Recently a potential client described her business to me. She did outdoor retreats for women in leadership roles. They consist of rituals and writing and sharing, all in the outdoors. The multiple photos on her web site showed women sitting around outside in wilderness gear. It looked like 60’s style consciousness raising groups done outdoors. She charged non-profitable prices and had few enrollees.

She resisted considering working with both genders and rigidly clung to her business model. She wanted the market to conform to her needs to sell what the market did not find compelling. She would not look at nor consider that perhaps her offerings were out of date. She was very frustrated that her income was so low and that her talents were not fully realized.

Many highly talented people refuse to see how selling what the market does not want is a self sabotaging behavior. We humans can easily delude ourselves that what we want is the best indication of what the market wants. That is not true. It is a fantasy that can cause massive frustration. If you think you might be attempting to sell what the market does not want, here are some ideas.

1.) Do you have esoteric interests and imagine that more people share those interests than actually do? It can easily happen that we are so taken by our own elite tastes that we imagine that they are equally prized by a wide audience. If this is the basis of your business, get to a library and do some market research. Ask the librarian for help on discovering how large your market might be. If it’s a miniscule niche, please reconsider basing your entire business on it.

2.) Pay attention to up to date trends–even if you don’t appreciate them. Attempting to sell 60’s style events, or product that does not suit today’s market is unlikely to bring satisfying results. Obviously, don’t copy today’s trends and fads, but be realistic about what attracts attention and income.

3.) Insisting that the market conform to you is a guaranteed path to failure. That’s simply not the way things work. When you go out to buy, do you buy things that aren’t what you want? No–and you leave frustrated if you can’t find what you do want. Why then, would you believe that other people would do this any differently than you do?

4.) Take a look at any way that you might be rigid about your business. Usually, when we rigidly hold to something, we miss out on what is actually going on, and are totally unavailable for unforseen opportunities.

5.) Explore whether or not you have any cynicism about the advice, ideas or offerings of others. You may find that you are allowing experiences of the past to cut you off from openness to possibility. There are times in life when we shut our eyes to considering input from anyone but ourself. This is usually a mistake. Learn to distinguish which feedback can be trusted. Doing this can become one of your most valuable tools.

6.) Keep your eyes open to the market. Start from what the market wants rather than from what you want. Be observant. Pay attention. Recognize the significance of what you see. Be open to fresh ideas and the stimulation of others. Be willing to synthisize taking one thing from one area and another thing from another area.

7.) Cultivate flexibility. Being nimble in reacting to the market’s demands is a hallmark of the thriving business. Flexibility and creativity make a powerful combination. Flexibility is a significant pre-requisite to creativity.

Take a serious look at your business. Are you attempting to sell what the market does not want to buy? Are your offerings outdated? Do you have few takers? Are you failing to make a profit? Time to reconsider and to detach from what is not working.

Suzi Elton is a success coach working with highly creative types to create income that matches their talent. She has coached hundreds of clients to approach their goals strategically through tiny steps to bring about quantum leaps. Get free Life Purpose exercises, at http://mylifepurposecoaching.com