I have a great strategy but the market doesn’t get it

Dear Aunty B,

I am a serial entrepreneur and have acquired a number of businesses recently. We are building a social networking portal where people in our industry globally can communicate. It is set to revolutionise the industry and many can see its great potential.

We have a top team and a great strategy. But we are having trouble creating the revenue streams to support the vision.

What is our problem? Is the market lagging? Or is the concept too hard to comprehend?

Vince S,
Richmond Vic

Bad news, Vince. You need a reality check. Repeat after me: The market is always right. So let’s change a few statements here. The market is not lagging. You are too far ahead.

You go on to say your strategy is right. No it ain’t. The strategy must include a concept and a model that is easily grasped by the marketplace.

And if you are having trouble creating the revenue streams to support the vision, then you are in big trouble. Your take on this will not be shared by your investors. They will tell you to change your vision or they will change you.

Vince, I see this all the time working in the online world. You get really smart online entrepreneurs who outline a great vision and they cannot really comprehend that the average intelligent punter has no idea what the hell they are talking about. Unfortunately the smart entrepreneurs are usually surrounded by really smart people who are also working on a strategy and vision that might work in five years.

But it will not work now.

So you have several choices. Cost cut dramatically while you change the vision. Work on making the concept far more digestible for the marketplace. Alternatively work on getting another revenue stream in until the market catches up. (Destra did that and it worked brilliantly.)

So Vince, time to hop off the horse and on to the wagon.