ideal supplier?

if you've been in business for any amount of time, there's no doubt been much discussion regarding "who" your ideal client is. you may have went through a long ordeal to identify this information or it may have been very obvious.

however, i believe the tougher question is "what makes you, the ideal supplier?"

you may be in a very crowded market space or you may have found a highly cool untouched niche market...regardless, how often have you turned the spot light on yourself and that of your business?

you may be familiar with the term "value proposition", this is consultant mumbo jumbo for "where's the beef?" What are you offering that's so great that your customers will fall all over themselves to get? small business owners are notorious for getting into the head down and butt up rut...spending more time on running everything operationally on a daily basis meanwhile overlooking their strategy to maintain their competitive edge.

evidence of this practice shows up when a competitor stomps onto the scene with a product or service that beats yours but that could have easily been offered by your company had you been paying attention...

matching up with your ideal client is more than being innovative and cutting edge, it's also ensuring that you deliver on promises to create the most amazing experience possible...

continually ask yourself, "Why would customers choose us?" put yourself in the moccasins of your customer and walk many many miles in them...only then will you be able to anticipate the finer details of what they expect and how you can continue to be the "ideal supplier".

too often in the tech space, software programmers are notorious for being arrogant and out of touch, resulting in programming that reflects their perspective. they truly believe they know best and end up building software that misses the usability mark, leaving you and i to curse and suffer with their crappy software...

be humble, listen, experience life through their eyes and give your customers the respect they deserve...they'll reward you by continuing to come back and if you're lucky they'll bring their friends...