My Book Reviews : All In Startup by Diana Kander
I was in the beginning stages of starting The Hatchery, the book All In Startup stopped me in my tracks. It was recommended to me by a lender and I am grateful every day that he shared it! He handed me his copy and explained that it helps business owners find the true problem they’re trying to solve for their customers.
“First, you have to prove that the problem exists, that it’s a serious problem that amounts to a migraine. Then we can worry about whether customers will actually buy your product as a solution.”
You all, I read this book in 2 days. I could not put it down! It’s not like your typical how-to business book. It keeps you engaged because it’s a non-fiction story with some excellent entrepreneurial advice all rolled into one.
My biggest take-aways? Find the migraine problem that your business is actually solving, not what you think it is. Those are two different things. Then how to actually do this. I am an actionable person, so this was super helpful.
When starting a business we tend to think we have the best idea ever. We feel that we have found the perfect solution to a huge problem. Or we feel we can create a solution that is better than the guy next door. Well, I’m here to burst your bubble and say that’s not always the case. Did you know that one of the top reasons businesses fail is because there is no market need?
It’s imperative that you do your research to be able to answer questions, like:
Will people actually pay money for your good/service?
What about your idea is different than what is already out there?
How are people currently solving the problem you think needs to be solved in a different way?
Diana does this by teaching you how to do unbiased market research by asking non-leading questions. What is the world are non-leading questions? If looking to open a coworking space with on-site childcare you can see the difference:
Examples of leading questions: “What is it like to work from home all by yourself?” “How productive are you working while your kids are at home.” “Do you feel professional meeting a client in a coffee shop?”
Examples of non-leading questions: “Where do you work?” “What are the pros of where you work?” “What are the cons of where you work?” “What would help with your productivity?”
See the difference? Let me make this even more fun - when asking those questions you don’t want to tell them what your product/service is. You don’t want to sway them in any way!
From those interviews, you’re going to get real answers of what they’re actually going through and they’re telling you what could make their current situation better.
After asking these first questions, you will go back to these same people to ask follow up questions.
Examples of follow-up questions: “If there was a space where you could pay a monthly membership to work and have your child watched would you be interested?” “How much would you pay?” “How often would you go?”
Sound simple? It’s not. It’s not like you’re chatting it up with your grandma about your vision and she is all googly-eyed over it because she’s just so proud of you. Some people will have answers you really don’t want to hear - but that’s actually what you need. This may prove you have a genius idea, it may prove it’s actually not a huge issue to solve, or it may prove that within the complaints there’s a different problem you could solve. The people will tell you, but you have to be willing to listen.
I learned that some people were 100% fine with working in their home office each and every day, some people would only pay $20 a month for unlimited access, and that some were ready to sign up right then without knowing the price. This helped us navigate through our pricing, offerings, hours, and who our target market was going to be.
Now, let me answer some quick questions. Will it slow you down? Yes. Does it take work? Yes. Will you like all the results. Probably not. Will you learn a ton about your potential business and potential target market? Yes. Could this save you a lot of time and money? Absolutely.
Lastly, it may seem that this book is only for startups, but I truly believe it’s also for those that have already started and are feeling like they are not making enough sales/getting enough traffic/etc.
I hope you found this helpful and I hope it has encouraged you to go buy the book or rent it from your local library so that you can set yourself up for success!