Someone we recently spoke to told us that our idea for I Need a Michee is great and said she wishes she had thought about it first.
Here’s the thing.
We’re not the very first people who thought of offering VA services. We’re most definitely not among the very first ones who offered this service.
Until today, many people still believe that to succeed in business, you have to come up with an idea nobody has thought of before. This is not necessarily true. Long before Starbucks came along, people were drinking coffee. Apple was not the first to come up with smart phones.
So what does it take to succeed in business?
Many would say you have to be different from your competition.
Be two steps ahead. Be better. This is what’s going to put you at a vantage point. But the thing about your competition is they can always pick up their pace, catch up and eventually outrun you. They can also be better. And you’ll end up going in circles, getting ahead and then trying to catch up. And on and on it goes.
So we’re back to the question. What does it take to succeed in business?
It all boils down to caring.
Caring to really get to know a subset or group of people - what do they like, what they don’t like, what delights them, what are their pains, what matters to them. Caring to see a problem or need of a specific group of people and looking at it in a whole new light and then putting time, focus, and energy to be the one to solve this problem for them no matter what.
If you want to win in business, you only have to care.
