I’ve
never been much of a
fisherman. Sitting in a
small boat for hours
watching a red and white
bobber float atop the water
holds about as much interest
for me as watching paint
dry. My old man, on the
other hand, would have
rather fished than breathe.
In fact, his favorite Bible
quote was: “Give a man a
fish and you feed him for a
day; teach a man to fish and
he’ll sit in the boat and
drink beer with you for
life.” Needless to say, my
old man wasn’t much of a
Bible scholar, but he was
one heck of a fisherman.
The few times that I went
fishing with him as a young
boy (before I was old enough
to know better) he’d bait my
hook with a worm he’d dug up
from our garden and drop it
in the water and tell me to
watch the bobber until a
fish pulled it under the
surface. The moment I saw
the bobber go under I was to
jerk the line and reel the
fish in. I can remember
staring at that bobber until
my eyes crossed and never,
not once, did it ever go
under the surface. I am
probably the only male child
ever born in the great state
of Alabama who never caught
a single fish. It is but one
of the disappointments my
ancestors have endured on my
account, I assure you.
My old man’s bobber, on the
other hand, would be jerked
under the water within
minutes of being tossed in.
He’d be catching fish left
and right and I’d be sitting
there like some angler
savant just staring at my
bobber and wishing I was old
enough to cuss out loud.
I discovered a few years
later that the reason he
caught all the fish was that
he baited his hook with live
worms while hanging the dead
ones on mine. His worm would
wiggle seductively to
attract every fish within a
two mile radius while mine
couldn’t even get the
attention of a starving
turtle if it had swam
directly into my hook.
I’m sure I suffered some
permanent psychological
damage as a result of his
actions, but we all have our
scars to bear. Mine just
happens to be in the shape
of a hook with a dead worm
hanging from it. The memory
has been filed away deep in
my psyche in a drawer
labeled, “Gee, thanks dad.”
It’s a drawer I’m sure we
all have, mine is probably
just a little fuller than
most.
While he could have used a
few lessons on child
rearing, the old man was an
expert in one thing that we
entrepreneurs often botch or
ignore and that is market
research. He didn’t call it
that, of course. He said,
“Son, never fish in a dry
hole.” Let me translate that
tidbit of Forrest Gump
advice: don’t try to sell a
product in a market where
there are no buyers. If
there are no buyers, there
is no market. You can have
the greatest product in the
world, but if there is no
market for your product you
might as well pack it up and
go dig worms.
Over the years he had
surveyed every inch of that
lake and as a result knew
his market well. Through
much research he knew
exactly where the best
customers, i.e. the hungry
fish, were in the lake. And
that’s where he anchored his
boat; smack dab in the
middle of his own starving
niche market.
Having found his hungry
market he tested products to
sell into it. He tried
crickets, dough balls,
lures, worms, and who knows
what else, to determine the
kind of bait the fish liked
best. In the internet
marketing business we call
it split testing: offering
customers variations of a
theme to see which one
brings the greatest
response. In his case worms
were the product that his
market liked best.
He also knew his customers
well. He knew that if they
liked the product they’d be
quick to bite. He knew
without flinching exactly
how to react when they
nibbled the bait. He didn’t
jerk the line because he
knew that might let his
customer get away. He tugged
it gently until he had his
fish hooked, then he’d reel
them in and close the deal.
And being the consummate
fisherman cum entrepreneur
he always took his best
customers to dinner,
literally. What the old man
knew was that in fishing, as
in business, you succeed by
giving customers (be they
human or be they fish) what
THEY are hungry for, what
THEY want or need; not by
trying to catch them with
the bait or sell them
products YOU think they
should have.
Sometimes we entrepreneurs
think we’re smarter than our
customers (OK, sometimes we
are). We think that they
will buy whatever we put in
front of them if we just do
a really good job of selling
it. I’ve actually heard some
arrogant entrepreneurs say
just that, “They’ll buy what
I have to sell or they can
take their business
elsewhere.” That line of
thinking guarantees that you
will spend most of your time
watching bobbers that never
get pulled under.
It’s when we take our
customer’s wants and needs
for granted that we fail as
entrepreneurs and our lines
sit in the water
undisturbed. The problem
often comes when
entrepreneurs put the cart
before the horse. They will
create a product or service
for which there is no
market. They fail to survey
the pond for hungry fish.
Instead they grab the bait
they think will work and off
they go. Usually they come
back empty handed. It
happens to entrepreneurs and
fishermen all the time.
What can you do to help
ensure that the pond you’re
considering is full of
hungry fish? That’s a topic
we’ll discuss next time.
Keep watching that bobber
now, you hear.
Here’s to your success!
Tim Knox
Tim Knox
Entrepreneur, Author,
Speaker Tim Knox is a
nationally-known small
business expert who writes
and speaks frequently on the
topic. For more information
or to contact Tim please
visit one of his sites
below.
www.dropshipwholesale.net
www.smallbusinessqa.com
www.timknox.com
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