Success happens by law, not by luck. They say you’ve got to be in the right place at the right time. I say, “Sure. But you also need to be in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing with the right people, in the right awareness.” Until you have all five of those operating, you’re going to struggle. Oftentimes, I have people that come to me and they say, “Hey, I have an idea for a business. I want to start a business. Or I had this idea, so I started this business. But I’m floundering and I’m struggling.” One of the things that I began to talk with them about right off the bat is the need and the want for what they do. Is there a need in the marketplace for what they’re going to offer? It’s either a yes or no. And if there is a yes, there is a need, then we have to know how big that need is. Also, we need to ask the question, is there a want for what they want to offer in the marketplace? Especially if there’s no need, there needs to be a want for it. We all know that people buy what they want, not what they need. So when I say you’ve got to be in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing with the right people, and the right awareness, oftentimes they’re not even in the right marketplace. There might be a need or a want for what they do in a different marketplace, but not the marketplace in which they are. You’re going to be violating a certain portion of the law of success by trying to make it happen here. If the market research shows that’s not gonna fly, you’re going to struggle.

– Alan Goff