What Game Are You Playing? Do You Even Know?

Think you're playing the right game in business? Most entrepreneurs don’t realize which one they’ve signed up for.

There are two core approaches:

• A customer-centric business prioritizes customer needs and wants, making them the centre of every decision.

• A founder-focused business prioritizes the vision and goals of the founder.

“Can’t you have both?” Sure. But many entrepreneurs obsess over their solutions at the expense of customer needs, making decisions based on personal preferences rather than actual customer data and feedback. That’s where things start to fall apart.

Do What the Business Needs Doing

Early in my business journey, I considered buying a franchise. Although I didn’t go through with it, the franchise owner said something that stuck with me: “Do what the business needs doing.”

At the time, I nodded. Years later, I truly understood what he meant. Doing what the business needs doing means making decisions based on what will move the business forward: not what feels good or familiar. It’s usually uncomfortable and pushes you outside your comfort zone. But it’s necessary.

Many entrepreneurs resist this. They focus on perfecting their solution, fine-tuning their branding, or investing in what they personally enjoy and completely missing what their customers actually want. Growth demands adjustments, upgrades, and often starting over. If you look back a year from now and aren’t a little embarrassed by where you started, you’re not evolving.

Trust Your Gut—or Should You?

“But aren’t feelings important?” you protest. Of course. But they’re also unreliable.

You’ve heard the phrase, “trust your gut.” That’s great, if you have the experience to back it up. Nobel Prize-winning behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman suggests that intuition is only reliable when:

• You have experience in a predictable environment.

• You recognize patterns from that experience.

• You receive regular feedback to refine your instincts.

  
  

If you’re new to business, do you really have the experience to trust your gut?

Take Janny*, for example. She told me her intuition was telling her to start an online pesto sauce business. She was eager and ready to dive in.

I told her, “Even if your gut is right, intuition tells you what to explore, not how to do it, or whether it will actually work. You need validation. Gather facts. Get feedback. Talk to experts.”

Start with Customer Mapping

To shift from founder-focused to customer-centric, I had Janny start with Customer Mapping: a deep dive into the customer’s journey from initial interest to purchase and beyond.

I asked her to get curious:

• Have people ever bought pesto sauce? If so, what made them buy it?

• What was their thought process before purchasing?

• Where would they look for pesto—grocery stores, online, farmers markets?

• What factors influenced their buying decision?

• Which competitors would they consider, and why?

  
  

The key? Observe first. Ask questions later. I told Janny: “At this stage, don’t pitch your product. Just watch, listen, and learn.”

Know the Competitor Landscape

Too many entrepreneurs fall in love with their idea and forget to check the playing field. Knowing your market isn’t necessarily about copying the competition. It’s about understanding what works.

Here’s the mistake I often see: entrepreneurs look at big, established companies with huge marketing budgets and assume they should follow suit. Wrong. Instead, find competitors who are one or two years ahead of you. What did they do in their early stages? What worked for them before they had deep pockets?

Operationally, best practices matter too. In Janny’s case, what makes an exceptional pesto sauce? You can’t break the rules until you know them.

And let’s be clear: “I have no competitors” is a red flag. If no one else is offering what you’re selling, you’ll face the uphill task of educating an entire market. Competition is good. It proves demand exists.

Feedback Is a Gift

After doing the research, Janny realized she needed to test her product at farmers markets first, then build relationships with boutique grocery stores. Starting online wasn’t going to work without social proof. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. It was what she needed to hear.

Entrepreneurship isn’t about proving yourself right. It’s about adapting. A customer-centric approach requires humility by listening, observing, and responding.

So, what game are you playing? Founder-focused? Customer-centric?

Take a step back, map your customer’s journey, and do what the business needs doing.

*Name and business idea changed for confidentiality.