It is very bad to be an entrepreneur and also try to prove the world how genius I am by presenting complex solutions!
Man it has happened to me and often i find myself in this trap. I see a simple problem in the market, and when I try to solve this, wow I have got the simple solution…but my damn genius mind will not accept that so simple solution.
My genius mind wants me to bring something which makes people wonder, which is so complex and difficult that no one in the world can do that.
That is great if I am going to run for Nobel prize..but for simple business I observe that simple solutions always win, Simple is HOT! Simple and Easy is what is called Miracle!
I tried to come with a graph, a grid to help focus our energies, for me and my team and i came up with four cases as shown in the following image:
Now you see there are four different cases for problem and solutions with respect to simplicity and complexity:
1. Simple – Simple Scenario:
Simple Problem and Simple Solution. Wow I think it is where the money is. When i observe my big money makers so far, it is always the case..but problem is we kill the idea as simple-simple case scenario fool us and says who is gonna buy this, people will laugh that how simple it is, and i will look like a stupid guy with so simple solution/product. Lol our genius mind always wanted to add some extra crap/steps to add the complexity to the solution to show how genius we were to discover this combination.
2. Complex – Simple Scenario:
Complex Problem and Simple Solution. Awesome, one thing to focus on long term, this is where you earn respect and fortune both in one basket. Long term but good to have in the mission statement. I think it is not where cash flow is, if you need money to run the following three months, better you focus on CASE:1 Simple-Simple!
When you have money to fund your time and energies come to this quadrant and amaze the world, bring something which brings WOW, FUN and Happiness to the world. Yeah you push the button and problem is gone because solution is so simple.
3. Simple – Complex Scenario:
Simple Problem and Complex Solution. Wow this is what genius minds always come up with. A pure genius mind trap. How irrational i sometime become, that I often find myself in this scenario, there is simple problem, and damned i have got a genius solution which takes 20 days training , 12 hours to operate and 27 steps to follow to kill that little bug 🙂
Forget this, fire this, whenever technology changes, i find many people who do not want to learn new technology fall in this trap, they do not want to show the people new simple solution but wanted to tie up them into their big-dinosaur solution. Sure way to go out of business in coming years.
4. Complex-Complex Scenario:
Complex Problem and Complex Solution Well that is interesting case. Many time I have thought this a good option to consider, but then one thing dawned on me , that come on, we can take this case to case 2, if we spend more energy and bring more creativity to the table, we can take this complex problem to Case:2 where we have SIMPLE solution to this complex problem instead of complex one.
Again I have crossed this one too from my goals list. I think for a short life like us humans we have much to do on first two cases / quadrants. Specially for the entrepreneurs as I said in the start of this post, let’s stop fooling ourselves and forget about complex products and solutions.
Let’s bring more simplicity to our customers’ lives and I am sure they are going to give us more money to bring more simplicity. Let’s declare to ourselves that we do not have to prove anything to anyone that how genius we are!
We just want to add value to our customers’ lives by solving their simple and complex problems and bringing SIMPLE solutions to them. This is the only thing which will justify our title of Entrepreneurship. What you say my friend? Let me know your thoughts in the following section of comments.
Best Regards,
Mohsin Rasool