There are a lot of mediocre and/or bad products and services that are successful. When I was in the entertainment business, I would often see platinum artists whose music was not very good. I saw rappers that didn’t rap well. I saw singers who couldn’t sing very well. I saw performers whose shows weren’t very good. I would see these artists that weren’t very good succeeding. Of course, every aspiring artist sees successful artists who don’t seem very talented and thinks to himself, ”If he can be successful I know I can.” Or even worse, another artist who isn’t very good will say,” I can make it if he can make it. I’m not very good, but that didn’t stop MC Such & Such from going platinum. I can do it too!”.
This is the type of thinking that has led many people to waste years pursuing a career they have no chance of succeeding in. So the question is, why can some people succeed with mediocre and/or bad products while other more talented people fail? Let’s address some of the reasons.
The biggest reason a mediocre and/or bad product is successful is because that “so so” product is backed by superior business. That mediocre rapper is a superior hustler. They work harder. They network more. They have powerful relationships. They have invested big money into their career. They have better distribution. Maybe they have a great management team. If the product or service is successful, they are doing something right. It might not be on the stage for you to see. You might not be able to identify it, but there is something being done at a high level. You have to be dedicated to being great at something to succeed.
There are lots of examples of this in entertainment. There are people in the entertainment industry that have carved out nice careers and continue to get great opportunities solely because they are goons. You find yourself wondering, how is this guy getting opportunities? You don’t think his product is very good, but he’s on every show, he’s in movies and he’s collaborating with stars. Even worse, it doesn’t even seem like the public is responding to him, but the opportunities keep coming. These guys literally have kicked ass on a high level. They have put in a lot of work in the streets and in the industry. They have provided protection and security to people in the industry that feel vulnerable. They have been able to leverage that into relationships that create opportunities for them. Their product might not be that impressive to you, but they provide great service to people with power who can put them in great positions. Behind the scenes they put in work on a very high level. That’s why they are in position with an ok product but you are not.
Another reason a mediocre and/or bad product or service takes off is that they know exactly what their customer wants and they give it to them. I find that most people that want to be in business don’t care one bit about their customers. They want to force the customer to take something they don’t want. They have a vision for what they want to do. They have a vision of how much money they want to make, but they don’t understand they need to give the customer something they want in exchange for their money. If that “so so” artist knows what his customer wants and concentrates on giving them that, he’s going to win. You are in front of your customers showing off how talented you are and how much you know, yet they are ignoring you. They don’t care how talented you are. They didn’t ask you how much you know. Meanwhile, that less talented guy knows they came to the club to dance so he plays his simple party songs that makes them dance and he wins them over.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, you may often find that when you see someone winning you feel that you could do what they are doing a little bit better. You should know that there is more to it than what meets the eye. If you don’t see the excellence in their product or service, understand that there is excellence somewhere in the equation. Maybe you can’t see it, but it is there. If you plan on competing with them, you first need to find out how you can excel with your undertaking. Don’t be fooled into thinking that since you believe they are mediocre, you can also be mediocre and succeed. You have to do something great to succeed in business.
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