Entrepreneurs must learn to make money within their own cognition first

The author of this article has summarized a common point among bosses and entrepreneurs in various industries through his rich consulting experience, and has discussed and analyzed specific cases. It is recommended for friends who want to start a business or are starting a business.

When I consulted with companies and met with bosses or entrepreneurs from various industries, I found one thing in common among them:

Business models are all based on existing cognition and do not make money beyond one's own cognition.

This is the entrepreneurial philosophy and also the principle of doing things. To achieve this, in the complex and difficult current situation, we must first survive and then seek steady growth.

How can we do this? There are three key points:

1. The business model is clear and simple, can be explained clearly and is logical.
2. Have abilities and resources, and specialize in areas or extensions of your expertise.
3. Expectations and capabilities are matched and self-consistent.

Entrepreneurs can use these three points to reverse the situation and see if they meet the requirements. If the difference is not big, then the project is stable and conforms to basic logic.

How did I come up with this idea? There are several cases I studied to support this idea.

We won’t talk about a grand narrative, because most people can’t even dream of it. Let’s talk about a small but complete case.

Let me start with the background.

Zhao Jing used to be the host of CCTV's securities program. Later, he started a financial MCN business, focusing on paid knowledge in the investment field. He signed experts and also did his own business.

At present, her own training camp can sell 400,000 GMV in a single live broadcast. The top talents in the agency can sell 2 million.

The entire company is small and life is quite comfortable.

Let’s talk about the model again.

Zhao Jing and his team have a very simple model: they sell courses through short videos and live broadcasts on Kuaishou, and then introduce them to private domains for service. If the service is good, users will repurchase.

This model is very similar to other industries, and the differentiation lies in the details, mainly reflected in four points: account personality, content differences, professional capabilities, and private domain services.

1. Account personality

Being sincere and down-to-earth is the most basic thing for being a fast-talking person. But Zhao Jing was born as a host, and her speech and her whole state are very broadcasting, which makes her friends feel distant. She worked hard for a long time to adjust to her current state.

Every anchor has his or her own personality and corresponding audience.

Zhao Jing is a young and beautiful girl, and compared with the middle-aged big brothers in the investment circle, she has disadvantages. But she is more popular with young people, and her fans call her: Sister Jing who worries about everyone.

From this point, we can see her personality and estimate the audience portrait.

The investment field has a characteristic: the investment group base is large and the time span is long. This gives anchors with different personalities more space. As long as they have enough professional ability and keep doing it, fans can follow them for many years.

2. Content Differences

The content of financial accounts is not easy to create and it is difficult to differentiate.

Currently, the types of content everyone produces are hot topics, people's livelihood, and policy interpretations. It is not easy to come up with something new unless a lot of time and cost are invested.

Zhao Jing chose to take a different approach, mainly posting short videos about the stock market review of the day. It is more authentic and easier to convince people. She may not be the only one doing this, but at least it is her own characteristic.

3. Professional Ability

Here we are referring to investment ability, which is hard power and must be possessed.

If the professional ability is not good enough, fans may be lost once, but they will not repurchase, and the host’s reputation will also decline, and he will not be able to last long.

4. Private Domain Services

There is nothing we don’t know about Zhao Jing’s private domain services, and the core is sincerity.

First of all, she entered the scene as a host and interacted with fans, which is something that many hosts cannot do, especially big Vs.

Secondly, everyone’s questions in the private domain will be answered, and users will be able to feel your sincerity.

Of course there are problems.

If it is such a heavy service, it cannot be scaled. But this is their expectation, which is self-consistent.

From the case of Zhao Jing, we can infer the three key points at the beginning of the article:

1. The business model is simple: use short videos and live broadcasts to acquire customers, and provide services and repeat purchases in private domains.
2. With the ability and resources, and the previous experience in the financial field, there is no problem in supporting this model.
3. Expectations and capabilities are matched. The ceiling of income scale is not high, but their expectations are not high either.

The conclusion is completely consistent.

This entrepreneurial team must have been very tired and hard-working. If the model does not make a breakthrough, the annual revenue is easy to estimate and will not be too high. But the model has been established and is very stable.

The key is that this model is something that the entrepreneur is capable of doing within his or her cognitive scope.

Some people may ask, isn’t entrepreneurship about breaking through yourself? Why should we be limited by our own cognition?

You are right! The key is the order.

My point of view is to first have the knowledge, corresponding abilities and resources, and then choose to do something that will break through yourself. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time and money.

For example, if you want to climb to the 5th floor, you need to have the corresponding physical strength. If you don't have it yet, start from the 2nd floor. When you find that you can easily reach the 4th floor, you have the strength to achieve your goal.

When you keep practicing, it is the process of cognitive improvement. It must be experienced and cannot be skipped.

Entrepreneurs always ask me, how is this industry, can that business be done?

There are opportunities, and some people have succeeded. But have you ever thought about why they were able to succeed, and what can you do to compare with them?

Those who have succeeded have been in this industry for 5 to 10 years, tried various things, stepped into countless pitfalls, and only had good luck to achieve today's results.

After talking with the top bosses in the industry, I found that the business they initially did was very different from what it is now, and it is even difficult to get in touch with them.

It is all done by taking one step at a time and slowly iterating. With each step, there will be new cognition to guide where to take the next step.

We must have lofty ambitions and also walk the path ahead carefully.

Author: Han Xu

Source: WeChat public account "Operation Dog Work Diary (ID: yunyingriji)"