Are you starting a business? Please tell me its not another tech startup…with a webapp…oh and you want a mobile app too…awesome
It’s a wearable…ok….for dogs…keep going….and it notifies the owner when the dog may have fleas…..
STOP. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP.
That’s what I want to say but I typically just nod my head in agreement, just begging for a thief to run into the coffee shop and spray me with bullets (FYI — I don’t condone gun violence and do not support the NRA)
We end up with businesses like this or this that are even being funded and I am always like WTF — who is putting money into these!
Thought Experiment
Here’s how these people could have saved themselves A LOT of time — lets say I wanted to start a web laundry delivery service (I've heard this a few times). Assuming I’m my own ideal customer — young, tech savvy, I do dry cleaning runs every so often.
Here are my top 5 priorities:
a. Make more money
b. More time to pursue personal interests
c. Get a six-pack (abs then beer after)
d. Help family and friends
e. Help others
I would call these my first class problems. Judge me for wanting a six-pack before helping family but its like those oxygen masks on the plane — gotta be your best self before you help others.
First class problems are those massive pain points in peoples lives that keep them up at night nervously sweating about what they are going to do – we all have them
Anyway, you know where getting faster laundry delivered is on my list. Let me put it in perspective with those items around it:
- Man-scaping
- Watching re-runs of Friends
- Faster laundry delivery
I Only Have so Much Money
Like everyone in the world, I only have so much disposable income – my obligations (housing, food, etc.) take up a sizeable portion of what I bring in and you better believe the rest is going to the top three problems I am trying to deal with or to my personal entertainment.
If you have something down at 10 or 20 on my priority list, there is not much hope I will buy and furthermore, even if I do, I am willing to spend MUCH less on things that far down on my list.
So Much Wasted Talent
My biggest gripe is that people tend to be searching for how to make a quick buck. These companies are being founded by talented and smart people who could be focusing their time on the biggest social issues we as a society face today. Things like:
The Obesity Epidemic — There are 500 million obese people in the world! It costs the US $240 billion annually to deal with it.
Distracted and Overworked Society —Social media distractions alone cost the US economy $650 billion annually. People are distracted every 10.5 minutes and it takes them 23 minutes just to pickup where they left off!
No one says people should be working all the time but there's a point where it becomes too much.
These social issues are not solved with web apps. They involve deep human psychology, motivational problems and habituation issues that can only be solved by hand to hand combat from person to person spreading the message.
Sitting down with your obese uncle, educating him on his food choices, how they affect him, motivating him daily to meet his targets. Basically give your attention and time.
These issues are so huge and people struggle with them so much that they will pay you an ARM AND A LEG to give them solutions. The fitness industry, for instance, is massive and we are just scratching the surface. Solving these first class problems, lets you charge more giving you more free time to reflect, think and make society better.
The Biggest Opportunity for our Generation
Let me repeat this title so its clear — this is the single biggest opportunity our generation of unemployed youth have. We are a massively under-employed generation, we have social issues that are costing society billions that cannot be solved at scale (by the internet), and we have the knowledge freely available to become experts and solve them.
And its not just being involved as a fitness coach or a productivity consultant…there are related opportunities. Help coaches understand how to use the internet to find customers, teach them how to create and share their content and basically just giving them the tools to best do their job.
Make Money, Help People
According to Chris Drucker, over 90% of all internet business startups fail within the first 120 days. There are many reasons why this is but a huge step to building a successful business of any kind is solving first class problems as people will pay to have them solved FROM THE BEGINNING because they are burning pains.
We need less start-ups. We need more experts and lifestyle businesses. Period. If you want to make money – which is just what a lot of startup founders want to do – then why not start small, help people – feel good and make money along the way.
Inspired? Lets help you become an expert and start a lifestyle business teaching others what you've learnt.
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