Moving from Created Need to Existential Need
by Elias Moses
Companies that thrive the market on a long run are consistent over time on the top and bottom line of their business. Often good growth is measured by profitability, be it organic or incremental.
While platform for growth, which is organic or incremental, is acceptable in time, the focal point of growth, which is customer, is a great area of concern, in post covid-19 era.
What do I mean by focal point here? Business over a period of time had moved way from catering to existential need of customers. Needs of customers till date were attractive and were created. Most of the fed needs were social and psychological by nature. Markets were created than actually existed. These created Needs classified customers into segments. It was more a comparable science than existential science. The customers were thrust with the point on what is urgent than what is important.
Such an approach created tremendous market waves for investments and companies. At what cost? But then, today, with the inflict of coronavirus, we are forced into a situation of ‘business reversal’.
We are forced to go back in time on understanding the essential needs of customers. The customers, no matter what the advertisements allure them into, have made up their mind to focus only on essential and existential requirement of time.
The preference of the customer in the next three to five years will focus on what is economical, essential and existential then non-essential.
It would be good to go back to my article on “is the world embracing the world of minimalism’
Growth alone does not equal success
Let us not use market size as a measure for success.
During my years of consultancy, I have seen number of companies using their market share to determine future growth. Using market share to push revenue growth may not be good for business in today’s context. Trying to beat competition will be an outdated and outlived ploy going forward.
Why, because the consumer market is making a choice for essentialism. The customer across the globe will focus on the three E’s – Economical, Existential and Essential.
Real businesses today have to understand how and why they are growing and what they have to do, or consider how and why they should grow in the post covid situation.
Good and growing businesses will look at what is happening to their cash than mere market share or growth. It is time to step back and figure out what is going wrong, May be the performance of the market during the last one year may give us the answer.
Demand of the market that matters
The growing business have to go beyond competition and market share, in order to understand the real need of the customers and their mindset.
Is it time to go back to basics?
The automobile industry is already going back to basics in India. With less money to spend, the customers are settling for small cars and petrol variants (price conscious). Maruthi Suzuki is seeing 10% year on year increase in enquires and booking for small/hatchback cars. The last 30 days data showed around 65% of booking and enquires are for small category cars.
Why even Nissan Motors India says that consumers are currently seeking value in the form of lower cost of ownership.
Today it is the market need that is going to determine the business. The Covid situations and solutions have lead industries into viable businesses that mainly should serve the economical, existential and essential need of customers on the whole.
In other words, future of Business has to focus not so much on business operation, but true value creation.
Success lies in responding to Existential Need
It has been well said by Economist Manfred Max Neef, “the aim of development must neither be producerism or consumerism, but the satisfaction of fundamental human needs.”
The new fundamental existential needs of humanity, during and after covid seranio, are safety, sustenance, well-being, employment, new knowledge and skill.
we are soon to find that the sea of humanity will be in relentless pursuit of less but better. Essentialism may become a life-style, as opposed to something that people were forced to do occasionally.
The market will buy only what is matters than what is thrusted upon.
Therefore, The businesses that are thinking of long term will have to deal with relevant and essential market for sure. And this market is sure to stay for another decade.
What can businesses do now
- Go back to basics
- Create business Models with a firm focus on value creation
- Determine your businesses address the long term problem of the world
- Focus on the existential and economic need even in innovation
- Create more returns on impact, then return on investments will fall in line
The market today is truly looking for products and services that help them sustain, grow and excel during these adverse times from an economic point of view. Businesses cannot sit idly by watching the trend, they have to be players, inventors and innovators at play, shaping the future of human kind beyond the pandemic.
The Customer is king all over again.
Elias Moses is a Senior Business Strategist, Consultant, Researcher, Corporate and Leadership Trainer, Orator, Columnist and an Entrepreneur. He is also the Founder and Managing Director of a growing reality firm in south India. He is also the founder of Managing Next, an Online portal for knowledge share and Management Consulting.
The author can be contacted@
email: elias@managingnext.in, linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/eliasmoses