Want a Successful Business? Look at Needs Instead of Wants

Maybe social media isn’t your thing but most entrepreneurs are looking to build a company that becomes a worldwide sensation or at least enough success where keeping up with demand is the biggest problem to solve that day. Many business startups try and fail those reasons may be easy to avoid. How can you find success in a difficult economy?

Tap a Basic Human Need

Look at the social side of our lives. We all need companionship in some way and although some people say that they don’t like spending time with people, very few people live their lives in isolation. Sites like Twitter, Facebook, eharmony, Match.com, and pinterest are just a few of the startups that have capitalized on bringing social interaction to our computers and mobile devices.

Is it a Need or Want?

There are a lot of products or services that we want and many businesses capitalize on those areas but businesses that capitalize on a need, are even more powerful. Many of us have a strong religious faith and when asked, would definitely call that a need. Others have medical needs and making a device that helps in that area may be wildly popular. Some companies capitalize on people’s needs to feed an addiction and although there is controversy over the success of a tobacco company,  there’s no doubt that these companies have staying power.

As you consider your own business, think about the nature of your idea. Does it satisfy a need or a want? If it is a want, how can you make your business satisfy a need? Wants tend to fall further down our priority list during down economies or when our personal financial situation changes in some way.

Look for a New Way

Social media might be where many successful businesses are currently fulfilling peoples’ needs for interaction and communication but that market will soon be saturated and entrepreneurs will look for the next big platform to meet basic human needs. Start looking now. What needs are still not be addressed even with communications technology meeting so many needs?

A business that tries to replicate a current idea may find itself behind the curve once their doors are open. Look for a new way or capitalize on a traditional way that is in very little danger of going out of style. One way to meet our need for interaction has always been to go out to eat and as most of us know from the long waits at restaurants on weekends, we love to go out to eat with friends and family.