BECOME A SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM

I had the honor of being part of a panel that was being interviewed on TV about entrepreneurship a few weeks back. One of the guests said something that I thought was quite profound.  He said starting a business or the choice to start a business is about providing a solution. I get so many emails with people asking what business they can start or should start.  The mistake many of us are making when we are thinking about business is that we rush to find something that will make us money immediately.  I am not saying a business should not be financially lucrative.  It absolutely should.  However we must always remember to challenge ourselves to answer, “What solution am I providing?”  The answer to this is what stops you from replicating what everyone else is doing. If you are providing a solution it means that you have noticed a problem that needs to be resolved. When you are thinking of what business to start, evaluate what is lacking.  Most people have noticed something that consistently bothers them.  Is there something that seems to irritate you possibly more than it irritates other people?  I have come to realise that when something bothers you, it is possibly one of the indicators that you need to be part of the solution.

    Let’s look at the following example to understand the two approaches. Wairimu sells mitumba clothes.  She started the business 3 years ago to make money.  A lot of other people were in that business and seemed to be doing well so she figured she might as well give it a go. She decide to specialize in ladies wear because she saw that most of the people who were coming to buy clothes were women and she figured her stock would move quickly.  However she complains that her business has not had the kind of growth she expected.  There is a lot of competition and though she is able to pay her bills, she feels that there is nothing extra left.  Atieno is also in the mitumba business.  While she was working at a bank, she noticed from the conversations men would have, that finding children’s clothes was a problem.  Unlike women who are happy to go round many shops looking for items, most men if they are shopping would rather go to one place and buy everything. So majority of the men she talked to were irritated by the fact that they would have to go somewhere different to buy clothes for their children.  She therefore started selling men’s and children’s clothes.  So if she had a client buying a shirt he could also buy a top for his daughter at the same time. She started by supplying them in the office and her business grew big enough for her to open up her own stall in the same market as Wairimu.  For this reason many male customers come to her because she acts as a one-stop shop. Her business provides for her and she has been able to pursue other investments as well.   The difference between Wairimu and Atieno is simply the approach. Wairimu started the business for the money.  Atieno started it to first and foremost resolve a problem.  Lot’s of people sell children’s and men’s wear.  But by understanding what was still frustrating her target market, she became a solution and her clients naturally seek her out because of that. This solution became her unique selling proposition.  Because she is also out to provide a solution, she goes over and above what other people do and her commitment to this is what makes her jump out of bed in the morning. This is what many call passion.  Most people who have run businesses will openly tell you that money does not have the power to get you through the tough times and to get you to jump out of bed. If you go after the money you will give up because it often does not come quickly. Business can test your persistence or “staying power” in a way you have never experienced before. Money can also not get you to innovate.  As you seek to understand a problem more and more, you start finding ways to resolve that problem. Money does not create ideas, problems do. This way of thinking is not limited to people that are only pursuing business. Perhaps if you are looking for a job in a particular organisation, you need to be able to sell yourself on the solution you will provide them with.  You may be looking for a promotion and you need to evaluate what added advantage you will bring to a problem that the particular department has.   It is human nature to seek fulfillment in what we do.  We have sometimes cheated ourselves that that fulfillment is money.  It is not.  Money is the consequence of being committed to a cause but it is not really what will give you the satisfaction.  No one can tell you what business to start or what career to pursue. People may provide guidance as to what opportunities there may be but you have to identify in each case what solution you are providing. Maybe you have been surviving but this maybe the key that unlocks the steps you need to take, to catapult your business or career to the next level. If you have been chasing money and it has not worked out, try doing it different. Become a solution to a problem.