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Small Business Clinic

Talking to customers before you spend a dollar

This is the milestone people skip, and skipping it is the most expensive mistake in this class.

It goes like this: someone has an idea, spends four hundred dollars on equipment and a logo, prints flyers, and then finds out that the people around them do not want it, or will not pay that much, or already have someone. The money is gone and so is the confidence.

Five conversations would have told them. Five conversations cost nothing.

Who to talk to

Five people who are not your family. Family lies to you kindly. You need people who would actually be the customer: neighbours, people at church who are not close friends, someone at the laundromat, the person whose lawn you pass every day.

If you cannot find five people who might want this, that is itself the answer, and it is better to learn it now.

What to say

Keep it short and do not sell. You are not asking them to buy today. You are asking what is true.

"I am thinking about starting something and I want an honest opinion, not a nice one. I would do [the specific thing]. Is that something you would ever pay for?"

Then be quiet and let them answer.

The four questions

  1. Have you ever paid someone for this? If yes — what did you pay, and who? You just learned your competition and your price.
  2. What did you not like about how it went? This is where your "why you" comes from.
  3. What would make you call someone instead of doing it yourself? This tells you what to put on the flyer.
  4. If I did this for $___, would you say yes? Say a real number and watch their face.

Listen for the difference between polite and real

"That sounds great, good luck" is a no. People are kind and they do not want to discourage you.

A real yes sounds like: "How much?" "When could you come?" "Can you do my mother's too?" A real yes asks a question back.

Write down what they actually said, in their words, not your summary of it. You will use those words on your flyer later, and you will need them when you set your price.

What if they all say no

Then you saved four hundred dollars and you found out in a week. Ask the last question: "What would you pay someone to do?" Very often the business is sitting right there in their answer, one step away from what you first thought of.

In the portal

Tell the coach who you talked to and what they said — the actual words. It will not mark this milestone from a summary, and it should not. Evidence is the point.

To reach this milestone