It’s often difficult to find the right automotive part at a fair price and get it quickly. That’s the problem we solved at CCAW. One thing we regularly heard customers talk about was installation. Most installs require a professional with specialized tools. We tried to help by recommending installers, but we missed a big opportunity. Customers wanted more than a seamless process for buying the right part—they also wanted a seamless process for getting the part on their vehicle.

Looking back, it’s obvious. So how did we miss it? Easy—we were listening for what we wanted to hear and not what customers were saying. They were clearly telling us about their frustrations with installation, but we didn’t think we were in a position to solve that problem so we didn’t try. It wouldn’t have been easy, but if we had tried, and succeeded, we would have created a massive amount of value for our customers. All we had to do was take a step back and listen to what our customers were telling us.

Customers are the key to any company’s success. Solving their painful problem is how you create value they’re willing to pay for. Founders aiming to build large companies should continually listen to their customers. Understand their pain points. Solve them if you can. If you make this a habit early, your customers will thank you with their wallets and you’ll be on your way to building something big!