Listening may be key to bootstrapping

Filed in archive Bootstrapper Resources on July 22, 2007

Susan L. Bragg, president of SpectrAlliance Inc. claims she built her company into a leader in the manufacture of control systems for spectroscopic analysis in the pharmaceutical industry mainly by just listening to her customers.

After time spent in research and development, Bragg formed Blue Willow Scientific, a consulting firm specializing in behind the scenes design and manufacture of spectroscopic control equipment for other companies.

Bragg gives a brief explanation of how the technology works:

For quick background, spectroscopy is the study of light, both visible and invisible wavelengths, and how it interacts with matter. Without actually touching planetary bodies, for example, scientists can learn what they are made of by analyzing light reflected from the planet's surface. Or a manufacturer can pass light through liquid to remotely determine the liquid's composition using one of the fiber optic insertion probes my company makes.

She eventually began marketing the same products directly to the customers who had been buying from her former clients using the revenue to grow her company.

Every time a customer would ask for a new product, Bragg's company would do their best to deliver making customers the key to spurring the company's innovations.

Though not nearly as high tech or revolutionary in its applications, I've begun creating Hessinger Media, one half social network one half blogging experience, essentially by listening to the visitors and readers at n10ah, an independent music blog I started in November.

Check out some of our earliest idea sessions and how listening to users' expectations can lead you in directions you might never have otherwise considered. What other ways can you share about building a business by listening to customers and delivering on their needs?

Add some thoughts in the comment section or create your own post linked to this one, let me know via e-mail and I will be sure to provide a reciprocal link.