Customers Are Never Right ( But They Have Good ideas)

If you own a coffeeshop and one customer suggests you put a waterslide inside your store, it's probably safe to ignore them and write it off as a bad idea. But if 100 separate customers say you need to put a waterslide inside your shop... You need to consider it.

I use a waterslide inside a coffeeshop because it sounds ridiculous. But a lot of business owners hear the same suggestions over and over again and write these more sensible ideas as ridiculous. This stubbornness plagues the small business community, and it's hurting their profitability.

If it's "off brand", make it "on brand". If you think it will be too much work... tough. Some other business is going to move in down the street, do what you do slightly better, and your customers will slowly trickle away until you're left with nothing.

The only reason you should wait to add new products your customers want is if it will cause you to loose traction on your current product.

If you're just starting your business or you're not out of the grind you should ignore my advice. But if you've owned a pizza restaurant for 20 years and you've ignored hundreds of customers telling you they want you to add subs to your menu... you're leaving so much money on the table.