As thinkers, inventors and entrepreneurs we hear a lot of clichés. “Find a need and fill it.” “The customer is always right.” “Winners never quit; quitters never win.” And so on. But as entrepreneurs we recognize that common clichés are often not true at all – as with those just mentioned.
If you wait for your customers to tell you what they want, you’re going to be too late. You’ll go the way of universities that “teach” business practices that have already been used for 5 years by the brightest and best in real business.
What did customers in Henry Ford’s day want – not the Model T; they wanted faster horses. Giving customers what they want will force you to be playing catch-up with competitors. Steve Jobs doesn’t give customers what they want – he creates innovative and unheard of products and then wows people into wanting them.
If you provide the service your employer wants you will get a paycheck and two days off a week (feed the nice horsey). What would happen if you provided an idea or service that would transform your company?
Dan Miller's Blog 
June 24, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Great post! Its our duty in whatever business we are in to not just deliver what people want but to deliver what they need and deliver what is best.
June 24, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Very inspiring, thank you for the push towards action!
June 25, 2010 at 9:05 am
I agree with your point, but in a certain sense innovators such as Ford and Jobs do give consumers what they want. They just do it in a manner much different than what the consumer envisioned.
Ford gave his customers a faster “horse”. It just looked much different and ate gas instead of oats.
June 25, 2010 at 11:27 pm
I would rather take that idea and produce a business around it. I would be too worried that someone would drop the ball if I offered my ideas to the company. Even the little ideas to make our jobs easier scare people. For example, when travelling to Europe for business they gave us AMEX cards and told us they work everywhere. This was wrong and I asked if they would give us Visa cards. The people I was working with were unwilling to question anything and kept coming back with “company policy”. This is just one reason I want to teach people once they get out of the hole of life and build a base then they can start making decisions on their own terms.
Josh Bulloc
Kansas City, MO
March 14, 2023 at 4:04 pm
Sewoonplaza.Com
Just gimme a faster horse | Dan Miller’s Blog