Fri, Feb-02-24, 13:54
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Senior Member
Posts: 2,022
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Plan: Atkins-ish (hypoglycemia)
Stats: 000/000/000
BF:
Progress: 50%
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Quote:
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It's a common fallacy that has lead to countless business failures over the years -- the owner assumes that because THEY like something, that there must be others that like it just as much AND that they will come and buy it from them. This gets compounded when there's some kind of "social buzz" about something -- plenty of people see it as a permanent trend that will somehow be sustainable over time, largely because THEY like it so much that they can't imagine it not "catching on" long term.
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I've had people tell me over the years "Oh you could go into business selling/teaching/doing XXXX!"
I even had a realtor tell me one time "We should have been looking for a retail location for your crafts instead of looking for a house"
Uh no... The various crafts I made over the years (even those I designed) took so many hours that there was no way people would be willing to pay the kind of money I would need to charge if I sold them at minimum wage for the number of hours involved. What people are willing to pay for handmade crafts usually amounts to little more than the cost of the materials involved.
My mother loved to paint. People oohed and aahed over her paintings and wanted to buy them. The problem is that when these people made an offer on a painting, they were barely willing to pay the cost of the canvas and frame - forget the number of hours and talent involved in the painting.
And yet like you said, people open all kinds of businesses based on what they like, thinking surely everyone else will like it too. It's usually not just the person opening the business though - they're usually being encouraged by someone who thinks they could make a lot of money at it, but doesn't have any idea how much time and materials are involved, or that the actual interest in it is very limited.
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