazon Locker instead of your home address. Choose an Amazon locker in your vicinity to have your product delivered to and pick up your package at a time that’s convenient for you.
As an Entrepreneur, you need to discover a pain point which is irritating your customers, figure out a way to overcome that pain point and establish a business around it.
To Wrap It All Up
Pain is the major reason why businesses sell services or products. If you’re able to leverage the pain point and solve their problems, people will be happy to make you rich.
The pain can be personal, or even something common for the whole community. To create a sustainable business, figure out the pain from a community perspective and find ways of solving that problem in the simplest manner.
These pain points, be it personal or social issues, can be a great starting point for people who are willing to start a business but don’t know where to take the first step. Well, now you know. Go out there and create something worthy by addressing a real-life problem.
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