Thomas Edison’s Key To Creating a Successful Business

I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others…
I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent.”
Thomas Edison

He’s one of the most prolific inventors the world has ever seen.

He gave us the light bulb, phonograph, kinetoscope (motion picture projector), stock ticker, and fluoroscope – just to name a few of his 1000+ inventions.

But the quote above is perhaps the greatest display of Edison’s true genius.

Many entrepreneurs get this backward. We think about what we like, what we’re good at, and what kind of product, service, company we want to invent. It’s only after spending a lot of sweat and equity in developing the concept that we discover the market isn’t there to support it.

Start with the prospect.

How can you make their lives better?
How can you help them achieve their goals?
How can you help them avoid a pain?
How can you serve a market in a way that no one else is serving it?

Want to significantly improve the odds of your success? Start with the prospect and keep them at the forefront of your mind as you develop, refine and market your business idea.

It takes research.
It takes hard work.
It takes thinking about others first (which is contrary to our nature).

But if you want to launch a winning business, take the advice of one of the greatest minds of our time – find out what the world needs, then give it to them!

The One Thing You Must Understand About Doing Business Online

There’s a lot of talk about the internet and the “new” way of doing business or the changing face of business. What easily gets lost in all the excitement of building and running an online business is that the fundamentals of building and running a successful business remain the same.

Before starting an online business or taking your business online, you must understand:

There’s nothing new online, just a new and (usually) more efficient way of doing it.

So remember:

• Blogs are just a way to start a conversation with prospects and customers
• Social networking sites are just a way to meet people and expand your network of contacts (aka “sphere of influence”)
• Wikis are just a way of collaborating with customers
• Websites are just a way of presenting your sales message, company information, products, etc. to prospects and customers
• Google AdWords is just a form of direct mail (on steroids)
• Podcasts, emails, and web feeds are just a way of letting customers subscribe to your message (ie. giving you permission to share information with them)

All these tools provide a more efficient means to accomplish your goals. However, to build a successful online business:

You still have to provide a product or service that people want.
You still have to demonstrate the value of that product or service.
You still have focus on your customers’ needs, not yours.
You still have to provide excellent customer service.
You still have to work hard.
You still have to deliver the goods.
You still have to exceed expectations.
You still have to reach the right audience with the right message at the right time.
You still have to build a loyal following.
You still have to put in the time.

Henry Ford’s assembly line made building cars faster, easier and cheaper than every before. However, if his process had produced a pile of crap and he had given no thought to what his customers wanted, Ford would not have succeeded.

The internet makes it faster, easier, and cheaper to do business, and with a far greater reach, than ever before. But if you get caught up in the technology and forget about the underlying fundamentals, the internet also makes it faster and easier, though not necessarily cheaper, to go out of business than ever before.