BizDev Tribe
We are a tribe of people who love building businesses.
"What is a business?" "How does a business succeed?" We can live on these. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
So what, to us, is the essence of a business?
WTP Is King
A business is customers paying money. If they do not pay, it is not a business. It is something else.
Social purpose and WTP (willingness to pay) are acquainted, but not inseparable. Some things with a purpose do not sell. Some things without one sell anyway.
So what we watch is WTP. When do people open their wallets, and when do they close them? That is everything.
And then there is timing.
Demand Now
Money arrives now, or some day. Demand now, demand later.
A business lives on demand now and saves the leftovers for demand later. That order is fixed.
Startups tend to go after demand five years from now. Demand five years from now, however, does not pay this month’s salaries. A company that only looks at year five goes bankrupt before it gets there.
So how does one tell what the demand is now? Not by thinking. If thinking worked, nobody would struggle.
Customer Touch
The only way to find out is to ask. Say to someone, "We will give you this, so please give us money."
If they say no, there was no demand now. If yes, there was. There is no other way to know.
We call this a customer touch. Our motto: "Go and touch a customer."
Nothing could be simpler, and yet people rarely ask. They are afraid a no will hurt.
This is where philosophy comes in.
Rejection Is Joy
If being hurt is the worry, the fix is simple: enjoy rejection.
Not "try not to mind it." Not minding is just grinning and bearing it, and nobody can grin for long. If it is not fun, it does not last.
The BizDev Tribe has fun with it, because a rejection is new information.
"Aha. At this time, put this way, this person says no." Then what would get a yes? And what about someone else? The questions multiply, and curiosity does the rest.
"No" is a wonderful answer. It makes the heart leap.
Walk In Like We Belong
When rejection is joy, there is nowhere left to fear. We can walk head-on into the places ordinary people are too afraid to sell to.
Ninety-nine refusals, ninety-nine joys. One sale, more joy still. Joy either way, so why not go?
No tricks needed, either. "Interested?" "No." "I see. Thank you very much." And that is that.
Most people do not mind someone who comes at them head-on, without tricks. Take the no with good grace, and people remember: "I turned them down, but they were nice about it."
Rejection is opportunity.
No need to be timid.
Wherever we go, we walk in like we belong.
And vice versa.
Say No Like We Mean It
Make customer touches quickly and in volume, and the business speeds up. Then we get touched rather a lot ourselves.
If we fretted each time, "What if they dislike us for saying no?", we would slow down.
So we set our acceptance line in advance and publish it. Outside the line, we say no. No agonising, no hard feelings.
The unexpected and the borderline? We turn them down head-on, without tricks. Say no with good grace, and people remember: "They said no, but they were nice about it."
Rejection is opportunity.
No need to be timid.
Wherever we go, we say no like we mean it.