How to avoid one of the most common traps as an entrepreneur: chasing the wrong wins
Everyone agrees we should hire the right people, but it's far more difficult to say no to potential clients.
Most early stage entrepreneurs fall into this trap while chasing revenue:
We set incredibly high bars for hiring.
We only want A-players who perfectly fit the role.
Yet when it comes to clients, companies and sales teams will often chase any potential lead with enough budget to pay for our solution.
During early stage, there's a massive temptation to open new doors, discover new market segments and grow fast - converting everyone that shows interest along the way.
This creates one of the biggest hidden sources of daily stress, subtly draining the energy of your team who lives and dies on momentum:
When you're innovating, lots of people will be curious about what you’re doing.
They want to hear about the breakthrough, the story behind the idea, pick your brain over coffee.
But interest isn't urgency.
Curiosity isn't cash, and window-shoppers never present themselves as such.
It’s easy to say no when a stranger asks you to jump on a call on social media.
But what if that person is a senior executive at a Fortune 500 company?
An enterprise case study with such a famous company would instantly boost your credibility.
You’re salivating before you know it.
Proper qualifying just went out the door.
Some companies are genuinely interested in buying, but it’s a given that many just want to learn something and meet interesting founders.
The Fortune 500 exec who "loves what you're doing" might waste months of your time in follow-up and procurement hell.
Meanwhile, the scrappy scaleup that needs to raise their series B in 12 months will decide if your product is worth their time in the first 30 minutes.
So how can we manage the thin line between leaving room for new opportunities and laser-focusing on our first guess at an ICP?
Accept inbound meetings from surprising segments.
Use the meeting to confirm/scratch an industry off your SOM.
Don't burn time and budget on outbound to markets and regions where you are booking meetings, but secretly doubting their urgency and pain points.
If you've already validated a niche, win that arena first.
You can test the waters in other markets later, when you have breathing room.
You wouldn’t hire anyone to join your team, that’s crazy talk.
So why would you invest your time trying to convert any client that walks in?
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