Are you a tough sell?

    

January 13, 2009 by Martin  
Filed under Feature, Martin

Over the years I have noticed that there is one really big mistake that many foreigners make when opening a business up in the Philippines. It is a common mistake that gets made by even the most committed entrepreneurs. Furthermore, it is a simple mistake that usually doesn’t get detected from the outset because the would-be entrepreneur has gotten ahead of him or herself. What is this mistake? Well, to be blunt, many fail to see that even they themselves wouldn’t buy the product or service they plan on offering!

It seems so simple, but it is true. If you can’t convince yourself that the product or service is something you would pay money for, why do you think somebody else would do so? Customers are not a group of people that can simply be fooled or tricked into buying any shiny new product or service. If you yourself aren’t inclined to buy, then all the marketing and advertising in the world is not going to change the fact that your product or service simply won’t appeal to other people either.

You can’t build a sustainable business by always relying on a single sale to an endless supply of one-time-only customers. Most businesses won’t survive very long if they fail to win over repeat customers, so it is imperative that you really try to treat yourself as your first and most demanding customer. If you can produce a product or service that you can honestly convince yourself is worth what you are planning on charging for the item or service, then you have passed the first step. The second step should then be to ascertain if there are other people like you who would be willing to do the same. Only after you are satisfied that you and others are genuinely interested in the product or service should you start inching forward in planning your business. Unfortunately, not enough aspiring business people take the time to go through these two steps.  In failing to do so, the end result is almost always the same — failure and closure of the business.

Thinking like a hard-nosed customer is hard to do for most entrepreneurs who are simply brimming with confidence. Most new entrepreneurs are positively  ’sure’ that their idea for a business is both brilliant and destined to fill their bank account with thousands of Pesos. It is much easier to think about your wonderful product, add up all of your costs, and then add a healthy margin of profit to the total. Unfortunately, many forget to ask themselves along the way if the price is in line with what they themselves would be willing to pay.

What then are some of the steps a person can take to avoid falling victim to their own over-confidence in their product? There are no cut-and-dry answers, because a lot depends on the product or service you are planning on offering. Nevertheless, here are some examples of what you might do to determine how realistic you have been in thinking about your business and the real opportunities and challenges that you might be facing shortly.

If you are planning on opening a restaurant, you can start by testing in your own kitchen whether your food is really as tasty as you believe it to be. Once you think you have a winning recipe, have your friends over and see if they finish everything on their plate. Ask them what they think of the flavors, textures, etc. Ask them if there is anyone else in town that your food compares to. This will give you some idea of how your food stacks up against any competition. If you are told your spaghetti tastes a lot like Jollibee’s, but you planned on charging as much as a fancy restaurant, then you have probably learned some valuable information. Having received such feedback early on is a good thing as it allows you time to either re-think your target market and overall strategy, or come up with an improved product.

If you plan on opening a resort, it is much more difficult to do a ‘test-run’. However, if you plan on building a series of small bungalow accommodations, you really ought to try and build your resort in stages. Build just one or maybe two bungalows. Work out as many kinks as you can with this first ‘phase’. You can always build more later on during the off-season if your initial phase of building proves successful. You’ll be able to address any problems early on and make the corrections required to be successful.

Make sure you stay in the rooms yourself before inviting friends to come for a free weekend at the beach. Sleep on the beds to be sure they aren’t uncomfortable — if you wake up with a sore back, chances are your future guests will too! If you find you are covered in mosquito bites the next morning, you should probably look into making sure proper screens get installed over the windows. Take a shower — does the water run hot the whole time or does it cut out after 3 minutes? Get as many things corrected without outside feedback, that way when you do have friends over, they will point out the less obvious problems you may not have considered instead of pointing out the basic problems you should have ironed out ahead of their stay.

The same kind of approach should be taken with all the other kinds of small businesses you may have in mind. The lesson here is that it is very important to first think like a customer, and then carry out as many trial runs as you can before launching your business to the public. In doing so you will have at least made an effort to inject as much realism into your strategy and plans as possible. Furthermore, you will have had an opportunity to work out as many problems with your business as possible before you start dealing directly with the public. This is critical as in many businesses you have only one chance to make a favorable impression. The more satisfied customers you can attract at the beginning will benefit you later on as you try and build up your business through repeat customers and referrals.

Good luck, and don’t be afraid to be your own harshest critic!

About the Author:  Martin is a Canadian who has been living is Asia for the past 12 years. He previously worked in Taiwan, the Philippines, and Singapore prior to launching his small business in the Philippines in 2002. In addition to being involved in his own successful small business venture, Martin also delivers guest lectures at different colleges and universities in the Philippines on topics related to entrepreneurship and small business development. With the ‘Small Business File’, Martin hopes to provide some ideas on and insights into the potentials and pitfalls associated with being a non-Filipino entrepreneur in the Philippines.