~by Haley Lynn Gray~
I’m firmly of the view that a new business has to fill a need to succeed.
It’s very hard — often impossible — to create a market for something just because it’s clever or new. You might be offering something smaller, faster, better or kinder than what exists. But every successful business fills a gap: something that isn’t being done at all, or isn’t being done well.
The need I saw
When I started Extension of You Home Care in Apex, near Raleigh, it was because I could see clear opportunities to do things better. There was a lot of low-hanging fruit.
One of the biggest was how caregivers were treated. Many home care companies classified their caregivers as independent contractors — 1099 workers — rather than employees.
That’s questionable at best. In home care, the company typically decides when someone works, what they do and how they do it. Under U.S. law, that degree of control is a central factor in whether someone is really an employee. Misclassifying workers can mean back taxes, penalties and lost protections for the very people doing the most important work in the business.
Treating caregivers properly wasn’t just the right thing to do. It was also a way to be genuinely different in a crowded market.
That problem hasn’t gone away. Worker misclassification is still a real issue in home care today. If you run a care business, or any business where you control people’s schedules and methods, it’s worth having an employment attorney check how your workers are classified.
How it turned out
I eventually sold Extension of You. I’m not sure it’s still operating today — I suspect not.
But the principle behind starting it has held up in every business I’ve built since. Find a real need. Serve it better than anyone else is. Then build the business around doing that consistently.
How to tell if you’re filling a real need
People already spend money on the problem. If they’re paying for an imperfect solution, or cobbling something together themselves, the need is real.
You can name what’s wrong with the current options. Specifically. “It’s too slow, too impersonal, and nobody answers the phone” is a business opportunity. “Mine will be better” isn’t.
Customers describe the problem without prompting. Listen to how people talk about their frustrations. If you keep hearing the same complaint, pay attention.
You can test it cheaply. Before committing heavily, offer a simple version to people who already know you and see whether they’ll pay.
The need will still be there in five years. A fad can make money briefly. A lasting need can support a business.
The trap to avoid
The most common mistake I see is falling in love with the product rather than the problem. The founder is excited about what they’ve built and assumes others will be too.
But customers don’t buy your idea. They buy a solution to something that’s bothering them. Start there, and the business has something solid to grow on.
More on deciding what kind of business you’re really building.
