The Source Of A Business
I am sure that you have heard of the phrase “what came first the chicken or the egg?” It seems that some people think that way when it comes to what came first, the product or the business? A product is not a business but a business must have a product or service to exist. Plus a product needs a business to continue its existence or one will never see the product in the market place. The source of a product begins with a very specific solution to someone’s needs. The product itself needs to meet the customer’s expectation or it will not be purchased. Imagine, would you ever buy a product that has no application for yours or someone you know life? I don’t think so. A product is worthless unless it can meet the needs of a customer. So then what is the source of a business? To understand the source you must understand the reason for any business. It is simple. A business is to serve their customers profitably. The main way a business serves is with products and services that meet the needs of their customers. A good way to think about the relationship is that a business enables products and services for its customers profitably. Enablement means to activity build, market and deliver a product for its customers. So then a product does come before a business. Actually a product gives definition and direction for a business in the early stages of operation but it is the source of the business that will maintain viability. Let’s connect the dots. The start of any business is a single idea of some better way or solution – which is a product. Then this idea gives definition to the operation that enables a product to be delivered to the market. If successful, the business will have a sustainable operation to serve its customers. This aspect is most important because it is the source (serving customers profitably) that defines a successful business operation not the product. The idea to keep in mind is that there are many ideas and great products that you will never see in the marketplace. Why, because a business could not “enable” the new product to reach a potential customer profitably. To improve the business you must understand the source of any business - serving customers profitably. If you don’t fully understand the source, you will be sent down a wrong path for your business improvement priorities, goals or projects. Keep focused on serving customers profitably. You will then gain reality based business improvement. Also, the chicken did come first.
