Why Your Grandfather Was Much More Ready To Build A Successful Startup Than You!

Veer Mishra
Veer is the co-founder and CEO of SellMouse, a tool meant for Businesses to Market, Sell, Engage with people on Social media over the products and services they offer.

So i was at a conference, doing a QnA session on how to do social & win when a student entrepreneur asked me, “Thanks Veer. In  my family business, we sell home made sweets and my grandfather made it what it is today singlehandedly. Since my father passed away very early, the responsibility of the business is now in my hand. I want to know, how he grew this business without all these social media tools and how should i do it?

So in short his question was “How did my grandfather grow his business without these social tools in his day & how can i do it too?”

How did my grandfather grow his business without these social tools in his day & how can i do it too?

Now this question is very amazing & is valid for all those businesses that were built during the age when there was no technology or social networks. I really believe, from the core of my heart, that our fore fathers were much more prepared to run and succeed in a business than we are.

People above 40 must remember, when you walked in to the local sweet store, the owner would just start packing your favorite sweet without you even saying anything and when you enter he’d ask you about your son’s cricket game, and you on other hand were happy about that fact that he remembers you and has shown some care about you.

Thats what made that local Sweet shop owner’s business a success. If you noticed, he valued interaction. He knew his customer’s story, he was ready to spend time generally talking to his customer, to know more about their story, as it helped him build a better bond with that person. He used that personal connections to make sales and make people smile.

Now consider yourself in today’s generation. What you are doing today on social networks is just spamming your followers to spread the word about your services or products. But the beauty of such social networks is that the end consumer is also a human, and every human values interaction. So first try and build a better interaction with them first. Consider if you know someone for years and you can ask for any favor from them, right? Whereas if you met someone just a few days ago at a cocktail party, you can’t ask him for the same thing.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – this is all one big cocktail party and if you don’t know how to dress up in front of people as a brand or business, no one will even care if you exist. That’s why i always say, that our grand parents were more prepared to succeed, as they knew that the relationships they build is for a lifetime and it will last and eventually build a loyal customer base. That’s what you have to do for your business as well – build and sustain relationships with your customers!

Treat the users on these platforms like humans, understand them, interact with them, build trust & eventually relationships with them & grow your business.