How to Build an Online Business

Chapter 3Mindset #3: Look ahead

Business owners are busy people, but sometimes they get so bogged down in the running of their business, they fail to look up and see where the market is headed. By the time they do, the market has moved on and so have their customers. Successful entrepreneurs keep an eye on the current trends but also look ahead to see what’s coming. Tracking industry trends helps you stay relevant to your existing customers, but it also helps you identify opportunities that others are yet to see.

Quick tip

To find a point of difference you have to look ahead.

To find out what those trends are and what your market will need, you must look ahead — a long way ahead. In fact, you may have to look so far ahead that people may actually think your idea is … crazy.

Uncovering crazy ideas that are yet to be discovered needs depth of vision: the ability to look deep into the future and see what no-one else is seeing.

This is why an idea first perceived as crazy (most likely a fad that’s trending in a very small pocket of an outlier fringe group) seems crazy — because no-one has ever done it before.

And yet, when that idea does become reality, the entrepreneur is considered visionary. The question is: can you stick with your idea long enough for the market to realise they have a problem that needs solving? We all know people with revolutionary ideas who’ve started a business but were too early to market and/or couldn’t financially (or mentally) stay the distance.

Having ...