Yesterday, I met with a client who is working on starting his own business, and is currently doing marketing research for it.

During our session, I asked him, with regard to his customer base, “What problem are you helping your customers solve?”

He stopped to ponder this question. I elaborated. “Everything in life is designed to solve a problem. I work as a coach to help clients solve their problems. I am in the business of solving problems with information. When marketing your business, look at it from the standpoint that you are helping people solve a particular problem. What problem are you helping them solve?”

And for those of you who are solopreneurs, like myself and my client, or small business owners, that is what marketing really is–solving an existing problem.

Every Occupation and Business Solves a Problem

Think about it: car manufacturers and dealers are solving transportation problems; mechanics are solving car problems; phone and cell phone companies are solving communication problems; going one step further, cell phone providers are also solving information problems with technology; interior designers solve decorating problems; lawyers solve legal problems; doctors solve medical problems; and counselors and therapists solve mental and emotional problems.

My client and I met in a bookstore. My favorite sections in bookstores are the self-help/personal growth and development and business sections. Why? Because they solve problems with information; the personal growth and development books address personal problems, and the business books address business problems.

When I was a manager in my corporate job, I noticed that the associates I worked with would continually bring problems to me, looking for me to solve them. I knew better; it was not my job to solve every problem in the department; it was my job to empower them to solve the problems before them (I was coaching back then and didn’t realize it!).

I would ask them, “What do you propose we do to solve this problem?” I have a belief that a problem a person sees and perceives, he or she also has the solution within them; it’s just a matter of getting it out of him or her.

So, no matter what your occupation, or the business you are in, you are there to solve problems.

I was once introduced to this thought pertaining to solving problems in your workplace: we are paid in accordance to how well we solve problems. That is an interesting thought to consider (especially when thinking about your salary and approaching your employer for a raise).

So what problems are you solving in your business, occupation, and workplace?

We Are All Here to Solve a Problem

Problem solving does not just take place in the business world.

Every person on the planet is here with an assignment: to solve a problem that he or she has been uniquely created to solve.

This is our assignment, which I also refer to as our life’s greatest work.

Looking at it from this perspective, each of us becomes a solution. You and I are walking solutions to someone experiencing a problem.

I stated earlier that my work as a coach is helping people solve problems with information. That information comes in the form of self-discovery. I help people realize that the answers they are looking for already lie within them, and together, we bring them to the surface.

In closing, I am going to ask you to discover what problem you are here to solve. Once you do, then you can figure out how you are to accomplish that (another problem needing to be solved!).

If you think or feel you may need some assistance in this process of self-discovery, I can help. You can contact me by e-mail at james@jameshimm.com or through my Contact page.

Your partner in being the solution to a problem,

James

Like this post? Want to know when there's more?

Subscribe to "The List" today and be kept in the loop!

Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy