As I progress in the realm of entrepreneurship, I realize the dangers of setting high standards (at least at first). This is a type of perfectionist technique which may inhibit you from starting or progressing. If you listen to people around you talk about “what they really want to do” for a career or their “dream business” and you ask them why they do not do it, they usually have a list of excuses. Among those excuses will be something about waiting to learn more or make a better product. It typically has to do with them wanting everything to be “right” before they can start. This is exactly why they never start because they think things are going to align and be perfect if they are ever going to start and that is sadly not the reality.
If you can make it past the first stage and get into business, then realize what your target market is. Does your target market want the best product or service on the market? If so, then through trial and error, you can make the best product or service. If not, you can focus on continually bettering your product, service, or systems to serve your customer, while still reaching your target market. This is going to be key; know your customer and what they want, then provide the product or service which aligns with them. Here is a very important part. Your product and service can be ever changing to support your customers needs. I am not saying make or do something completely different but you could offer different levels of product/service, different product options, etc. As you progress in business, you are going to learn what your customers want and you can adapt your business to your customers. I will explain how this relates in my world.
At first, with real estate home improvement, I wanted to fix up the houses to be fully remodeled or very close to it. I wanted to put in the extra work to get top dollar. This I believe can be a very good technique if the properties need that type of updating. However, I started doing it on properties which did not need that extensive amount of work. My job coaches were the ones who reeled me in and explained to me the dangers in doing this.
We buy properties with some level of distress, we fix them up, and sell them. Our target range is properties between $150k – $200k. So, we purchased a couple properties that do not need much to be relisted. We could have cleaned them up, did new floors and maybe new paint. We then could list it and it would be a move in ready property. Sure, the kitchen and bathroom are outdated but they are still functioning. So, people can update them to their liking down the road. This was an eye opener and such a good point my coaches made to me. I do not need to focus on making everything top notch. I need to focus on selling a move in ready property in my target price range because those products are in high demand right now.
The lesson I took away was, do not stick excess money and time into a project which does not need it. These products are in high demand, so clean them, do little touchups to make them move in ready and pass them along to customers who are looking for a property. This is great for me to learn because I need to deliver a product to my target customer, which will allow me to help more people. If I keep going with full updates, my target market will increase to $200k – $250k which is not the current market I was trying to target.
Focus on your target market, learn from your customers and individuals around you who have done it before and serve. Try not to be a perfectionist and try to over perform or set too high of standards. This can move you out of your target market or inhibit you starting or progressing. At the end of the day, just try starting with something, don’t be afraid to learn and change course as you go.
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-Shaun Tutor
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