The Key To Grow Your Business Is Not Your Product
I wish if I could know this from the very beginning of schooling. I wish if I can transmit this knowledge to ALL those who are just stepping up their career. I wish if I could pass this to ALL the job seekers. Well, this key is not at all a secret, but this key is the entire essence of making money.
Taking you back to your early childhood:
- You must have read newspapers (hard-copies). You would have solved the puzzles, flipped through all interesting stories and would have followed your fav columns. But at that time, did you ever think, why only certain newspaper publications are floated in your society (although there are many other options)?
- You would have gone with your dad to a nearby salon and would have seen a pamphlet on the way advertising about a new restaurant coming up. But at that time, did you ever think, why was that pamphlet placed there?
- While seating on the rickshaws, you would have seen coaching advertisements placed on the back side of another rickshaw. But at that time, did you ever think, why was that placed there?
- If you would have gone to a furniture shop, you would have seen a chain of furniture shops adjacent to the particular one. Ever thought, why was the need of so many there itself?
Well, if you could see the connecting dot over here, you could find the one and only key that runs the business and is accountable for making the business a success or a failure.
The Key is “The Audience”.
Yes, every business runs only on this key.
If you can build this, you can enter the number game and can make millions. If you build something without this, you may encounter to shut down.
Let’s flip through your childhood encounters listed above:
1.1 Only a few publications could float because there was an audience for those publications. And the audience didn’t comprise of one or two, but it did have a society, a good number of people voting to read those.
2.1 That pamphlet was placed there because that restaurant was to open in that geography and possibly that lane could have a good number of footfalls that could achieve maximum attention.
3.1 The advertisement was there because that rickshaw used to commute to a crowded place where the Ad could fetch maximum eyeballs.
4.1 The chain of furniture shops were there because there was an audience of interest in that area, for the furniture goods.
Someone who could notice as early as possible and could possibly take that as a rope could build a good business.
It’s all about the audience.
It’s all about community.
It’s all about number game of people.
Let’s say you figure out a common problem being faced by a good number of people. And, let’s say you write a web application that is a DIY tool such as CANVA (designing tool), or Unsplash (free images, photographers’ community), keep it for free for a few months, build your audience, build your community and then make it premium.
Now, look at the number game.
You started with ZERO. (Building stage).
You gathered FOUR people to test your product (MVP stage).
You gathered another TEN people at soft-launch.
Slowly, you gear up the numbers because the pain-point is viable and you reach HUNDRED people using your application.
Another few days and you see you have an audience of THOUSAND.
Another few days, and you hit millions and now it’s justified that there is a viable need. People are god damn using it, playing with it, showcasing it, referring it. YOU HAVE ENTERED THE NUMBER GAME.
Even if you make it a $1 subscription, you can make a million.
But what’s the key behind this million? It’s not your product, it’s your audience using it. Keep them intact, keep engaged, keep educating them, keep making them feel more smart day by day.
Remember, if they leave you, you’re gone. If they stay with you, you win!
The One and Only Key To a Successful Business is “The Audience”.
You gotta hunt them and build something for them. Monetization will win one day for sure.
Go f****ing find your audience!
Go after them, chase them!
Build the relationship with them!
Remember never to lose them. They are your “key”.
PS: I’m in the process of building audiences for my clients through DigiMusk. And you know what’s more interesting? DigiMusk had started with E-Commerce, then roped in Automobile and now Fin-Tech. Spanning across different domains all together with unique storytelling. You don’t create stories, you just find the audience and unveil them something that they had not recognized before. Wish to know more? Reach out to me! <thedigimusk@gmail.com>
