🚨 365 Days of Stories: Day 42 - You Might Be Solving the Right Problem — But Selling It the Wrong Way

A few months into building my tech consulting business, I had hit a wall.

No leads. No conversions. Just silence.

So, I reached out to a seasoned entrepreneur I respected and asked him bluntly, “What am I doing wrong?”

He didn’t sugarcoat it.

“You’re in a crowded space. Everyone’s selling tech services. Why you? What’s your edge? What gives you the right to win?”

I paused for a moment — then replied:

“I’ve built large-scale products. I’ve rescued tech projects that were on fire. That’s what I know best.”

He smiled and said something that changed everything:

“Then that’s what you should sell. Not generic services. Sell your superpower.”

đź’ˇThat day, I repositioned everything.

I ditched the laundry list of tech services and built a focused offering:

  1. Tech Turnaround – rescuing struggling projects
  2. Tech Transformation – helping scale or modernize existing ones

And I got crystal clear on who I wanted to serve:

👉 Mid-scale tech-driven businesses — companies like FinTech, HealthTech, AgriTech with less than 1000 employees.

Why them?

Because in these businesses:

  1. Tech is essential but not their core skill.
  2. The tech team is usually just 5–10% of the org.
  3. Products are built to run the business, not always to scale or compete.
  4. And most importantly — they value outside expertise.

With a sharper pitch and a clear customer profile, I began reaching out to founders.

After a few weeks, I finally landed a meeting with a mid-sized FinTech CEO.

I walked in thinking I’d sell. Instead, I listened. Asked questions. Shared my hypothesis.

And then he said something that hit me like a brick:

“So you’re like a pest control guy for tech?” “You clean out the cockroaches… or redesign the kitchen if needed.”

I laughed. “Exactly.”

But then he gave me the real insight:

“Look — most of us know our kitchen is messy. But as long as the restaurant’s full and customers are happy… we don’t care.”

“Even if we want to fix it, we hesitate. Bringing in an outsider feels risky — like exposing our flaws. What if they brag about it later? What if they don’t get it?”

“We’re not just running a company — we’re protecting our reputation.”

That conversation flipped a switch in my head.

🔥 I wasn’t solving the wrong problem. I was just selling it the wrong way.

No founder wants to feel like their house is on fire. But every founder wants to scale, strengthen, or future-proof their product.

I didn’t need to change the solution. I needed to change the story.

🧠 Lesson: A good solution with the wrong story doesn’t sell. Frame your offering in the context of where your customer wants to go — not where they’re failing today.

Have you ever changed your pitch — and suddenly, everything clicked?

Drop your story below 👇

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