“Keeping it short is a series of observations from the many people that I run into covering subjects of marketing, business, life, and anything else remotely interesting. Or, at least my mom thinks are interesting. She loves everything I do, right mom?”
I was at a coffee shop listening to Miles Davis’ Four, responding to emails before the next client meeting when gentleman struck up a conversation. He had overheard me with a client discussing their website that we recently constructed for them.
He asked about building a site for him, in which I, of course, went through my usual spiel of diagnosing the current business situation and how a web project could improve his business prospects.
As I asked him about his history, he mentioned that he started his business without any business cards and half the equipment he needed. He had been in business 17 years and said that he was glad that he started with deficient capital.
“If I had the money, I would probably blow it on a whole bunch of stuff that I thought I needed. I needed to hustle. I needed to get customers. Had I had the money I would have used the buying and building process as an excuse to delay going out and getting customers.”
I wholeheartedly agree with him. I had two clients before I had business cards, a website, LinkedIn account, or anything else. Imagine soliciting clients to handle their marketing without even the things in which you would use to market for them. Trumpian persuasion perhaps.
It’s not difficult to use the lack of resources as an excuse to not actively seek customers. I can understand how it can be nerve-wracking to put yourself out there to be refused. There can be tinge in one’s spine attempting to create value with a price and ask for a sale of something in you make and control with no one else to pass the buck to when things go left…..and they do go very left.
There honestly is no shortcut past learning and mastering this skill that is extremely necessary for completing any entrepreneurial venture or anything else that requires you to create something and offer it to the world. The good news is that this skill is not a template or blanket skill that can only be done singularly. Instead, there are as many ways of getting customers as there are personalities on this planet. So just pick one!
Economics and lack of resources forced this gentleman and I do focus on bringing value to the table and getting customers. However, it does not have to be this way for you. As long as you do not use lack or abundance of capital and resources, and other infrastructure deficiencies as you see them, prevent you from doing the most basic part of any business.
By the way, don’t take this in a vacuum and run with it, i.e. operating on patients without a surgically prepared, state-approved operating room. I mean, be logical with this information. 🙂
Leave a Comment