OK, so ‘pain point’ isn’t exactly a new term. You will probably find it in dusty old business manuals that implore you to find a consumer problem to solve, rather than start your business with a cool idea.
But the term is taking on a new meaning due to the more seamless nature of improving a business’ procedures. It’s now about how you do things, not just what you do.
“At the start of its semiotic life, a pain point was a thing – a point at which some problem or inefficiency caused a business to feel the pain,” explained Kevan Christmas, a marketing and advertising expert, to Behind the Buzzwords.
“Then it was a moment – when the customer became so exasperated with a situation that they actually acted in response.”
“Most recently, pain point has been used to describe a constraint – a key limiting factor. In some cases, solving a pain point doesn’t fix a problem, but creates a new market entirely.”
“Pain points used to be identified in order to solve a problem so that a business could take a specific action.”
“Now they are what makes a business take action – faster and faster. We’ve moved to a world of no friction, in which everything is streamlined.”
“It began with simplification of software and web interfaces, hiding less-used functions deep in menus.”
“Now, as a result of the propensity to reduce all processes to two clicks or less, we’re left wondering: ‘How exactly do I control my privacy settings?’”
Much like ‘pain point’, ‘wantrepreneur’ isn’t exactly a bold new concept. It’s a familiar term that’s been given a slightly daft name.
The term in question? Procrastinator. Wantrepreneurs are wannabes who ‘want’ to be an entrepreneur.
They talk about it, dream about it and even act like they are running a business. But they don’t actually do anything. They sit and wait.
This is a major problem as entrepreneurship is all about action. Unless you are perpetual whir of motion in the early days of a start-up, the chances are the start-up isn’t happening.
“It is almost like an illness,” says physiologist Eve Ash.
“It can creep up on you; a moment’s hesitation to do that important task, a feeling of having tried before, a sudden paralysis. What is going on in your mind? A battle of wills – but how can it be a battle when you are the only player?”
Here are Ash’s top six tips on how to start doing, rather than overthinking.
You know all of those unpaid work experience kids that are handed the keys of a business’ Twitter account? They now have a name for their situation – ‘twinternship.’
Many large firms have realised they can use this young, free labour in lieu of a proper social media strategy. Pizza Hut, for example, saw its Twitter followers rise from 3,000 to 13,000 in just a few weeks after plonking 22-year-old Alexa Robinson at the controls.
There are obvious dangers with giving unpaid interns free reign on your Twitter and Facebook pages, but for large corporates the benefits appear to be outweighing the risks.
As a start-up you may be tempted to indulge in a twinternship yourself, but beware. You should have a direct, authentic line to your customers yourself – don’t readily give up one of the best ways to do this to someone who doesn’t know or care that much about your business.
