It can’t just be about you.
This is something I learnt and continue to experience further dimensions of.
We are social beings and regardless of our selfish human natures, we gain more purpose and fulfillment when we go against that self-centered nature, radiating our purpose and reach outwards to our families, friends, communities, nations, continents and the world at large.
For anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit, whether you have a non-profit or for-profit venture, you will do yourself well to remember that it can’t just be about you.
Yes, your business will stand to benefit you too but what impact does your venture have on your potential or current customer? How is your service or product enriching their lives? How can you serve them better and meet their real needs?
Further to this, ask yourself how your venture impacts everyone else who interacts with it, such as your employees/workers and all the other indirect stakeholders within your community.
“Others will view any venture, which has impact beyond the confines of its own walls, positively because of its value.”
A venture that satisfies people’s needs becomes naturally sustainable because people have a stake in the business. They become invested in the venture’s success and wish it well. Most importantly, they put their money where their mouths are. Naturally, there will be financial evidence to prove that the venture satisfies their needs. Think about mobile money, it serves millions of people across East Africa and Africa at large. If mobile money services across East Africa broke down, there would be an instant impact felt by the everyday individual and a call by the masses to rectify the problem.
Your business may not be the mobile money kind that is meant for everybody. Perhaps it’s a niche business for a specific market. That’s okay. Still, it must serve a need. When we speak of need, sometimes people assume basic needs such as water, electricity and basic food. However, when I speak of a need, I am including perceived needs too. Luxury goods fall within the perceived needs bracket whereby those products are satisfying a need for a certain class of people. Evaluate your own venture therefore and figure out what need you are satisfying and how uniquely you are serving that need.
On the flip side though, it’s not guaranteed that everyone will view your venture positively. Negative competition and naysayers always exist.
However, your increased and obvious value to others will be a safety net, even from competition and naysayers.
It is always about the other person – the customer. Seek to serve your clients better and be the best they know at that service.
Keep succeeding, growing and sharing.
Sincerely, Keziah.
NOTE: Most of the images used on this blog currently, are downloaded from the internet through random searches. Where an image source is not acknowledged, this blog DOES NOT claim ownership of it and we therefore acknowledge alternative ownership. Thank you.
Keziah Elaine Ayikoru 