Why You Shouldn't Satisfy Your Business Investors

Well, don't do it directly, anyway. If you focus on serving your customers, satisfying your business investors will take care of itself. When I was younger, I took a small investment--we're talking $50, here--from a family member to start a tiny IT servicing business from home. I knew what she wanted; like every investor, she wanted to turn that small investment into a relatively hefty increase. Too bad I focused solely on that, and not on what I should've been focusing on: my customers.

And they weren't too happy...

Because I focused on finding ways to double that investment, I mistreated my customers by catering to my stakeholders first--customer needs a distant second. I focused on a win-lose situation, instead of a mutually beneficial win-win situation. Instead of adding value to the customer, I focused on maximizing the return on a customer with as little value as I could provide to them. (Hey what else should I be doing if I'm trying to double my investor's investment? Or so I thought.) Well, that tiny IT servicing business tanked. I couldn't add value, and my customers knew it.

A lesson learned

Now, as a much wiser person (or, at least I hope), I've noticed concentrating solely on your investors detracts your attention from adding value to your customers' lives. Hey, they're the ones who'll detemine with their pockets if you double your investors' money anyway.

If you enjoyed Why You Shouldn't Satisfy Your Business Investors, get a complimentary subscription to our freshest articles through email or through your feed reader.