So, now what are we going to do?

24 Oct So, now what are we going to do?

No entrepreneur can sit back and think; now my product or company is complete. I can just watch the money roll in as my job is done. Industries, markets, products and people are in a constant state of evolution.   Steven Schussler author of the book It’s a Jungle in there states “Is there something here I could change (by providing a service or product) that would bring me financial gain?” From a very young age he became keenly aware of his environment. When he was working as a cabana boy he learned to provide exceptional service to some card players that tipped very well.  Before long he was making $700 per week providing for their every need from cold drinks, snacks, new packs of cards and an assortment of errand running. He even managed to get one of the player’s flat tire repaired. Before long the club learned of his profit center and quickly took over his business. He lost his weekly income but he gained a most valuable business lesson. What people, anticipate their needs and give it to them. They will gladly pay you to give them what they want even if they do not know they want it yet.

One of this century’s most iconic inventors, Steve Jobs, is famous for saying ““I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.” He knew that the magic was in what was next. An entire Apple fan base would camp out hours and sometimes days in front of Apple stores just so that they could be one of the first to purchase his latest iPhone or iPad device. They may not have even known what the new product was able to do or what new features were added. All they knew is that it was new, that Steve liked it and they by default knew they would love it too. When Steve Jobs made official announcements the world stopped. The events were live streamed, live tweeted and attended by many of the top IT professionals in the world. His ability to provide the next new “it” consumer electronic device is what turned Apple from a garage based company into the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, with an estimated market capitalization of $446 billion by January 2014.

So as you move forward in your business keep one eye on the horizon and try to figure out what is the next product or service you should provide. To inspire you further here are a few quotes.

Steve Jobs

““Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.”

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… The ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Robert Moog

“The point is that I don’t design stuff for myself. I’m a toolmaker. I design things that other people want to use”

George Carlin

“The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, ‘You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.”

Thomas Edison

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”

Elbert Hubbard

“The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.”