When I started my first internet company in Silicon Valley 15 years ago, I spent a lot of time researching the ins-and-outs of running a new business. I read books and articles, but nothing struck me quite like a little piece I came across titled Ten Things No One Ever Tells You About Business. Of course the original paper is long gone and I've forgotten the other nine, but Número Uno stuck with me. I hope you're sitting down:
No one cares about your business.
I'm pretty sure I gasped for air the first time I read that. It was shocking! Here I was a new business owner, all cozied-up to my own concept and completely in love with my product, as any entrepreneur should be. But to think that nobody else cared about my business... How could that be? Surely they were talking about some other boring business like plumbing or school uniforms (forgive me if you're a plumber or a tailor). People were going to be excited about my product! It was websites. How could you not be excited? They were going to be really cool websites, and besides I'm a nice guy and everyone needs a website. Surely people would naturally be interested in what I had to offer. But you know what? That paper was right.
No one cares about my business, either!
To punctuate his argument, the author added, "No one will come to your grand opening but they'll stand in line for your going-out-of-business sale." What a jerk! Was he trying to bash people over the head with a baseball bat?, 'cause it was working. I never heard of anyone with such a bad attitude. It seemed to run counter to everything I knew about motivation and believing in yourself. But you know what? He was right about that, too.
Information Overload
After experiencing every high and low that a businessman can know (and spending countless hours with my clients, observing how their companies operate), I can see how the author came to that conclusion. Basically, we're overwhelmed by modern life. People care about their families, their pets, their charities, their kids' soccer games, their lawn, their morning cup of coffee, their favorite TV show, and their own businesses. They care about getting the car fixed, about their sick mother in the hospital. They care about the state of the world. They don't care about your business.
Fifty years ago when there was less stimulation in the environment, you might have been able to attract people's attention with simple novelties or pastoral slogans and promises of great service. But using those carnival barker techniques today makes your business look aged, like an old TV advertisement.
No matter how stupendous your product, no matter how great your quality or your service, it would behoove you to realize that your customer does not share your enthusiasm. His or her mind naturally revolves around their own life interests and needs. Your stuff is just one of those needs. They're not excited and they're not interested. The analogy I like to use is looking for a restroom at the airport. You need to go, but you're not interested in restrooms.
Far from destroying my hopes, this cut-to-the-bone piece of information catapulted my business into almost immediate success. Now of course success means something different to everyone and we all have our own financial goals that require varying amounts of capital and effort to achieve. But the underlying concept is paramount: A successful businessperson must approach the customer from the standpoint that he does not care about our business.
What Can We Change?
How does this change our interactions with customers? It should make us focus on what the customer does care about instead. And that's a two-part problem. First, you have to find out what the customer cares about. This is a process that takes time. It can never be assumed from the get-go. In other words, most business owners start out with a conception of their product (or service), and then draw a line in their minds to some theoretical customer who wants this product. From there it's just a short jump to a spreadsheet full of these imaginary customers who want your fabulous product. I meet many business owners who extol at length about their terrific product or business concept, yet the product they're telling me about produces no income! This is a sure sign that customers don't care about the same things because they're not buying.
In order to actually have happy customers, we must turn that pyramid upside down and begin by asking the right questions to find out what the customer cares about. This is the complete opposite of telling customers what you sell, which is the level where most businesses are stuck. The customer doesn't care what you sell. They don't care about your business! The more you can find out about your customer's business and his life, the better you can adjust your product and service offerings in order to provide what he needs.
The Image Game
I meet many clients who are trapped in a game of trying to define their "image." They waste time fretting about the marketing words they use, or the color of their website, or how many columns it has. These business owners believe that a brochure or a website will make customers care about them. I guess they don't know that nobody cares about their business. A few words on a page or some pretty graphics on a screen aren't going to make anyone care. Obviously, we want to make things look good so that the customer has a good experience on the site, but the entire site would be better if we spent that time examining who our web customers are and what they want. Then we can adjust the roster of what's being offered so that it most closely matches what the actual customer desires. After that, the website practically writes itself. Free of marketing fluff, your site can simply lay out the customer needs you have identified and explain, in as few words as possible, how your offering meets those needs. That's it!
Learning to Say Yes
Reconceptualizing your web offering requires a higher level of thinking than just pushing pixels around on a page. Picking just the "right graphic" or making some pretty buttons isn't going to do it. At IBM, I was trained to try very hard not to say "No" to customers, but rather to say "Yes" and then find a way to make that yes come true. IBM built an enormously profitable business lasting over 100 years on this core principle, and it's one I still use in my business today -- and with all of my customers.
Rather than just change-up some words on your website (which no one will read anyway), why not "blue sky" it for a moment? Think about what your customers would like to see from you in an ideal world. If you're not sure, ask them. Ask lots of them! Don't put any limits on what is allowed. Just brainstorm about how you could say "Yes" where everyone else has said no before. Walt Disney created Disneyland because his family (his customers) had no place they could all go and be equally entertained, adults and children alike. Walt said "Yes" to this problem and invented the modern amusement park. Edwin Land was asked by his daughter if she could immediately see the picture he had just taken. Dr. Land said "Yes" to this request and invented Polaroid instant photography. What could your business do that others can't or won't? When you find out what your customers really want, it's a cinch to figure out what you should be selling.
On a more personal note, it always helps to remember that no one cares about your business when meeting clients in person or calling them on the phone. Take the time to observe the customer's real needs and recognize that they come before your business in all cases. You never want to do anything that's a detriment to the rest of his operation. This was another core principle I learned at IBM which has contributed enormously to my business reputation -- and the bottom line.
David Bethune is an internet pioneer and the founder of Zimidi, Inc. He is the inventor of a patent-pending user interface technology, completed in 2010. He also loves dogs. 
