Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur | Start and Grow Your Own Business 1334: Stop Selling, Start Exploring: The Key to Finding Unmet Customer Needs w/ Dr. Andi Simon
Ever feel like your business is stuck in a rut, doing the same things while the world changes around you? In this powerful episode, corporate anthropologist Dr. Andi Simon reveals how to see your business, your customers, and your market with a completely fresh lens. She breaks down why the "more of the same, but cheaper" model is a recipe for disaster and introduces the game-changing principles of Blue Ocean Strategy—creating entirely new markets where competition is irrelevant.
This isn't just theory; it's a practical guide for wantrepreneurs and entrepreneurs to stop guessing and start exploring. You'll learn how to apply the tools of an anthropologist to uncover what your customers really need (not just what you think they need), embrace change as an opportunity, and build a business with longevity and purpose. Dr. Andi's unique blend of human insight and strategic thinking will give you the objective perspective you need to innovate, scale, and thrive in 2026 and beyond.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
- How to apply the mindset of a corporate anthropologist to see your business as a "small-scale society" and uncover hidden opportunities for growth.
- Why you need to get out of the office and "go exploring" to see how customers actually use your products and find their true unmet needs.
- The core principles of Blue Ocean Strategy and how to create new, uncontested market space instead of fighting bloody battles in a crowded "red ocean."
- Techniques to overcome your own biases and develop an objective perspective that allows you to see possibilities your competitors miss.
- How to embrace disruptive technologies like AI as powerful assets to expand your thinking and add innovative value, rather than viewing them as threats.
- The critical link between curiosity, purpose, and building a sustainable business that can adapt and thrive through changing times.
📝 About Dr. Andi Simon
Dr. Andi Simon is a corporate anthropologist, award-winning author, and the CEO of Simon Associates Management Consultants. After two decades as a successful executive in financial services and healthcare, Andi launched her own firm to help organizations see their challenges through a fresh lens to spark growth and innovation. She is the brilliant mind behind the books On the Brink, Rethink, and Women Mean Business, and the host of the top-ranked podcast On the Brink with Andi Simon. Andi’s unique gift is her ability to blend deep human observation with actionable business strategy, making her an invaluable guide for any entrepreneur looking to build something truly meaningful.
🎯 Andi’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Follow your curiosity. It's telling you something... Listen to it. Don't delete your gut."
📢 Memorable Quotes
- “What makes you think a business isn't a small scale society? When you begin to apply the theory methods and tools into a corporate setting, you discover that people are people.” – Dr. Andi Simon
- “In tumultuous times, it's not the tumult that gets you. It's trying to solve it with yesterday's solutions. Yesterday will not help you tomorrow.” – Dr. Andi Simon (quoting Peter Drucker)
- "If you can't see it, you can't do it. Visualizing what might happen... begins to make the brain open up objectively to what's possible." – Dr. Andi Simon
🔗 Links & Resources