There is a recipe that ensures any business you start will be successful. The reason you don’t know about it yet is because the list of ingredients, to go into it, has not been exhausted.
Some will tell you that your background is the most prominent factor in determining your fate. Others will admit the same but feel like you undermine the importance of agency, in setting your own agenda. In other quarters, it is about being at the right place at the right time – like choosing the “right” industry.
On our part, we think it’s more about not running out of resources when times are tough. We also think it’s more about how great you are at capturing markets in the good times. It’s all in that balancing act. Check how we broke it down.
I wonder what your opinion is. What do you think is the rule for business success?
In the search for answers, we came across the lecturers and writings of one Peter Thiel. He co-founded PayPal and is also into political activism.
It’s not everyday we go out of our way to look for opinions from these quarters – except when it’s really relevant to you.
Oft, successful entrepreneurs cannot resist the urge to embellish facts. Imagine someone telling you they didn’t use to wear shoes back when shoes were pretty much a novelty, for the common folk.
But Peter Thiel keeps repeating his 3 rules for business success. He is onto something. In summary, he advises entrepreneurs to ensure fast adoption of what they are selling and proper retention of the customers that buy. Let’s unravel it in some 200 words, shall we?
Aim for monopoly in your niche
He says, “competition is for losers.” Yeah, it helps products and services become better but that should be a problem for economists not entrepreneurs. He suggests that we are attracted to competition. For instance, when you fear starting a business because no one else is doing it. You want to be reassured. Your job is to capture as much market as you can in your niche. He is essentially asking you to be growth oriented.
Be good at something
By good he means something that defines you. You have to do at least one thing uniquely well. Otherwise I’ll come to your premises and it will be a “seen one, you’ve seen them all” situation. Such a business cannot retain customers. Being different is how you achieve consistency, reliability and stand out.
Don’t be afraid to pioneer stuff.
Stay away from buzzwords
He says that “trends are overrated.” Remember quails? Remember a few months ago when everyone was a cryptocurrency expert? By the time you’re hearing about it, you’ve already missed the boat. This also goes for TV series. You can’t just become a fan and we’re at season 3. Thiel says anything that most people are talking about is a bad business idea. It informs him that the business has no point of differentiation. This will expose you to small yet diminishing revenues.
