Making Millions One Problem at a Time

A young business owner was lamenting the problems she was having with customers; they never seemed satisfied, always trying to squeeze more out of her and her employees. It was making it hard to get jobs completed and off the books, was hurting her profitability and she was frustrated - on the verge of giving up. Why were there so many problems? Why were her customers so demanding?

We talked about scope creep and clearly defining the job up front. We talked about operational definitions, on getting agreement in advance about what constitutes good work. There was obviously a lot of room for improvement in these areas, but her frustration remained. We needed to go deeper.

In answer to the question "What is an entrepreneur?", she felt it was someone who created a service and sold it to make money. She had done a thorough job of this, and was now just trying to make money. The customers' additional problems and demands were a nuisance, a complication, and were getting in the way of reaching her goals.

We suggested a new-to-her viewpoint that an entrepreneur is someone who solves others' problems for a profit. All business, whether health care or entertainment or logistics, is about solving other peoples' problems for a profit. The profit may take different forms, but the task is always to solve others' problems.

A light went on. All of these additional problems were opportunities for her to help more people, more thoroughly, and to make even more money. Rather than just pushing her service and considering everything else a nuisance, she started to see all of these problems as opportunities.

The business has since grown, the range of services has increased, and profits have increased. But, more importantly for the owner, the thrill is back in the business, and she's on track to make her millions, solving one problem at a time.