In the world of business, the goal is to turn a profit. While in the role of the entrepreneur, the goal is to innovate and facilitate. It seems that more and more people today are associating entrepreneurs with problem solvers. While there is accuracy to that statement, it isn’t what all great entrepreneurs do. Great entrepreneurs don’t always tackle the world’s largest and most complex problems but sometimes focus on simplifying existing solutions instead.
The world is full of complexity, and the role of the entrepreneur in the scope of a society shouldn’t be to increase the level of difficulty, but rather to help facilitate progress, meaning that some of today’s best entrepreneurs are not problem solvers, but rather simplifiers.
Facebook didn’t invent social media, it made it better. Instagram didn’t invent photo editing and sharing, it simply made it stupid-proof. Google didn’t invent the internet, but rather made it easier to navigate. Apple didn’t invent the smart phone, but it helped give birth to a better version.
The idea is that some of today’s greatest companies were not born out of being the most original, but rather the most efficient. All they did was take something that already existed, which already had validation by an industry and audience, yet wasn’t fully accepted, and they simplified it to the point that everyone could use it.
One of the best ways to get your foot in the door at being entrepreneurial is to start by being aware of what solutions others are creating and what you can do to improve upon them. Copying someone’s work isn’t a good thing, but improving the way something works or the way it is applied is perfectly okay.
The goal is to look at the same problem someone else tried to fix, and make sure they indeed fixed it, and if a similar solution could be applied to a different vertical or an entirely new industry. Don’t assume that if someone else attempted to solve a problem and did well, that it is automatically the best solution for the market and that it is accepted by the masses as such.
Entrepreneurship is about awareness, and being able to decipher what is real, versus what is being shown or told.
If someone pretends to have built a massively successful app in an attempt to market themselves, but yet show they only have 50,000 downloads, this may be a sign that while the market agrees a solution is needed, the solution presented isn’t good enough for everyone. Therefore, an opportunity exists for a great competitor who is willing to dissect the problem and solution presented, but identify where the disconnect or gap is that will allow the mass public to accept such a solution.
Keep in mind that some of today’s greatest entrepreneurs didn’t start by tackling the world’s greatest problems but by simplifying some of today’s greatest solutions – and so can you. It’s easier, faster and provides a good roadmap to practice entrepreneurship so you can eventually reach for the stars and perhaps change the way the world functions as a whole.
