The failure of not considering ‘who would want it’.

The other day, I witnessed a somewhat unsettling scene in a group's shared chat.

They were holding a meeting to plan a seminar. The content of the seminar was appealing. It would surely be 'content that resonates with people who are lost in life or looking for a turning point somewhere.' It was close to self-help. With the right approach, people should have gathered.

However, the seminar ultimately failed. Not many people gathered, and what's more, it resulted in a deficit due to venue rental and guest fees. Looking at the content, it seemed like it could have attracted a decent crowd, so why did it fail?

At that time, the content exchanged in the shared chat was as follows.

'We need to attract attendees, so we'd like to ask everyone to spread the word!' Such a common request. However, others gave negative reactions. Opinions like 'I'll help spread the word, but the price range is high' were scattered. Now, let's consider this situation.

Can we sell that price range and content ourselves?

First, let's look at the people who were asked to spread the word. Most of them are in their 20s, and around them, a demographic that probably wants to 'make money!' is gathering. Wanting to make money! means that many of them don't have much money right now.

Moreover, the event was planned by a community primarily consisting of people in their 20s. Many of the people gathered also have limited work experience. Or, they are people who have already earned money and want to help those younger individuals.

Amidst this, they held a 'high-priced seminar' aimed at 'the children of the future.' Honestly, failure was evident. People who attend 'high-priced seminars' are those who want practical information, who are realistically going to do something, and who have 'sufficient funds and energy for self-investment.' Unfortunately, there were no such people in the 20s community.

Furthermore, it's a community where people with limited work experience gather. Naturally, not many people can afford to attend expensive self-help seminars. It was clear that the target audience for attracting attendees was off the mark.

Taking risks without a basis is akin to suicide.

At this point, the question 'Why is it necessary to set the price so high?' came up. The reason given was 'because of guest fees and venue rental costs.' They had already booked the venue and guests, so there was no turning back.

This is definitely the event organizer's mistake.

It was the result of being overly confident in the strange belief that their community was somewhat large, without any basis for reaching the target audience. The demographic that community could attract was '90% early 20s working adults and students who don't have much money, but are highly motivated.'

Certainly, some people might pay for certain guests, but the guest themselves was someone reachable with a little effort, so it wasn't effective. They clearly should have targeted 'people in their 20s who want to do something new at an affordable price range,' but they completely missed that.

If they were to hold a high-priced seminar this time, it might have worked if the conditions were to 'approach people with some work experience who are starting to re-evaluate their lives with more practical copy and offers' and 'invite guests attractive to the 25-35 age group.' They completely failed to consider the audience they could approach, and simply held the event from the perspective of 'it seems somewhat useful.' In this case, failure is inevitable.

Moreover, in the chat, there were many abstract and philosophical comments like 'the first event is bound to fail,' and no one addressed the core issue. Here, I considered why such a phenomenon was occurring.

If you make a mistake, analyze its cause.

The cause of failure is clearly visible if you think about it. However, no one reaches that cause, and instead offers opinions or advice based on their own easygoing values of 'it's probably like this.' With this, not only is growth slow in everything you do, but isn't success far out of reach in the first place?

When selling something, there are people who will purchase that product. You must consider where they are, or if you can offer it to those people with your own power. If you cannot make an offer, you must either review the product itself or find a way to reach the target audience. This is a minimum requirement that should be done as a matter of course.

Currently, it feels like phrases like 'do what you want to do' and 'if you sell what you want to sell, everyone will follow' are taking precedence, and their true meaning is often misunderstood. Certainly, Steve Jobs and many entrepreneurs may have succeeded by creating what they wanted to create. They may have become innovators.

But that's because there were people in the world who 'wanted' it, and they were able to accurately offer it to those people. It's because they could be confident that many people desired it. If you just do what you want to do without being able to do that, or without realizing if those people exist (even though it's obvious if you just think a little), you will fail. That's a given.

Pursue it until you are confident that it will definitely sell.

Certainly, 'creating what you want' or 'an instinctive hunch that this will sell' is important. However, proceeding without identifying any means of spreading it or understanding the market is simply reckless.

Indeed, in this day and age, 'impression' dictates everything. Influencers are a good example. Even if the content is mediocre, if you can create an impression, you will grow. But those who initiate should not rely solely on impression. They must have some kind of conviction.

If an event is truly wonderful, everyone should gladly cooperate when asked to spread it within the community. You should approach new services with that much conviction. This desperate effort to grasp the 'selling axis' is what many challengers lack and what is truly necessary, isn't it?