Listen to the market

I've seen a handful of businesses shut their doors because they didn't listen to the market. What does it mean to listen to the market? Well, it's my way of redefining market validation which is when you let the market tell you if your idea will work. A great example is if you want to open a restaurant so you look at other restaurants in your community to see what they do and don't do. Let's say that 45 out of the 50 restaurants in the area serve some kind of chicken product, wings, tenders, or nuggets. If you listen to the market you'll know that you should serve some kind of chicken product since there is an obvious demand for it. Now, you'll want to do something special to separate your brand from the rest. The issue that I've seen with some businesses is that in this situation they would say "We need to separate ourselves by not selling chicken." The truth is that they failed to listen to the market. They didn't realize that the people in their area want chicken.

If you're starting a business and are trying to decide what to sell and how to make yourself stand out, listen to the market,