"the kinds of things my passionate customer is asking for are the kinds of things I might expect to deal with if/when other big customers start using the product. "
Yes!! When I got started in 1992, I pursued solopreneurs. But I soon learned that it paid off to go after larger clients. So I shifted how I did things to appeal more to companies with 5 to 25 employees. These owners were willing to pay more--they EXPECTED to pay more. They had time and energy to focus on the work we were doing together, and they weren't always getting pulled away by emergencies. And they stayed with me longer--some were clients for 10 or 20 years. In some cases their son or daughter worked with me after they passed the baton. My current clients have 25 to 100 employees.
Thanks for the great article and the way you tell the story.
Mike Van Horn
"Grow Your Business without Driving Yourself Crazy"
This is a really interesting post - whilst looking for product market fit, and when to use market 'pull' to help shape the product. The easy win of a quick update to meet a customers un-met need is a bit of a 'no brainer' - but identifying that a request is flawed and goes 'against the grain' of the product is really good point. After all you could be pulled in many directions wasting lots of time, if you listened to every users wishes and whims. Which is what makes the path of no action a smart call in scenario 3.
"the kinds of things my passionate customer is asking for are the kinds of things I might expect to deal with if/when other big customers start using the product. "
Yes!! When I got started in 1992, I pursued solopreneurs. But I soon learned that it paid off to go after larger clients. So I shifted how I did things to appeal more to companies with 5 to 25 employees. These owners were willing to pay more--they EXPECTED to pay more. They had time and energy to focus on the work we were doing together, and they weren't always getting pulled away by emergencies. And they stayed with me longer--some were clients for 10 or 20 years. In some cases their son or daughter worked with me after they passed the baton. My current clients have 25 to 100 employees.
Thanks for the great article and the way you tell the story.
Mike Van Horn
"Grow Your Business without Driving Yourself Crazy"
This is a really interesting post - whilst looking for product market fit, and when to use market 'pull' to help shape the product. The easy win of a quick update to meet a customers un-met need is a bit of a 'no brainer' - but identifying that a request is flawed and goes 'against the grain' of the product is really good point. After all you could be pulled in many directions wasting lots of time, if you listened to every users wishes and whims. Which is what makes the path of no action a smart call in scenario 3.