Only if the segment is not saturated. Good luck finding a niche.
WhizzlePizzle
joined 10 months ago
I'd like to pick my ass with my fingers, and then smell my fingers, but my arms are too short. I created some arm lengthening products specially designed to pick my ass and allow me to smell them - the tips of the arm products, at the false fingers, were some materials to maximize the collection of the stinky.
They worked perfectly around the problem I had.
I went to work, I massed produced them and came up with the original name of "Butt Picker^TM"
I poured in millions of dollars into this groundbreaking product. People say business is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration, well I poured in perspiration. I spend millions on getting the best operations person, the best marketing person, the best salespeople, the best CFO. I kept the business afloat for 3 years, because I believe in the maxim 99% perspiration.
Unfortunately, we never sold one Butt Picker^TM
I solved the problem I was having and got a solution, but alas and alack, nobody else picks their ass and then smells their fingers afterwards, I guess. Just me.
Sorry bud, but that sounds like a sales pitch again
Yes. Getting new business is a sales pitch.
Again, a sale pitch/tactics.
For sure.
Why? Because it shows I care for them as a person. I send out birthday cards, anniversary cards, congratulations cards if I have that information. It shows I care, and I actually do.
No you don't and you are lying to yourself. You do that because there is self gain in the hope it will lead to new business. I laugh when people kid themselves into believing "they care" but the elephant in the room is to ask if you would build them a site for lower margin if asked? Would you? Because if you "truly cared" and did what you did because you "cared" then profit wouldn't be your main objective.
You can't read my mind. Of course I do it for gain. The person who awards me their business knows this. They are not stupid. They are not going to get fooled. My sister and her husband just got a thousand dollar gift card from their real estate agent because they had him sell our relative's home. My sister and brother-in-law and I, and everyone else in our family know that he did this to get more business for himself. My sis and brother-in-law are not dumb. But here is the thing: they say this is super smart way for him to get more business. They love it. He also goes above and beyond to help them with issues, far beyond other realtors. But they have a good relationship with him.
What you are saying is so idiotic. It's like going into a diner every morning and the whole staff knows you, and you all laugh and have fun every morning, and say that the waitress and staff are reptiles and do not like you at all and only doing it for the money and pretending to like you. That is so wrong as to be insane. People can have friendships, real friendships, with their clients, while sure, they still want to get paid and get a tip.
Because if you "truly cared" and did what you did because you "cared" then profit wouldn't be your main objective.
No. That's completely backwards. Care goes two ways. A client knows that I have to pay rent and food, etc. They have to pay for their services from others to make their business go.
The only reason they would want me to lower the price like that is if they were exceptionally bad at running a business and can't afford to buy things. A successful businessperson who makes a lot of money can afford it.
Those businessmen and women also know that relationships are very important. I've talked to business owners who have used the same vendor for 3 generations. They don't even look at other companies, because the relationship is more important than pure price. I'm not saying that they would pay $25,000 for something that costs $5. But they would pay thousands of dollars per year more, because of their relationship.
You are making it all about money, as if nothing else matters.
But maybe you work in ecommerce where everything is transactional, and you have no contact with the end customer. Yes, then delivering for the lowest price might be ok. But people pay more for all kinds of reasons. Brand being one of them.
And in service businesses, the relationship is everything. When I say I care and want the cuistomer to do well, I'm NOT saying that I want them to adopt me or give me their daughter's hand in marriage. That said, I do care about people I work with. Believe what you will.
It really sounds like you are a bitter person, who does not have friends so everything comes down to transactions. Where people are just objects. There are people like that. They are called sociopaths.
I'm not saying to try to sell a website for $20 million.
However, I've actually sold websites for $3K+. This is not theory.
If you want to create websites like they do in Pakistan and want to charge $50, because that's what Pakistanis can do, hey, knock yourself out. You can make up for the low price by selling in volume.
quite easily achieve by even hiring help from websites like Fiverr.
Most business owners know fuckall about fiverr and websites.
You NEVER sell on price. If a person is that price conscious, they are not a viable prospect and you move on.
There are oodles of companies paying that much.
This is an example of a $350 Shopify theme.
That website comes up a LOT LOT LOT slower than /u/Citrous_Oyster's website.
what makes your business attractive compared to all the options out there?
Because there are other intangibles that people want that have nothing to do with price at all.
Most people don't purchase a business product or service until there are at least 7 communications with them. That's standard. It takes a lot of work to earn someone's trust. The way /u/Citrous_Oyster builds trust is his complete and total domination of the thing he excels at, which is static websites that come up in less than a second. His website that has a lot of valuable content. And trust is just one part of intangibles that businesses want. Maybe they just want someone who lives in the same city because they want to make sure they can directly talk to the website designer. Maybe that's not important to you, but you are not them.
I talk to prospects a lot. If we have a series of long conversations, and he or she is serious, at some point in the conversation, I'll send them a thank you card with a Starbucks card worth $10, and the note states that whether they use my services or not, I appreciate all their time they've spent. I can't begin to tell you how many sales that has closed. Why? Because it shows I care for them as a person. I send out birthday cards, anniversary cards, congratulations cards if I have that information. It shows I care, and I actually do. Sure, I want their business, but if I don't get it, that's fine, not getting business is part of the sales funnel. Not everyone is going to buy from you. But people VALUE when I send out personal touches, they WANT to be liked, and to be valued as people. Who doesn't?
Never compete on price, never.
Yeah, but that's not what you wrote.
And high barriers to entry means exactly that - high barriers to entry. I suppose I could start a nuclear power plant for $10 billion. High barriers to entry - I'll have it made when I bring that power plant on like in 20 years.
Barriers to entry include:
Economies of Scale
Capital Requirements
Brand Loyalty and Reputation
Patents and Intellectual Property
Regulatory Barriers
Access to Distribution Channels
Switching Costs
Network Effects
Experience and Expertise
Government Barriers and Licensing
Access to Resources
Cost Advantages
Predatory Pricing
Brand Advertising and Marketing
Cultural and Social Barriers
Supply Chain Control
Government Subsidies or Support
Exclusive Contracts
Customer Loyalty Programs
Barriers to Exit
Time and Learning Curve
Environmental and Sustainability Standards
Crisis Resilience
etc
.
Which of those barriers should I select when starting a new company and have no money, no brand to give loyalty to, no patents, no regulatory barriers, etc.
I got fuck-all of any of those things above.
I'm curious as to your response.