The Ultimate Business Constraint

0
25

Share on LinkedIn

Running a business is tough

I used to run my own business. It was hard work.

I have the utmost respect for anybody who does it.

The constraint on my business wasn’t the lack of good ideas or cash — I have plenty of ideas and I could always find somebody to lend me money.  The constraint on my business was a lack of paying customers.

  • You can’t dream up a new customer
  • You can’t go to a bank and borrow a customer

Finding new customers is tough.  Once you have a customer or two it is best to keep them.

Being a customer is tough

Now put yourself in the customer’s shoes. It is easy to do.

As a customer it is hard to find a good supplier — has anybody ever asked you to recommend a good builder, or plumber, or baby sitter?  As customers we want somebody we can trust. We want a supplier who is going to do what they say they are going to do.

Once we have a supplier we can trust we rarely look for anybody else.

The key word is trust

If you want your customers to stay then you have to make sure they trust you.

If you give your customers reason to trust you then they will stay.

The greatest constraint on your business is a lack of customers. And the way to overcome it is trust.

Republished with author's permission from original post.

James Lawther
James Lawther is a middle-aged middle manager. To reach this highly elevated position he has worked for many organisations, from supermarkets to tax collectors and has had multiple roles from running a night shift to doing operational research. He gets upset by operations that don't work and mildly apoplectic about poor customer service.

ADD YOUR COMMENT

Please use comments to add value to the discussion. Maximum one link to an educational blog post or article. We will NOT PUBLISH brief comments like "good post," comments that mainly promote links, or comments with links to companies, products, or services.

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here